Sophia X
by Angelxoxo8
Summary: A slight malfunction causes Chaos Control, and sends Sonic the Hedgehog and his friend Princess Sophia to Earth. While there, they meet Chris Thorndyke, who aids at collecting the Chaos Emeralds, so Sonic, Sophia, and his friends can go home.
1. Chaos Control Freaks

**Angel: Hello everyone. I know that many...many of you were excited about this, so here it is, the Sonic X story that most of you voted for. Kill me...before I start off, I wanna say to those who wanted this story...don't pressure me to do a story again please, or anyone else for that matter. I already have other stories planned for the summer and I would rather just not be pressured to write anything for you. Yes, I did say I like Sonic X, but you don't have to try to convince me to write something that's not my preference, because the answer will be no from now on. I am sorry, but if you want a story, try other authors who are experienced in writing something like this story. Don't spam me suggesting OCs for this fandom or for that fandom. Let me write what I would prefer to do and move on. I wasn't even planning to do this story at all until people kept asking me to address this when one of my TMNT stories was ending and eventually I did a poll on it, and this one won by like a landslide.**

 **Anyways! The OC featured for Sonic X, I would like to say that I did not create her. Technically, Starfire suggested her, so I'm not gonna take credit for an OC that I wasn't involved in creating. All I did on my part was the name and technically her appearance because I obviously can't use my own OC from my other fics, but everything else was suggested by Starfire, including the special abilities that the OC has. Luckily, it's not as much that she suggested the first time, because I can't memorize all of the abilities XD At least, not from the first review. I didn't really create a profile for her because like I said, she's not my OC.**

 **So I hope you enjoy this story and be grateful that I even considered this, because all of you who wanted this story would not stop talking about this and I did it so you could stop asking. If it wasn't for your...persistence, I wouldn't have done it. I own nothing.**

It's a peaceful night for Big the Cat as the full moon reflects in the river. He's leaning against a tree by a lake, holding onto his fishing rod with the line already cast out into the lake. His head is leaning forward as he sleeps, his best friend and pet Froggy near him. The most unique thing about Froggy was is that he has a tadpole tail, while any other frogs do not. Big's giant purple ears suddenly go up as he hears a siren go off during the night. Opening his eyes, he turns his head to the tower that has lights turning on everywhere on a base.

Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest animal and hedgehog ever known on his world, is running through the forest. Several base defense turrets and robots roll forward from the base. They prepare to fire at the incoming hedgehog. He dodges the incoming fire with a smirk, running in another direction. He starts to avoid getting shot by the robots. The robots fire missiles, which fly into the air and come back around. They go right toward Sonic, but he dodges them with little effort, never changing his speed. Smoke starts to appear around the robots and Sonic's smirk never falters as he comes out of the smoke for the robots to see him. He jumps onto the small robots that were shooting at him, and then another before going over the gate and into the base. They continue to fire, but he continues running, dodging each and every one.

An alarm goes off, activating big robots to wake to try and 'destroy' him. Sonic runs up to a wall and skids to a stop when he sees the two robots come up before taking off in another direction. He starts running up a slanted part of the base when a robot comes up from behind a wall behind him.

The robot chases after the hedgehog on the outside part of the base.

 _(Sonic X theme song plays)_

He runs into an opening he saw in the base, and keeps on running while keeping a short notice on the robot chasing after him that came inside. He sees a robot crash through the wall in front of them and runs through a small hole that appears on Sonic's left. He comes back outside, accidentally activating a trap that has a face on it when one of the robots smashes through the wall. The trap springs Sonic in the air which makes him yell in surprise. One of the robots swings its arm back, swinging the arm forward and hitting Sonic. This makes him fly even further from the base.

"Sonic!" Tails, the two-tailed fox and Sonic's best friend, yells as he drives a plane. Amy Rose, a pink hedgehog, is in the passenger's seat. She always proclaimed that Sonic is her hero or that she's his girlfriend, to Sonic's dismay. Tails drives the plane through the base a little low while the robots start to shoot at the plane. He flies through the base and tries to dodge the lasers being shot at the Tornado. Unfortunately, the plane gets hit three times and it starts to catch on fire. Amy looks down at the side of the plane.

"Tails, the plane is on fire! What are we gonna do?"

He turns to her, no fear whatsoever on his face. "We're gonna save Sonic!" He pulls the lever, moving the plane closer to Sonic's location. He fires a rocket to his best friend and it breaks apart, showing a power ring. He could only see a flash of light before there's a flash of blue light. Sonic flies at sonic speed while spinning around with a smirk on his face. Sonic, now in his Super Spin mode, goes through every robot on the scene, running right into one of the big robots. The giant robot menace slides into the other one behind it. Sonic breaks through the armor and keeps on going. A robot thinks its stopped him when its hand lands right on him, but he spins right through the hand a second later, running up to the top of the tower of the base, breaking one of the lights on his way in.

The plane comes into landing, only to be coming against a rock.

"Hang on, Amy!" Tails tells the pink hedgehog as her eyes are shut. She opens them, seeing the rock with a gasp.

"We're gonna crash!"

"I know!" Tails says right back, fear on his face. All of a sudden, a knuckle with horns on it destroys the rock. Tails and Amy land safely. The two-tailed fox turns around, gasping in surprise. "Knuckles!" He had kept their eyes on them to see if they were alright.

"Hm," Knuckles the Echidna turns his gaze to the base.

"What's the matter with him?" Amy asks, a little upset.

Knuckles watches as explosions happen after another. "Overkill, just like always."

Meanwhile, the base is locking every single door, seemingly. A yellow robot is looking over the map. "Dr. Eggman, the facility is in 100% lockdown," Decoe, the taller yellow robot, reports to a man with a brown mustache and a plump belly.

"Why does that cursed Sonic always get in my way?" Dr. Eggman, Sonic's archenemy, asks.

"He doesn't get in your way, Dr. Eggman," he turns to a yellow rabbit, a girl, and a blue creature that is a Chaos (because it's the only thing they can say), inside a glass ball. The girl has long wavy pink hair to her knees, blue eyes, a pink and white dress with a pink belt and buttons, transparent back garments with pink edges, white and pink arm warmers, pink gloves, gold ring bracelets (which almost look like Sonic's power rings), and a pink hairband with golden metal circle ends. Their names are Cream, Sophia, and Cheese respectively. Cheese is Cream's best friend while Sophia? She's the ever formal and proper princess of their world. "Sonic just tries to stop you from doing all the bad things you like to do."

"Chao-chao!" Cheese says affirmatively.

"And because you and your henchman are filth on my kingdom, Dr. Eggman," Sophia opens her eyes, narrowing them.

"Ooh, is that so?" He holds up a red emerald. "Well, he's too late to stop me this time! Once I insert the last Chaos Emerald, my energy amplifier will be invincible!"

"But you can't do that!" Cream protests.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese agrees.

"The Chaos Emeralds were never yours to begin with!" Sophia argues. "They do not belong with you!"

"That's right; Sonic won't let you get away with this!" Cream tells Eggman as Rouge the Bat, a bat who loves pretty things, watches in amusement.

Eggman starts laughing. "You're wrong Creamy-dreamy, and Your Royal Highness!" He laughs some more. "They can't stop-heh!" An explosion with the door happens right behind him, making him turn to see Sonic with his trademark smirk on his face.

"Sonic!" Cream and Sophia yell happily to see him.

"Sonic..." Eggman starts in shock before it turns into a smirk. "Too late." He installs the red Chaos Emerald into the machine and presses a few buttons. He pulls out a button that was meant to be pressed while being held in his hand. "You'll never stop me now, Sonic. Ho ho ho! All I have to do now is push this little button."

"Yeah, if you can push it before I grab it," Sonic says back, making Eggman's evil smile a worried frown. It becomes an evil smile when he sees one of his robots, an E-13 Guardbot, appearing behind him.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Sonic takes off with the smirk still on his face while the robot starts shooting repeatedly at him. He runs across the wall of the room with the robot still shooting. "Don't let him get away!"

Rouge gets behind a small part of the wall near the window to avoid getting hit by the lasers. "Stop him, no matter what!"

Sonic lands right in front of Eggman with a smirk on his face, making Eggman panic. "AH, no, hold your fire!" He yells at the robot, ducking while Sonic jumps out of the way. The robot fires some lasers which hit the glass on the machine Eggman was going to start up. Eggman gets back up after the firing, pressing the button. "Ha! Here we go!" He turns around to see sparks flying from it. "Huh? What have you done?!"

Everyone in the room watches in shock as the core starts to brighten up the room. The white void covers the entire base.

"What...is that?" Amy asks curiously while watching from the destroyed rock.

Knuckles watches with his arms crossed, keeping quiet for a few seconds. "It used to be Chaos Control."

They watch as the light comes towards them, covering them in it. Big the Cat turns back when the light envelopes him just a couple seconds later. The light covers up most of the area and those near the base, transporting everyone closest to Eggman's base to another world.

* * *

Sonic and Sophia, with their eyes closed, lie in the middle of a seemingly pitch-black background. Sonic groans, waking up unaware of his surroundings. He sits up and looks around. He then sees the outline of the princess next to him. "Princess Sophia! Wake up."

Sophia opens her eyes and slowly sits up. "Are you okay, princess?"

"Yes, I'm quite alright..." She nods.

"Man, we must've passed out or something," Sonic rubs his head.

"Or perhaps the shock did it," Sophia looks around. Sonic looks around at their surroundings when they hear a strange noise. Sonic turns his head in the direction of the noise when he sees lights coming towards them. He screams, grabs hold of Sophia, and runs out of the way. "Oh!" She shouts in surprise. They look back at the spot they were just sitting in a few seconds ago when they hear the same noise and see the same lights coming towards them. Sonic once again moves out of the way as he holds Sophia. She has to cover their eyes before screaming at the upcoming light. It suddenly stops and makes a different noise to before, with also skidding. Sonic and Sophia look in shock before taking a better look at their surroundings. They see strange things they had never seen before, except for the eyes that were staring at them.

"Where are we?" Sonic asks, putting down Sophia safely.

"I do believe that we're in a place that is unfamiliar to both of us, Sonic," Sophia murmurs as she looks around.

"What are they all staring at?" Sonic questions quietly.

"Perhaps we are uncommon to their world, as they would be to ours," Sophia whispers. More eyes just keep staring at them and Sonic stands ready to protect Sophia if needed.

"What is this, Halloween?" The truck driver asks, a few police officers rushing to the scene.

"So they can talk..." Sonic murmurs as he stares at the people.

"I have never seen such strange clothing before," Sophia comments.

"What are they?" Another voice asks.

"Looks like a big hedgehog and a princess," one of the police officers standing in front of them says.

"A blue hedgehog and a princess?" The other one asks.

"Well, whatever they are, we better get 'em out of here," Officer 1 says. They get down on one knee so they could be face-to-face with them.

"Hey guys, do you want a ride with us down to the station?"

"Station?" Sophia asks in confusion.

"Should I call for back-up?" Officer 2 asks.

"I have three kitty cats at home, I think I can handle these little guys." He makes a funny noise that makes Sonic cross his arms, looking at him with an attitude. Sophia narrows her eyes and slips off her glove, smacking him with it.

"How dare you!" She hisses as she places it back on.

"See that? They've got attitudes. Bad ones," Officer 2 comments.

"Yeah? Well they won't get away from me!" He goes to grab them, but Sonic takes Sophia's hand, quickly moving out of the way. "Huh?"

"Why you little-" Before he could finish, another officer comes over and places his hand on his shoulder.

"Take it easy. I think we can handle this without getting rough."

"Yeah, but s-"

"Get behind them."

"Right Sarge!" They do so.

"Okay, so when I say the word, we're all gonna jump on them at once. All right then, is everybody ready? Let's do it!" And all at once, like said, they all jump on Sonic and Sophia who don't move.

"Okay Sarge, I think I got one of their legs!"

"I got one round the neck!"

"Alright, let's pull them out at the count of three. One, two, three!" And once they pull out of the way, they see that they all have a hand on each other and not Sonic or Sophia. They collapse and see that Sonic and Sophia are sitting on top of a car. The two look at them in confusion, Sonic shrugging at their attempt, before a net is suddenly thrown over both him and Sophia.

"No worry, Sarge, I've got 'em!" Sonic and Sophia quickly run, dragging the officers along with them! Everyone looks in shock, as they've never seen a human run that fast before, let alone a hedgehog. The other men try to stop them, but end up getting dragged along as well. Sonic and Sophia get free from the men and net, jumping over an approaching police car. The car skids to a stop and the other officers get trapped in the police car along with the two other officers that are inside.

"Attention all units! Attention all units! A blue hedgehog and a little girl are headed north on Central Street. Shut down all thoroughfares that lead into and out of Station Square and set up a roadblock just before the ramp to 101!" The sergeant orders into his walkie talkie as the two run away.

A police car drives through a quiet highway. "I've never seen a blue hedgehog, have you?" The officer asks his partner.

The other one chuckles. "It must be one of those fancy sports cars from overseas. Hey, if we catch them, maybe the captain will let us drive it."

"I bet it has one of those cute little hood ornaments that looks like a hedgehog." The two officers look in surprise as Sonic and Sophia are suddenly on the hood of their car. The two look around.

"I don't know how we got here, but we gotta find a way to get out!" Sonic says, holding Sophia bridal style, and jumps. He runs away from the police car where the two shocked police men stare at their leaving forms.

"Hey, did you see...what I just saw?"

"I think I did but I wish I didn't."

A helicopter arrives flying above the highway. "They were in hot pursuit and they got away?" The helicopter asks in shock. "Can't those guys even catch a hedgehog and a little girl?"

The other cop next to the pilot sees the two on the road. "There they are."

The light of the helicopter lands on Sophia and Sonic, making Sophia looking up, her eyes squinting. "Sonic, I seem to notice that we're being chased by some sort of flying machine..."

"Good to know, princess. And they've made it fun by blocking our way."

"Visual contact. Subjects are headed north on the Central Street extension. About a mile and a half from the entrance to 101."

Another path of the highway is encased with a massive roadblock full of SSPD cruisers, heavy conduction vehicles, and barricades. "Roger, Delta 1. Unit 3, subjects are headed your way. Repeat, subjects are headed your way.

"Don't you worry. They can't get under us, around us, or through us. We'll stop them!"

Sonic and Sophia approach the roadblock, miraculously jumping far and high over it. He lands on the other side and takes off with Sophia.

"That was most impressive, Sonic!" Sophia comments with a smile.

"Thanks, your majesty."

"Well, they didn't get under us, around us, and through us," the officer chuckles nervously, the helicopter passing over the roadblock.

"Ah, they're gonna love this down at headquarters. Ah, Delta 1 to base. I'm afraid that roadblock didn't work."

"No! Don't tell me they got through."

"Okay."

"Ugh, bad news," the intel policeman turns to a man in red and white, who chuckles.

"Don't worry. I think we've got what it takes to round up our little friends. Speed Team, get ready to roll!" Him, along with other members of the Speed Team, walking along a long highway leading to their cars that are undergoing minor maintenance. "What's the temperature of the road surface tonight?"

Roger, a mechanic working on the Formula-One Cruiser, turns around. "It's about 70 degrees and dry as a bone."

"Like breeze from the west?"

"Almost nothing."

"Road, pitted or smooth?"

"Nice and smooth."

"Then, let's see...give me the 5 groove medium-soft," he puts a cap over his face. A mechanic rolls a wheel over to him.

"Here you go." The mechanic drills the wheels into the car, which is now ready for Sam, the driver, to use. He puts his helmet on and steps into the car. They strap him in and places in the steering wheel.

"I programmed gears 5 and 6 to freeway speed," Jason, another mechanic reports.

"Great."

"Oh, and I built that secret fuel tank on your car just like you asked me to."

"Good work," Sam congratulates and they get his car ready for driving.

"Chief, they last spotted the subjects in mile 79 on 101 north."

"Roger. Alright team, let's move out!" The Speed Team make their exit from the garage slowly before going out fast speeds onto the highway, sirens blaring.

* * *

After running for a couple more minutes, they finally came to a stop by the road. Sonic and Sophia look at the city. "Wow..." Sophia murmurs. "The sights on this planet are very confusing, and yet so intriguing..."

"But the sky looks the same, princess. So do the stars and the moon." They have a flashback of what happened on Eggman's base, which engulfed seemingly everything in its path. "I guess Chaos Control sent us here. We travelled through space. Did we travel through time too? Are we the only ones here?" Are all the others...gone?

"Oh, I am sure that they're out there somewhere, Sonic..." Sophia places a hand on his shoulder, noticing his sadness. "We could not be possibly be the only ones here. Perhaps Chaos Control affected all of our friends too."

Sonic smiles at her before standing up. "Thank you, princess. I'll guess we'll find out soon enough!" He grabs her bridal style and jumps off the lamp post. There's a noise and they see five squad cars coming towards them. Sonic stands protectively in front of Sophia.

Sam gets out of his car, waving his hand at them. "Hi there. You're a hard duo to keep up with." They start to turn away. "Hey, hold on!" He takes off his helmet and face mask. "We don't get such fast company very often. In fact, I'm glad you two showed up. This place is way too peaceful. Over the last 12 months, I've only made one arrest. Some joker got it into his head that he was a hot-shot driver. Had his own Formula-One car and everything. I guess he thought he'd give me a run for my money." Sonic and Sophia turn back slightly in curiosity. "But it was all over in a minute. It took me longer than that to suit up!"

Sophia and Sonic turn, completely facing Sam. Sonic smirks in amusement with his hands on his hips. Sam chuckles at their reactions. "He never had a chance. Of course it's our own fault, this town's dull mainly because of us. You see, we're the high-speed pursuit unit, the S-Team. And I'm the leader of the team. They call me the 'Highway Star.' So even if you think you're the fastest things around, he narrows his eyes at them. "Think again!"

The two gasp in surprise, making Sonic take off with Sophia, the four cars following after them. Sam just stands up. Run fast, guys. I wanna be the one to catch you!

Sonic runs down the highway with Sophia in his arms. "Ha! The S-Team, huh? The S must stand for slow motion." He jokes, Sophia giggling. "If you liked that, princess, you're gonna love this!" He picks up more speed with his eyes back in front of him.

"It's accelerating!" Aaron, a member of the team, exclaims. "Boost your rear wing angle to 20 degrees!"

"Roger," An S-Team member says. The driver presses a button, allowing the other S-Team members to catch up to Sonic and Sophia.

"Well, well, well! It's starting to look like the rush hour," Sonic says confidently. The four cars slowly pull up and surround them.

"Oh no! How will we ever escape this plight?" Sophia giggles. Sonic chuckles at her joke before disappearing.

"Where are they?" The front guy, Simon, asks while looking to his left. "Did I run them over? Oh no! How am I gonna explain that I ran over a little girl?"

Sonic taps the window on the right side which makes the driver turn his head to the duo. They wink at the man, two little hearts coming from Sophia's eye. They take off again. He looks through the front window only for Sonic and Sophia to look down at the man from the top of the car. "Hey you two, this is dangerous. It's irresponsible. What happens if kids start trying this?"

Sonic looks up. "Kids, don't use Formula-One race cars to chase hedgehogs!"

"Let us have some fun with these brutes, Sonic," Sophia giggles.

"Princess, your wish is my command! Hold on, okay?" Sonic jumps off the car and takes off at a faster speed with the princess.

"You're not gonna treat the S-Team like chumps! We'll teach you a lesson! Boost all wings .5 degrees and let's get them!" Hector narrows his eyes, pressing some buttons.

"Roger." The wing frames of Hector's car adjust themselves accordingly, allowing each member to move faster.

"Full throttle! Huh?!"

Sonic is running backwards with a smirk on his face, Sophia laughing. "What the? How can-? They're playing with us!"

"Where did they come from? I've never seen a girl wearing that with pink hair!"

"Chief, you gotta do something!"

"Playtime is now officially over!" Sam declares. "Attention all units, open the center line!" Hector and the other split to clear a path between them for Sam to pass. "I didn't think I'd have to do this, but I have no choice. I will not have anybody, faster than me, on my highway!" Sam activates his Super Nitro, rocketing past the other S-Team officers and accelerating his car to well over 400 mph. Sonic and Sophia look at him in shock, Sonic quickly moving out of the way.

Sam laughs to himself in victory. "The only way they can beat me now is if he goes super sonic!" He smirks under his mask in victory, then turns to his left where Sonic catches up to him, Sophia holding onto him. "A sonic boom! They're moving faster than the speed of sound!"

"Chief, you're running out of road!"

Sam deploys three parachutes on his car and steps on the brake pedal hard, Sonic realizing that the road ahead of him is about to end. Sonic zooms right past the edge while passing by several wind turbines that accelerate with his speed. The city lights glow brighter as a result, the two flying over it. Sophia gasps in amazement.

"This city has so many wonderful sights..."

"This place doesn't seem so bad. At least I know someone who I can have fun with! Well, besides you, princess!"

Sam stands outside his car, staring out towards their direction. Meanwhile, Sonic sees that they're landing close to a ground...and where there's a pool.

"A-A pool?!" Sonic chuckles nervously as he glances at Sophia. "Uh...oh..." He attempts to run to redirect his route, but it was no use. "See ya!"

Sophia pulls out her parasol and opens it, making her fly away from the pool. Sonic isn't so lucky, making a big splash.

"Sonic!" Sophia cries out.

A 12-year-old boy named Chris Thorndyke hears the splash and wakes up from his sleep. Sonic falls to the bottom of the pool. He attempts to jump out but fails as he sinks to the bottom. He looks around and sees a ladder. He tries to run there, but the water drag has completely nullified his speed. Chris looks outside at the pool, seeing a worried Sophia looking over the pool. She starts running towards the house. He runs out of his room to go help and Sophia opens the front door. They see each other, gasping at each other's presence. Chris because he didn't expect someone to come through his door, and Sophia because she didn't realize he was that close to the door.

Sonic tries to run to the ladder on the other side, then gives up as he hasn't moved at all. He sits with his arms crossed and just when things seem over for him, another splash happens in the pool. Sonic looks up, surprised to see Chris and not Sophia. Chris reaches his hand and grabs hold of him, starting to pull him up to the surface. The two get back on the surface, Sonic starting to cough up water. Sophia rushes over, both her and Chris watching him get his breathing back to normal.

"That was close. Are you okay?" Chris asks in concern.

"Uh, yeah," Sonic answers with his eyes closed. He opens them a bit. "Thanks a lot, you two."

Chris looks at Sonic in surprise. "I didn't know you could talk."

"We can do a lot of things," Sophia smiles.

"Wow, that's awesome. That you can talk, I mean. My name's Christopher. Do you guys have names?"

Sonic smirks at him. "Yeah, we do. My name is Sonic the Hedgehog, and this here is Princess Sophia."

* * *

 **Angel: Well, that's it for this chapter. The next update will be tomorrow and after that, I have to type more chapters for this. Hopefully, this whole thing will blow over and I won't have to be pressured again in the future for anything. Bye.**


	2. Sonic and Sophia to the Rescue

**Angel: Thank you all for waiting patiently, I know how it feels when you want a story to be updated. *chuckles* I hope to update this on weekends, or at least once a week. I'm still on season one for the two stories I'm working on right now, but we'll see how it goes.**

Phoebe: Wow amazing good luck Angel

 **Angel: Thank you so much. I'm gonna need it.**

Gwen: Awesome chapter and can't wait to see the next one plus great princess on how her appearance looks like and question what does her shoes look like?

 **Angel: Thanks, I didn't really know how she would be at first, because Starfire didn't give me much to work with. I think I've got a basic personality for Sophia now, though. All I have to do is not use contractions and make her seem polite. *chuckles* As for her shoes, I didn't really think about them because like I said before, she's not my OC. Maybe kitten heels...but definitely nothing like Princess Peach's shoes. *laughs* Don't get me wrong, I like her, but you know...she doesn't fight, and Super Smash Bros doesn't count.**

Bajy: Unexpected but very interesting. Love it! Will there be more chapters soon?

 **Angel: This whole story was unexpected, because I never thought I'd write this one...and as for more chapters, I'm hoping to write the next chapter soon...but tomorrow I have school, so we'll see.**

Natalie: Awesome start and will Sophia have a pairing in the future?

 **Angel: If you mean Chris, then no. He DID have Helen as the third season began. As for like any other guy in general, no promises on pairing Sophia with any of them. I mean, she's a princess...**

Jake: Sweet chapter and beginning.

 **Angel: It wouldn't have happened if so many people didn't insist on it...**

GreenD109: I read this and I got to say, it's good start of the story. I'm also interested at in this story the OC that someone created is the princess of Sonic's world. Anyway, I look forward to how this will progress. Oh, and don't worry, take your time on your stories, I can wait for it.

 **Angel: Thanks, Starfire said she wanted an alien princess, but she wasn't specific, sooo...and it wouldn't be right, at least to me, if Sophia had crash landed on Sonic's world. It's been done before in other fandoms and I personally think that having her be the princess for Sonic's world was better. And thanks for saying you'll wait, cuz that was the opposite of what most of my fans said when it came to other stories. I love them, but patience is a virtue.**

Sapphire: Cool chapter and the next one is up next wonder how this'll be happening.

 **Angel: Well, you no longer have to wait. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Oh, this picture has been such a disaster darling, a complete disaster. We've had to stop shooting because there's been torrential rain for days. So there is nothing I can do besides sit and wait." Mrs. Thorndyke says through the phone to her son Chris. Sophia and Sonic are lying on the house roof, listening in on the conversation. "I don't think I'll be back until late next week at the earliest, but I've had plenty of time to go shopping, and I'm having lots of wonderful presents sent. I hope you like them. They're coming on Daddy's jet so you should have them tonight."

"Thanks Mom. Mom, there's something I have to-well, there's something I did that I'm kinda not supposed to," he explains.

"Christopher, what happened? Are you alright?!" His mother panics.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine. But remember how you said that I'm not allowed to swim at night, and how you wanted me to stay away from the adult pool?" Chris says, as a man in a suit and tie approaches with breakfast on a tray. He places it on the table.

"Did you go swimming in the adult pool at night all by yourself?!" Mrs. Thorndyke exclaims.

"Um, well...not exactly. You see, there was this 'cat' in the pool that belonged to a little girl, and I got it out." He glances at Sonic, who has an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, you have a big heart just like I do. Next time, ring for Mr. Tanaka and he'll take care of it, alright?" Chris blushes in embarrassment. "Oh darling, I must run. Kiss mommy goodbye." She makes a kissing noise on the line, Chris returning it. "Ciao sweetheart." Chris turns off his phone, rubbing the back of his neck. Sonic jumps off the roof and lands on the balcony. He points at himself.

"Take a good look. I'm a hedgehog, not a cat!"

"Uhh, I know," he answers as Sophia opens her parasol, descending down near the table. "Please don't be mad. You see, my mom wouldn't understand."

"Why wouldn't she?" Sonic asks.

"Sonic, take a look around this world," Sophia steps up to the balcony. "Wouldn't she find it absurd if Chris had said he saved a blue hedgehog instead?"

"Well, first of all, she knows that I wouldn't risk diving into a pool in the middle of the night just to save a little hedgehog."

"Really?" Sonic mumbles.

"What else could I say to her? But Sophia has a point. I couldn't tell her that I saved a blue, talking hedgehog. That reminds me, where and when did you learn how to talk, Sonic? And why do you always talk so formal, Sophia?" Chris wonders as Sophia hovers her parasol over her head.

"Good question," Sonic scratches his head. "Unfortunately, I don't have a very good answer because I don't remember. But she's been talking that way for as long as I've known her."

"A princess must have proper manners and language," Sophia recites, closing her eyes. "I must be proper and have decorum whenever I have to take the throne. That is what my mother taught me."

"So how did you two meet?" Chris questions before the phone rings again. "Hello?"

"Chris, is everything alright?" A man asks immediately.

"Hey Dad, how are ya?" Chris greets.

"I'm fine, but your mother just called and told me that you made an emergency rescue last night. I guess our security system can't protect against stray cats that decide they want to go for a midnight swim. Chris, I know you like animals, but what you did was dangerous. Were you hurt? Did the cat scratch you while you were trying to save it? And what was that girl doing on our property?"

Chris shakes his head. "No scratches at all. I'm fine, Dad, honest I am. It really wasn't that much of a big deal. After I jumped in and got it out of the water, it was really happy. I could tell. And the girl was really thankful, too."

"Yeah, gotcha, yeah."

"Besides, I could've had Grandpa, or Ella, or Mr. Tanaka to help me if I needed to. Don't worry Dad, they're taking good care of me," Chris explains.

"Yeah, they better be. Listen, Chris. I've got an important meeting to run to. You call me anytime if you need anything and no more late night swims, promise?" Mr. Thorndyke says.

"Okay, Dad. I promise. See you soon," Chris hangs up and looks towards Sonic and Sophia. Sonic just shakes his head, Sophia giggling.

Chris blushes a bit, chuckling lightly, before remembering something. "I almost forgot, you two must be pretty hungry. I was thinking you might like to have something to eat. Uh, if that's okay with you, your...highness," he bows a bit to Sophia.

"Yeah, I guess I could go for something," Sonic answers as Sophia laughs.

"Christopher, you do not have to address me as that. I would much prefer Sophia," she smiles. "And I would love something to eat. What do you have to offer?"

"I checked out hedgehogs on the internet and found the perfect thing," he grabs a bowl of brown food. He glances towards Sophia. "While you can try what Mr. Tanaka gave me and see if you like that. If you do, I'll ask him to bring you a plate."

"Thank you," she sits down, adjusting her skirt as she tries it. Chris holds out the bowl to Sonic. He grabs hold of a piece and puts it in his mouth. He finds it disgusting.

"What is this?!" Sonic points to the bowl.

"Cat food," Chris explains.

"Ugggh, no wonder! It tastes like there's cat in it!" Sonic puts his hand in front of the bowl. Sophia giggles as she tries a piece of Chris' food. She looks like she likes it as she smiles.

"The website I went to said most hedgehogs love cat food. I guess that doesn't go for all hedgehogs..." Chris says. "I can get you a bowl of crickets." Sonic knocks the bowl of cat food away and stands up. He jumps off the balcony and lands on a tree.

"No! Please don't run away!" Chris calls out.

"Sorry, kid, but crickets don't do it for me!" Sonic turns back.

"I'll get you whatever you want, but just don't go!" Chris tells him.

"Heh, see ya!" Sonic waves. "Bye princess!" He jumps off to go for a run.

"Come back! Sonic, you could get hurt out there!" Chris warns before his face turns to worry.

"Do not fret, Chris." He turns around to Sophia, who holds her parasol over her hair. "Sonic will return soon. He is just going out for a run as part of his routine," she smiles at him. "If I know Sonic, and I do, he has since acquired the knowledge and experience to take care of himself."

"Alright, Sophia..." Chris sighs a little. "I believe you."

 _(Sonic X theme)_

After breakfast, Sonic had returned like Sophia had said. The three are watching the news while sitting on the couch. Sonic ignores the news while Sophia eats orange slices. She, of course, kept her gloves on. "The supersonic Speed Team seen here from this police helicopter video, has the city baffled."

"It was about this high, it was blue, and it looked like a freak! The little girl looked like a princess, though," a police officer describes.

"I was doing about 60 when this thing went 'wooo' right by me, holding a little girl with pink hair!" A citizen says.

"That thing moved too fast to be a regular animal!"

"As to the question of whether this is a UMA, Unidentified Mutant Animal, it is positively not. Even the cheetah, which is widely believed to be the fastest member of the animal kingdom cannot outrun a speeding Formula One car. Because of this, in an inescapable conclusion one must inevitably come to is that this so-called 'hedgehog' is a reality of a machine," a zoologist explains. Sonic munches on some crisps, Chris frowning at him.

The door opens to reveal an old man with a lab coat. "There you are!" He strides over to them. "Guess what?! A big, blue hedgehog came out of nowhere and outran the S-Team yesterday! He was carrying a little girl!" He sees Sonic sitting right below him.

"Duh...umm..." Sophia and Chris stammer as he looks at the TV and then back down at Sonic. They stare at each other close-up and Chris covers Sonic with a pillow.

"Hey, cut it out, I can't breathe!" Sonic muffles.

"Oh!" Sophia shouts in surprise and is about to move the pillow until Sonic throws it off him. Sophia recoils back in surprise, placing a gloved hand to her chest.

"Hmm...blue and a girl with pink hair. Just like those..." He gasps in shock and smiles, grabbing Sonic. "It's them!"

"Easy, Grandpa!" Chris says.

"Sir, please unhand him-" Grandpa Chuck pulls out a screwdriver.

"Grandpa, what are you doing?!" Chris exclaims as Chuck starts to poke him.

"I have to see how this thing is put together!" Sonic yelps, since he's ticklish, and jumps out of Chuck's grasp. "Well, stand still!"

"Grandpa, wait. He's not a machine. He's Sonic the Hedgehog!" Chris explains. Chuck stands up in shock, dropping the screwdriver. Sophia clears her throat, Chris rubbing his neck. "And this is Princess Sophia, from where they come from."

"P-Princess...?"

"Now let's go live to this late breaking story." The newswoman says.

"O-Oh please!" This catches Sophia and Sonic's attention immediately and they turn to the TV. The camera zooms in...on Cream and Cheese! "Please, leave us alone."

"It's Cream and Cheese," Sonic says in surprise.

"It's who?" Chris wonders.

"We're not the only ones who got transported into this weird world after all. I'll save those two!" He zooms out of the house. Chris runs to the door, Sophia close behind.

"Do you know where they are?" Chris calls out. Sonic skids to a stop as he zooms past a hedge. He runs back to Chris and Sophia, who holds onto her skirt. Sonic shrugs with a nervous smile, meaning no, he didn't know where they were.

"Oh dear," Sophia giggles.

* * *

In the mansion's garage, Chuck is on the phone with a military official. "I thought they'd probably do something along those lines. Well, thanks very much for getting me the scoop and I'll talk to you soon." He hangs up, turning to Chris as Sophia and Sonic look around. "Well, it seems like Sonic and Princess Sophia's friends were captured by the police and moved to Area 99."

"Mr. Chuck, is it? I would prefer Sophia, please," Sophia points out.

"Oh! Heh heh, my apologies," he rubs his neck. "We don't get royalty here that often..."

"Area 99?! That's that top-secret military base," Chris remembers.

"What?" Sonic looks confused.

"It's where the national defense force keeps all their tanks, fighter jets, and high-tech spy equipment," Chris elaborates.

"Oh my...our poor friends," Sophia covers her mouth.

"That sounds like Eggman's kind of place!" Sonic tells them.

"Your friends have been taken there by the army and placed under 24-hour guard. The authorities believe they could be aliens or perhaps members of a mutant species developed by an enemy power designed to attack our population. I wonder if they might not be right, Sonic and Sophia, eh?" He looks at the two, Sophia glancing nervously at Sonic. They look at Chuck, who is smiling. Sonic raises an eyebrow at that, Sophia sweating a little.

Sonic shrugs it off. "Think what you want. I'm gone. Now that I know where my friends are, I'm outta here," he walks over to the front of the garage.

"But if you show up at Area 99, they'll lock you up too!" Chris calls out.

"They can't lock me up! Princess, stay here," Suddenly, the garage door closes in front of them.

"Open that door!" He yells at Chris.

"Don't look at me, I didn't do it!" Chris protests.

"Ha! It was me!" Chuck points to herself. "You guys are going to need some help. I'll go with you."

"Grandpa, are you serious?" Chris looks shocked.

"Of course I'm serious. And you're coming along too," Chuck answers. "You told me you didn't want to live a boring life like your father so here's your chance for some excitement!"

"Well, if you're up for it, then I'm up for it," Chris agrees. "Just don't tell Dad!"

"Alright, let's get going!" Sonic just watches them with shock and confusion. He turns to Sophia.

"Princess, you-"

"Sonic, I will not stay here. Cream and Cheese are dear friends of mine. I will not sit here and do nothing. So therefore, I will be joining you. I can protect myself should anything happen at this Area 99," she gives him a serious look.

"Well, okay, if you really want to," he gives her a thumbs up.

* * *

After loading up the car and getting the two into the vehicle, Chuck drove away from the mansion towards Area 99. Thirty minutes later, they're still on the road in the middle of the desert with Chuck's smile never leaving his face.

"It's going to take forever to get there. I'd rather just go by myself," Sonic mutters, his arms crossed.

"Chill out," Chuck says, turning his head to him.

"Is it time?" Chris wonders.

"It's time," Chuck tells him. Chris turns around, giving Sonic and Sophia each an infrared scope.

"Put it on," Chris points to his head.

"What's this?" Sonic wonders.

"They're infrared scopes. I'm certain that Area 99 is full of infrared motion detectors that set off security alarms," Chuck explains. "If you wear them, you may be able to avoid them."

"So this is for our safety. Thank you," Sophia puts hers on, grinning at Chris and Chuck. "How do I look?"

"Great," Chris gives her a thumbs up. Sonic puts his on, giving the two a thumbs up. They take off their seatbelts.

"Princess, don't fall behind! We gotta work together on this!" Sonic exclaims as he jumps out of the car.

"Yes, we do. I know what I must do, Sonic," Sophia jumps out too, Sonic smiling as he turns his head to Chris and Chuck.

"We'll see you guys later!" He takes off and so does Sophia, leaving a happy Chris and a surprised Chuck.

"They certainly are speedy little critters, aren't they?" Chuck gets excited. "YEAH!" He pushes the gas pedal, the car picking up more speed. Chuck leans forward with excitement while Chris leans back, not so excited as his Grandpa.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Area 99, a scientist walks through the facility hallways. He waits for the elevator, the security cameras watching everything. He was on the next floor in a few seconds. He walks down the hall and stops at an eye scan. He moves closer to the scan and his eye is scanned. The men in the security room watch him.

"Identification number: F219563. Confirmed." The scan grants the scientist access for him to enter the room. The door closes behind him but he pays attention to Cream and Cheese inside the unit. They're going to scan them to get information on where she's from.

"We didn't do anything. Please let us out," Cream begs, a scanner coming close to them. She looks at the camera and gasps. "What kind of place is this? Cheese, we've gotta get out of here."

The camera conducts further examination as Cream looks in fear.

* * *

Sonic and Sophia continue to run towards the base. "Sonic, Sophia, can you guys hear me?" Chris asks.

"Yeah!" Sonic answers with a smile on his face.

"Yes, we can," Sophia reports.

"Remember, when you get to the building, go through an air vent. That should be a blind spot for security. Got it?" Chris says into his headset.

"Got it," Sonic replies.

"We read you loud and clear, Chris," Sophia says.

"But Grandpa, after they get inside, how will they find where their friends are?" Chris asks with a worried expression.

"Give me that," Chuck takes the headset from Chris. "Listen to me, guys! Once you head inside, you won't have much time so think quickly and act quickly!"

"But Grandpa, what if they don't?" Chris questions.

"Thanks for the tip. We're going in," Sonic says, him and Sophia speeding up towards the base.

"We will be alright, Chris. I am here with Sonic to make sure he does," Sophia assures. Once they get to the gate they jump over it, causing alarms to go off.

"Intruder alert, Sector D. Intruder alert, Sector D." The two run past a security camera. They see an air vent and jump in, Sophia going first. They slide down the air vent, Sophia holding her hair and skirt from flying.

"We're inside the vent!" Sonic reports.

"Be careful," Chris tells them. They stop at the end of the slope.

"It feels like I have skid marks on my butt," Sonic rubs his behind, Sophia shaking her head. "Oh, sorry, Princess."

"If it is any consolation, my dress suffered as well," She shows skid marks on her skirt.

They look up ahead and see red laser lights.

"How's it looking, guys?" Chris asks.

"Just great," Sonic replies.

"Look," Sophia points to a vent. They see moving security cameras in the hall below.

"This will be a piece of cake!" Sonic grins.

"Now I have the longing for cake..." Sophia thinks wistfully. Sonic removes the vent in the middle of the hall. He lowers his head before landing on the ground beneath one of the security cameras. Sophia lands next to him.

"Okay, I'll go first. You follow my lead," Sonic whispers to Sophia. She nods and he moves forward from one side of the wall to the other. Sophia goes after him one by one. They come to a stop in the middle. "We're too fast for them." They look down to see the next section of the corridor filled with cameras. "Heads up!"

They take off down the hallway, doing the same thing they did earlier.

"Searching for intruder. Searching for intruder. Searching for intruder."

Sonic and Sophia keep moving forward, turning a corner.

Chuck parks in front of the base, Chris watching in worry. "I hope they're okay."

* * *

Back in the laboratory, Cream and Cheese look up as they hear a noise. A scanner is coming down towards them. The researchers are supposedly surprised by their results. Now she's more scared than ever.

"I don't like this..."

Cheese cries in worry.

* * *

Outside, Sonic and Sophia are at the corner of the hallway. Near them is a door that says 'Staff Only' with an eye scanner.

Hmm, maybe that's where they are. We have to get inside and check it out. This won't be easy. If it was just me and Sophia, we could get out quick. But if we have to bring Cream and Cheese with us, I can't get too reckless.

Suddenly the lights turn off. They look up to see the lights shutting off. "Abnormality detected in the electrical system. Abnormality detected in the electrical system."

"Ah great."

"Now we can't see anything."

Suddenly, there's a crash, making them turn around.

"What the-"

"Hey, where'd they go?!"

The scanner unit that was holding Cream and Cheese is broken, with no sign of them. The four of them are hiding behind the wall as the alarm goes off.

"Sonic, Sophia-"

"Shh," they shush her, but Cheese becomes happy and hugs them, making them laugh a bit.

"Over there!" One of the men yell.

"Let us leave this place," Sophia says nervously.

"Right!" Cream nods, Sonic giving Cheese to her. She follows them out of the room, Sonic and Sophia leading the way.

* * *

Some electricians appear, finding that the power wires were struck with tiny mechanical airplanes.

"What are these things?" The head electrician asks. "Somebody has sabotaged the whole system! Boys, let's move it! We need the power back now!"

* * *

Sonic, Cream, Sophia, and Cheese are running through the dark corridor. Sophia leads the way as she has night vision.

"Stay behind me, everyone. I can guide us through," Sophia orders.

"Wow, guys! How did you shut off all of the electricity?" Cream wonders.

"We didn't do it, Cream! I guess it just happened!" Sonic smirks.

"Maybe it just happened because you guys bring good luck everywhere you go!" Cream smiles.

"You might be right!" Sonic agrees, the power suddenly coming back on. They all gasp, as the security cameras are looking right at them. They stop in their tracks.

"I shouldn't have said anything. This must be a jinx!"

"This isn't your fault," Sonic dismisses, the cameras starting to have little guns pop out of them. "Cream, hang on!" The lasers fire at them, but they avoid getting hit.

"Guys, what's going on? Are you and your friends alright?" Chris asks in worry, as he can hear the alarms.

"Not exactly," Sonic replies and lets go of Cream's hand.

"Sonic!" Cream yells.

"Run!" Sonic tells the two and Sophia takes Cream's hand, running past the cameras. Sonic jumps up onto one of the cameras. He then starts aiming for the other cameras, shooting at them. Cream and Sophia look around, one of the destroyed cameras falling down in front of them. "Keep running!"

"Right!" Sophia jumps over one of the cameras, taking Cream along with her as she runs, holding her skirt with the other hand.

"D2 area lockdown in progress," the doors begin closing one by one. Unfortunately, the door in front of Sophia and Cream is about to close.

"The door! We can't make it out!" Sonic rushes to their aid and speeds past the closing door. In the next room, they encounter more security cameras. Sonic and Sophia skid to a stop, seeing more cameras. Cream gasps as the guns ready themselves.

"Hey, what are they?"

A group of tiny airplanes are coming their way. Sonic narrows his eyes, but the airplanes knock out the security cameras, to their surprise.

"I don't understand, what's going on?" Cream asks in surprise.

"We can't stick around to find out!" Sonic takes Cream's hand.

"We must hurry," They run to the next door, barely managing to pass through before it closes.

* * *

In the security surveillance room, monitors begin blanking themselves. "Facility lockdown in progress. Facility lockdown in progress. Facility lockdown in progress." The facility's power is cut off once again. Some of the laser cameras attack in a random manner, destroying walls.

"The laser surveillance cameras are out of control!"

* * *

Sophia, Sonic, and Cream run up a staircase. "Sonic, Sophia, are we going to make it out?"

"Don't worry, we'll make it!" Sonic tells her.

"We will," Sophia turns to her. "Though I do not know how we gained assistance, I can assure you we can make it, Cream."

Suddenly, one of the laser cameras destroys a staircase where Cream was standing. Cream screams as she almost falls, only to still hold onto Sonic's hand. The room won't hold out for much longer, and Sonic knows that as part of the staircase behind him is destroyed. Sophia helps Sonic pull up Cream and he jumps from one broken staircase to another. Sophia flies up without any help whatsoever. They reach the top and Sonic puts down Cream.

"Why didn't you use your powers when it could've helped, Sophia?" Cream asks curiously.

"Because I did not want to give suspicion earlier, such as when I first arrived here with Sonic," she gestures to the hedgehog. They look down where the lasers are still firing out of control and then back at each other.

"See Cream. We told you we'd make it, and we did. You didn't doubt us, did ya?"

She shakes her head at Sonic's question. "Thank you for saving us."

Sonic smirks, giving a thumbs up. "Ah, anytime Cream. Anytime."

"Huh?" Sophia looks up. "I can hear something approaching us because of my senses..." She takes off her scope, pressing her ear against the wall.

The Tornado 2 is outside.

"Sounds like a plane...the Tornado!" Sonic smirks.

Tails is flying the plane above. "This must be the place."

Sonic and Sophia crash through the roof while holding Cream and Cheese. "Alright, Sonic and Sophia!" He steers the plane closer to them, the three of them landing on the top right wing. They look at Tails, who smiles happily.

"Hey!" Sonic yells happily, Tails waving.

"Tails!" Sophia smiles.

"It was you," Cream says. "You were the one who helped us get out of there."

He winks at her. "I helped, but Sonic and Sophia are the real heroes!" He steers the Tornado away, flying past Chris and Chuck.

"Well, Chris, mission accomplished! Let's head for home!" Chuck says as Chris watches in excitement.

* * *

At the garage, Tails has parked the plane.

Chris stands in front of them while Chuck looks over the electric airplane. "My name's Christopher. Sonic landed in our swimming pool last night and I dove in and saved him. Sophia was there too."

"My name's Tails and I'm Sonic's very best buddy. And also the princess's mechanic. Right, guys?" Tails smiles.

"Correct," Sonic smirks. Sophia shakes her head in amusement.

"My name's Cream, and this is my very special friend, Cheese," Cream explains. "Thanks for helping us," She and Cheese bow a bit.

"It's very nice to meet all of you. I have a feeling that we're going to become really good friends. Oh, and this is my grandfather," Chris looks at him.

"Extraordinary! Tiny radio-controlled airplanes. Extraordinary," He was trying to figure out how it works.

"We got lots of neat gadgets," Tails explains, waving his tails and rubbing his nose.

Chris turns to his attention to Sonic. "Listen Sonic! This isn't some game we're playing, you know! You could've gotten us all thrown in jail!"

Sonic smirks at him. "Maybe we could've, but we didn't, did we?"

"Couldn't you try to be more careful?"

Sonic just shrugs. Sophia shakes her head at him.

"By the way, Sophia...where'd you get the power of night vision?" Chris turns to her.

"Well...that is a little bit more harder to explain. I would much rather wait until we find all of our friends," she explains nervously, Chris nodding.

"I understand."

"This is an amazing piece of equipment," Chuck looks at Tails. "It goes beyond anything I have seen. How did you develop it?"

"It's nothing special. Not in the world we come from," Tails shrugs sheepishly.

"And where exactly is that world, Tails?" Chuck wonders.

"Beats me," Tails scratches his head. "But I think we got here through a warp in time and space."

"Hmm, very interesting. Not very helpful, but interesting," Chuck comments.

Sonic chuckles, picking his ear. "I just thought of something," Tails turns to them. "If you two and me and Cream and Cheese are here, maybe the others got here too."

"You might be right about that Tails," Sonic places a finger under his chin. "And if you are, that means...maybe..."

 _Eggman held a red Chaos emerald in his hand before they were transported_.

"Eggman's here too!"

* * *

On a deserted island in a fortress, Eggman looks out at the sea. "So, we were transported into this world by Chaos Control. Very well then, I'll rebuild the foundation of the Eggman Empire here and soon, I'll rule the entire universe!" He laughs evilly.

"Hey, Sophia..." Chris turns to her. "If you're gonna be here, you have to blend in."

"Well...I could use a wardrobe change," Sophia looks at her ruined dress. "But I am a princess, Chris. I must look the part."

"But if someone figures out you're a princess, they'll ask you questions about where you're from," Tails points out.

"You make a good case, Tails...Alright, I will try to...blend in, as you say," She nods.

"Come, Ella can help," Chuck leads her upstairs.

* * *

Sonic, Chris, Tails, and Cream wait patiently before Sophia descends down the stairs. They look in awe as she wears a white shirt with a pink heart in the center, also having a blue blazer that goes to her elbows. Her skirt is lavender with a few hearts at the right corner. She has a butterfly clip near her right ear and wears blue ankle boots. Her hair is left down as she smiles. "Do I fit in?"

"Oh, you look beautiful, Sophia!" Cream exclaims happily, Sonic giving her a thumbs up.

"You'll blend right in!" Tails winks.


	3. Missile Wrist Rampage

Starfire: Hi Angel I see you made the story I suggested and I'm impressed on the princess appearance and that you made her part of Sonic's world and her powers btw I said she's young as in the same age 12 as Chris plus I thought it'd be okay if she was paired with him since he and Helen are friends it's what I meant anyway great story and can't wait to see the next chapter and their adventures they'll have.

 **Angel: I kinda forgot, plus I technically never said her age yet in the story.**

 **Sophia: 'Paired?' I beg your pardon? I am unfamiliar with this concept.**

Bajy: Great job here! I like Sophia! She's really amazing! I can't wait until the next chapter, but like always I'm a patient girl, keep up the good work! Also I have a question to ask you? If you don't mind, pm me when you get the chance so we can talk privately.

 **Sophia: Oh well, thank you Miss Bajy. I am so pleased to hear your compliments. *bows head***

 **Angel: I'll try, but I've got a lot going on right now...**

Gwen: Cool chapter can't wait for the next one and I hope you'll figure out how to update this story this week on any day.

 **Angel: I might have to work on this on Tuesdays and Thursdays after I type a Hey Arnold segment at this rate.**

Jake: Wow amazing I really like Sophia's new outfit to blend in on Earth to fit in anyway good luck with the next new chapter.

 **Sophia: Thank you, Mr. Jake, but this praise should be directed at Miss Ella. She is the one who helped me 'fit in' and I am eternally grateful to her.**

Dream lightning: Wow looks amazing is an app called KissAnime has all sonic x episode ever that helps great app watching anime love your TMNT 2003 looking for 2007 movie her in it love the hey Arnold loving this hope Sofia falls for Chris keep it going please.

 **Angel: That's true, but they're also on Youtube. Sometimes the other websites can be a little tricky on my phone, so I'll just use YouTube instead for this. And I'm gonna put a poll sometime in the summer (I hope) for which movie I should do (but this will regard TMNT movies only). That way, I can get at least one of them out of the way. But I don't know if I will be able to if I'm already writing three stories. But I've got like 3 or 4 months until summer. I just hope that I'm done with Sonic X because TMNT and Hey Arnold have multiple seasons and I'm still on season one for both...**

 **Sophia: Excuse me? Chris is my friend. And I regret to say Miss Dream Lightning that I am a princess, so therefore, I must court royalty only. And I would rather pair him with Miss Helen.**

Jenny: Good luck with this story Angel we'll be waiting for the next chapter whenever it'll be posted.

 **Angel: Thanks.**

Caitlyn: Wow great chapter I can't wait to see the next one soon I really like how the princess outfit is like she looks pretty.

 **Sophia: Thank you to everyone who has complimented me, it is so nice to hear things like this. *smiles***

Guest: Sweet chapter can't wait to see the next chapter of this story

 **Angel: Thank you.**

Brittany: Great chapter and story can't wait to see the rest of it.

 **Angel: The episodes, to me, aren't that hard to type since they're at least 21 minutes, so I'm pretty sure I can work fast. Hopefully fast enough to be able to do a movie in the summer.**

Guest: Cool story can't wait to see the next one real soon.

 **Sophia: *smiles* All of you have been so nice. Angel has done an excellent job so far.**

Liam: This is going to get better in this story can't wait for more of this but take your time

 **Angel: Thanks...unfortunately for me, some people aren't so patient.**

GreenD109: So far, Sophia can be as fast as Sonic, have night vision and can fly, and it's gonna be more to her than meets the regular eye, but that's writers of a story or fanfiction do, leaving the viewer/reader in anticipation till the character(s) reveal more of his/her talents which also make it interesting. Anyway, good chapter.

 **Sophia: Erm...yes, that is right...*sweats a little* And everyone has a secret, do they not? I do not see why mine is so important.**

Sapphire: Good chapter can't wait for the next one to come

 **Angel: I need time to write them XD I don't work on these 24/7, I get homework, essays, and other chapters to write in my free time. And sometimes quizzes or exams, but I do those fairly quickly from my laptop.**

In the foggy air, Dr. Eggman's base is in the middle of an island, where waves crash against it. Eggman himself is in his main room, looking at Station Square via the screen in front of him. He laughs at the sight. "Conquering this puny planet will be a picnic! As an appetizer, I'll finish off this city."

Decoe holds out a pack of cards on a tray. "Which robot will you use, doctor?"

"Hm, let's see," he takes the pack. "They all look so lethal. Mm, I can't choose." He places the card pack into his Selection Machine card slot. He closes it and pulls the lever. Whenever he couldn't choose a robot to use against his enemies, he uses this machine to pick for him. The reels display three images of a large robot called E-23 Missile Wrist. "Ah, Missile Wrist. Perfect!"

* * *

In Station Square, small kids are seen playing basketball. Down below in the sewers, Knuckles and Amy are walking through. Knuckles leads the way and he growls in frustration.

"This whole thing is Sonic's fault."

"All Sonic did was to try and stop Eggman. He didn't mean for us to get sent here," Amy tells him.

"Even if Dr. Eggman is the one to blame, Sonic shouldn't have pushed him so far," Knuckles retorts and Amy comes to a stop.

"He's not afraid to fight back!" She defends, clenching her fist.

Knuckles stops walking, staring at her. "Sonic just likes getting into fights for kicks!" He argues back.

Amy crosses her arms. "I'm not going any further if you talk trash about Sonic!"

"I don't have time for this. See ya," he walks off.

"You're not gonna leave me alone down here, are you?" She sweats a little.

"Do what you want. That's your business," he replies without looking back.

She gives in, placing her hands on her hips. "This is gonna be impossible..." She runs up to him. "Hey come on, Knuckles, don't be mad! Wait up!"

 _(Gotta Go Faster)_

* * *

On a crowded beach, a beach ball flies into the air. A woman in an orange bikini spikes it back. One blond man is surfing. People are enjoying themselves. A blonde woman is reading under an umbrella. She looks up and sees something dark past the people playing volleyball, but she can't figure out what it is. The beach ball hits the water.

"That's okay, I've got it," The woman in the orange bikini laughs as she runs to reach it. Something comes right out of the water and she screams. Everyone stares in shock. Missile Wrist is standing right in front of the woman. It stands tall above her and the beach ball hits her head. She screams again, Missile Wrist pointing one of the missiles in the air. It fires and hits the lifeguard stand. The woman reading screams, running off. The missile goes through several cars. They are blown up, everyone starting to run and scream. Missile Wrist fires again and Eggman flies above the scene in his Egg Mobile.

"There's nothing more fun than making waves at the beach," he has an evil smile on his face. "Well, now that we've established a beach head here, let's set our sights on the city."

* * *

At the Thorndyke residence, Tails is washing the Tornado, Chuck watching him. "I like to keep the Tornado nice and clean."

"Tails, I'd love to study this plane's mechanics someday," Chuck says to him. Cream, Sophia, and Cheese are having a tea party. Cheese is eating a donut.

"Do you like that?" Cream asks him and he nods. "I'm glad, Cheese."

"These...donuts are quite delicious," Sophia smiles as she eats one, holding her parasol over her head.

"You've never had a donut, Miss Sophia?" Cream questions her in surprise. She shakes her head.

"No, never, Cream. But I do not regret trying one now," Sophia admits.

"Hey Tails! Sophia!" They turn to Chris.

"What's wrong?" Tails asks in confusion and he joins them.

"Where's Sonic?" Chris wonders.

"He left this morning. He was going somewhere to explore. Downtown, I think," Cream explains to him.

"If the police spot Sonic, they'll try to catch him," Chris says in worry.

"Catch Sonic? I don't think so," Tails replies in a matter of fact tone.

"I just hope he's careful."

"Sonic knows what he is doing, Chris. You must trust him to be safe, even if he is a little arrogant at times," Sophia adds from her seat.

Tails tilts his head at him, frowning a little. "Mm, that's not his style, Chris. Sonic likes danger."

Chris starts to get even more worried. "We have to bring him back! Right away!"

"Oh dear," Sophia murmurs, sweat on the back of her hair.

* * *

Missile Wrist steps on a car, having entered the city. He continues to walk, SSPD doing a roadblock. "Hold it right there! Take one more step and we'll open fire!" Missile Wrist continues advancing. "Fire!" They shoot Missile Wrist, but their bullets have no effect on the armor. Eggman is not satisfied as he has a hand on his cheek.

"Ah. There's a word for this: Boring."

With gunfire no longer an option, an SSPD SWAT officer fires a flamethrower at Missile Wrist. It's engulfed in flames and Missile Wrist stops moving. "That thing's toast!"

When the flames die down, Missile Wrist has no scratch on him. Eggman floats down in his Egg Mobile, smirking evilly. "You cannot win. I can clobber you klutzes at will. Now roll over or get run over." The police look at him, sweat on their faces.

"Uh...we give up."

"I can't stand quitters," Eggman says, moving out of the way. "Give them what they deserve!"

Missile Wrist opens fire on the SSPD.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails, Chris, and Sophia continue looking for Sonic. Tails is in the Tornado 2, Sophia flying besides him. Her wings are leaf-shaped, pink and lavender with maroon jewels.

"This is like trying to find a hedgehog in a haystack!" Tails comments as he looks over the edge.

"Finding Sonic in an environment like this will not be easy, Tails," Sophia yells at him over the engines.

"Sonic!" Chris yells from the ground, in the park. "Hey Sonic! Sonic! Are you out there, Sonic? Hey Sonic!"

"I don't think your friend Sonic is here," Chuck tells him from the car. "Let's look somewhere else, Chris." Chris nods at him, running to the passenger seat. He jumps in as Chuck drives off.

* * *

At a mountain, Sonic looks at the snow-crusted landmark, smiling. He jumps, running down the path. He shouts happily as he jumps again.

Knuckles and Amy are still walking in the sewers, but Amy is getting tired. "Knuckles, can't we take a break?"

"You take one if you want, but I'm not stopping," he declares. She whines in frustration, thinking to herself.

A little casual conversation will lighten things up! "So, what do you think our chances are of getting back home, Knuckles?"

"We'll get back, for sure," he says without a doubt.

"How can we?" She wonders.

"I don't know, but we will. Somehow, we will," he thinks about the Master Emerald. "No matter what it takes, I have to get back. The princess assigned me to guard the Master Emerald. Nothing's gonna stop me from doing my job for Princess Sophia. You can count on it. Until I do find a way back, I'm not going to rest or get sidetracked." The ground starts to shake and he looks up. "Huh?" He looks towards the ladder, the ground shaking even more. He runs up to the ladder. "What's that?" Amy gives a worried look.

Missile Wrist walks down the street, destroyed cars behind it. Knuckles moves up the manhole to see the damage. A man walks up to a door and they open. He screams as he sees Missile Wrist standing in front of him. He runs off, fearing for his life. Missile Wrist bangs his head against the top window, breaking the door into pieces. The citizens inside scream, running away. Missile Wrist starts destroying everything, a woman running inside the closet. Another woman has been taken away from two men as she has fainted.

"Heh heh heh. Go to the roof, we can do more damage from up there," Eggman floats up in his Egg Mobile.

"Acknowledged," Missile Wrist points one of his missiles at the ceiling. He shoots and Eggman appears at the roof, looking at the street as multiple police cars have gathered around the building.

"Ho ho ho, it appears we're attracting a crowd!" He grins as he turns, Missile Wrist breaking the roof as his missile arm turns into a grappling hook.

"Proceeding to upper structural surface," it makes its way to Eggman, a crash appearing at every floor. It then crashes through the roof, the police chief watching in disbelief and shock at what he's witnessed. Missile Wrist just stands there before Eggman appears.

"Let's get this show on the air." He presses a button, putting up a projection screen of himself in the middle of the street and broadcasting it to every single television in town. "Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Eggman and I have some exciting news for you. Exciting for me, that is, and catastrophic for you. I have decided to take over your world and make it part of the new Eggman Empire. Resistance is futile. You will submit to my rule or be swept away like dust bunnies." He laughs again.

Even Chris, Cream, Cheese, Chuck, Sophia, and Tails have seen his message. Tails and Sophia narrow their eyes. "So Eggman _is_ here."

"Turn yourself in now, bub, or we'll haul you in," The Chief demands from a bullhorn.

"You must be joking," Eggman grins.

"We're not playing around here, buddy. Pull over and let's see your license and registration," The Chief says seriously.

Eggman thinks about it, cringing as he raises an eyebrow. "Hmm...I am the one giving the orders here!"

The Chief growls, adjusting his hat. "Oh yeah? What makes you think so?"

"This makes me think so!" Eggman snaps his fingers, Missile Wrist shooting down at the cars from the roof. Missile Wrist retracts his arm back. "Now will you surrender your city?"

"Uh, sorry doc," The Chief says as him and the other officers are covered in soot. "That's not my call. We need to run it by the mayor."

"Then go, and bring him to me," Eggman's glasses shine brightly.

* * *

Tails has prepared the Tornado 2, Sophia standing next to him. He turns around. "Come on, Chris. Let's go!"

"Ready Tails!" Chris runs up with a helmet. Sophia opens her wings, adjusting her clothes. Chris crawls inside the plane.

"Good luck out there, and be careful," Chuck warns them.

"We'll be okay," Tails turns to him, winking with a thumbs up.

"We'll find Sonic and stop Dr. Eggman, don't you worry," Chris assures his grandfather.

"Yes, we will need his help to stop this new menace from Dr. Eggman," Sophia nods, narrowing her eyes. "As long as we are here, he will never gain unfair control of your city."

"Goodbye, guys," Cream tells them.

"Okay, Chris, hang on," Tails warns and Sophia jumps off in the air, starting to fly with her wings. Tails flies the plane after her.

* * *

Back in the city, Eggman glares down. "Who are you?"

"I am the mayor of this city," the Mayor of Station Square says into a bullhorn. "And I won't be blackmailed to negotiate with the likes of you!"

"Really?" Eggman chuckles, snapping his fingers again. Missile Wrist fires one of his weapons, attacking a building near the mayor. He looks at the damage. "Mayor, now are you ready to negotiate with me?"

He coughs, the officers and himself covered in smoke. "Uh, technically sir, our charter doesn't allow me to surrender the city." Eggman is disappointed, his mustache sagging by the lack of cooperation. Deciding he's done with diplomacy, he readies to signal his robot with his next orders.

"Missile Wrist, destroy this place before-"

"Eggman!" He turns around in shock to see Sophia, Tails, and Chris coming at him in full force. He quickly ducks his head before the plane could take it off. "It's Tails and the princess! I'll teach those flying furballs. Attention Missile Wrist, take aim at that plane and girl. Blast them out of the sky!"

"Acknowledged." Missile Wrist aims for Sophia and the plane, but they dodge every time.

"Those came pretty close!" Chris shouts over the sound.

Sophia growls at the robot, "Very persistent, are we not?"

"Two can play at that game. Hang on!" Tails tells him and he soars down, Sophia flying next to him. Missile Wrist continues to shoot at them, but Tails and Sophia keep dodging. Tails starts to fire at the robot, Sophia taking a deep breath and blowing ice from her mouth. The bullets do nothing and the ice breaks as soon as it touches the robot. "It's no use, its armor's too thick!"

Chris looks down, "Hey guys, look out!" Another shot is being fired at them. Tails shouts in surprise while Sophia flies backwards. The missile hits the front of the plane. "Now this is what I call an emergency!" Sophia flies down after the plane, Tails pushing buttons and pulling a lever. Sophia grabs the tail of the plane and pulls it straight with her super strength. "Thanks Sophia!"

"Of course," she nods curtly. The entire plane transforms into jet mode.

"We're in a jet-set!" Tails calls out, Chris looking in awe. They continue dodging the attacks being thrown at them. A crowd has gathered around, seeing the fight between them. Knuckles and Amy are among that crowd.

"Tails and Sophia are in trouble! We've gotta find a way to help them!" Amy turns to Knuckles.

"I've got more important things to do," he replies.

"Fine, who needs you?!" She shouts to his surprise and she runs off to help her friends.

"Don't go in there!" Knuckles calls out to her as she enters through a broken window. "She's only gonna get herself hurt," he says to himself before running off after her. Amy stands in front of the elevator and the doors open. She walks inside. "Amy!" She looks to see Knuckles running towards her. "Amy!" She crosses her arms, ignoring him as the doors close. "Stop!" He doesn't make it inside, putting his hands on his hips. "Great, what'll I do now?" He looks up and sees an exit sign.

* * *

Sonic runs through a field, a bridge, and the street but suddenly comes back, blinking.

"What's going on up there?" A crowd is gathered around an electronics store display.

"There's a robot on the roof!"

Sonic runs up to a tree to investigate. Eggman is on all of the screens, laughing. "Eggman. So that clown got sent here too!" The screen changes to Sophia and Tails dodging Missile Wrist. He could see the nervous looks on their faces. "Time for me to join the party." Sonic jumps out of the tree, running off.

* * *

Back at the fight, Knuckles has managed to make it to the roof. "Alright, I need a strategy."

The elevator doors open and he turns around, smirking. He gets a hammer to the face, yelling in surprise.

"Leave Tails and Sophia alone, you big bully!" Amy runs up to the robot, clenching her hammer in her hands.

"Don't do it, Amy!" Knuckles warns, but she ignores him, hitting the robot's leg. Missile Wrist turns around to see Amy shaking her hand in pain. He picks her up with his hand and she screams, sweating as she looks at him. Knuckles charges forward. "Hang on Amy!" Eggman gets in front of him.

"Hold it, Knuckle-head." Knuckles stops, gritting his teeth. "One more step and the girl's a goner," Eggman snaps his fingers and Missile Wrist squeezes Amy tighter.

"Knuckles!" She screams. Knuckles growls in anger while trying to think of something to help Amy.

Sonic speeds on the highway. "I better pick up the pace if I wanna be part of the action!" He continues, the city in his sights.

"Leave Amy alone, or you'll be sorry!" Knuckles threatens Eggman.

"Sorry? I'm already sorry that you and your friends have survived!" Eggman says, "My consolation is that it seems Sonic didn't," Eggman looks around to be sure. "Or did he? Perhaps this is all a trap."

The Tornado and Sophia fly past him. "What if Sonic doesn't make it?" Tails asks. Chris sees something from below. It's blue and fast.

"It's okay! Help is on the way!" Chris beams and Sophia looks in his direction, smiling.

"Huh?" Eggman turns around.

"Get him, Sonic!" Chris laughs and Sonic speeds past two people, surprising them. Sonic snickers as he continues to run. The plane and Sophia come into his view. As Sonic passes the plane, Chris hands him a power ring and he catches it.

"Thanks," Sonic calls out. "Princess, I'll need your help!"

"Right!" Sophia nods and lands quickly, following after Sonic with her speed. Sonic absorbs the power from the ring. Sophia's rings on her wrists glow.

"There he is...and with the princess. Get ready to fire," Eggman tells Missile Wrist. The robot throws Amy away and she screams. Knuckles jumps up and catches her. Sonic and Sophia get into super speed mode. They run up the building. "Hurry, fire!" The robot starts to fire missiles at them, and they seem to hit the targets. "Finally." To his surprise, the two come out of the smoke, still spinning. "Fire away!" Missile Wrist starts to throw punches at them, but Sonic ends up showing off by doing tricks while Sophia just jumps around using her agility. Sonic even mocks Eggman by slapping his bottom.

"Wise guy. I'll show you!" Sonic carries on.

"Sonic! Princess!" Knuckles calls out while Amy just looks in worry. "Try the old 'slap on the wrist,' but with your weapon! " Knowing what he meant, the two get on the robot's hands and they reattach with the rest of the body. Sonic is in front and Sophia is kneeling behind him. Sonic sticks his tongue out, pulling the skin down from his left eye, Sophia giggling. Missile Wrist brings up his other arm and just as it brings the arm down, Sonic jumps up, a glint appearing from Sophia. She holds a sword and she slices the arms in half gracefully. Sophia flies up next to Sonic.

"Bye!" Sonic calls out.

"Goodbye!" Sophia waves down.

"Fire!" Missile Wrist fires more missiles from the chest launchers. They hit Sonic and Sophia dead on. "Hah hah!" Sonic and Sophia come out of the smoke in their super speeding forms, a smirk on Sonic's face. Sophia gives a serious look and they both crash into the robot. It blows up and Knuckles covers Amy from the debris, smirking.

"Alright Sonic and Sophia!" Chris cheers from the plane. The smoke clears, Eggman covered in dirt. He coughs slightly, groaning. Sonic stands there with a smirk on his face and Sophia stands next to him, her sword in her sheath.

"You lose," Sonic tells him.

"As long as we are alive, you will never win," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"This isn't over, blue boy and royal showoff. You haven't heard the last of Eggman!" He takes off in his Egg Mobile. "Soon, I will rule this world, this universe, and the Chaos Emeralds will be mine!" He laughs, disappearing in a flash. Sophia glares up at his leave.

"Oh Sonic! Sonic!" Amy wraps her arms around Sonic, choking him a bit with her hug. "You're okay!"

"Oh, take it easy!" Sonic tries to say.

"For a while there, Sonic, I thought I'd never see you again!" Amy says through her tears.

"Amy, please, let me go!" But she doesn't. Knuckles just watches and Sophia stands next to him, giggling at the sight. Knuckles shouts in surprise, looking up at her.

"P-Princess!" He bows to her. "I'm so sorry that I abandoned the Master Emerald! I've failed my mission..."

Sophia blinks down at him before smiling to herself. "Knuckles, you have not failed your mission. It has only just begun."

"Huh?" He looks up at her.

"Returning back home is now your first priority. The Master Emerald will be safe, I know it. Your mission is now one and the same," she closes her eyes. "So do not fret about this. If necessary, I will protect it myself. You have done an excellent job," she pats his head to his confusion. "And I know you will continue to do your job."

"Sophia!" Amy runs up to her, hugging her. Sophia laughs and hugs her back.

"It is wonderful to see you too, Amy."

A group of police officers come onto the roof with guns in their hands, pointing them at the four.

"Alright, nobody move."

"Oh great. Now what?" Knuckles grumbles.

"Don't try running away," the officer orders, Knuckles starts clenching his teeth in anger.

"Knuckles never runs away from a fight!"

The officer starts to sweat. "Hey, easy pal."

"Knuckles," Sophia gives him a warning look. "Officers, you misunderstand the situation. We-"

"Sonic! Sophia!" Tails calls out, getting their attention. They look up and see the Tornado 2, a ladder hanging down from it. The plane comes past, Sonic grabbing a hold of it as he holds onto Amy. Sophia grabs the last end. Knuckles keeps his eyes on the men in front of him.

"Hey Knuckles, come on!" Sonic calls out as Sophia climbs up further.

"Knuckles!" Sophia shouts.

"Please Knuckles, let's go!" Amy yells. Knuckles decides that the soldiers aren't worth his time anymore, retreating with the others.

"Get 'em!" The soldiers start firing and Knuckles jumps, grabbing the end of the ladder.

"We'll go back to my house, guys!" Chris yells over the engine.

"Cream and Cheese are already there waiting for us!" Tails adds.

"Wow, them too? So we're all here together!" Amy smiles.

"Count me out. This is where I get off," He lets go of the ladder, falling towards the forest.

"No! Don't go!" Amy shouts.

"See you around!" He disappears into the trees.

"He's not coming with us? Why not?" Amy asks.

"That's Knuckles," Sonic answers.

"He likes to do things his own way," Sophia closes her eyes, putting her whole trust in him.


	4. Chaos Emerald Chaos

Guest: Wow cool story and Sophia has wings I thought she flies the same like Wonder Woman or Superman do with their power of flight.

 **Sophia: It...varies between the two. I do not know why.**

Bajy: Great job here! Love it! Sophia's powers are awesome! (But please don't include magic in here, okay?) Are her wings and sword made from chaos energy? That would be cool! And her speed and strength are neat, she's even wearing power rings around her wrists! Still more twists and turns await us readers. I wonder what will happen next? Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Sophia: Thank you very much. *bows head***

 **Angel: I'm pretty sure there's no magic involved in this story, I missed at least 25% of the show when it was airing. But I still remember most of the episodes, and I'm almost sure that there's not supposed to be any magic. Chaos energy differs from that. And as for her wings and sword, I actually explained Sophia's past and origins in this episode, which I hope Starfire approves of. Like I've stated before, she didn't give me much.**

Jake: Great chapter. I can't wait to see the next chapter and I hope Sophia explains how she got her powers.

 **Sophia: Well...perhaps my origins explained in this story will suffice for all of the lovely fans out there.**

Guest: Amazing I can't wait to see the next chapter and I have a question, how did Sophia make a sword appear and learn how to fight with it? I bet her parents, the king and queen, are pretty cool when they get back to their world.

 **Sophia: My sword? I can make it appear at my own will. As for how I learned to fight with it, I am certain that it has already been explained in this particular chapter.**

 **Angel: Yeah, I did explain it.**

 **Sophia: Oh! Well...there you go, Guest. And yes, my parents are very likeable.**

Guest: That was amazing, can't wait for the next chapter to come up.

 **Angel: I kinda had to wake up early to write this today because I've been a little busy this week. That's why my other stories haven't been updated yet.**

Sapphire: Cool chapter I can't wait to see the next one and I hope they can find a way back home and I wonder if Sophia's parents notice her gone.

 **Sophia: Erm...no, I do not believe they know. I have attempted to contact them, but my communication devices do not seem to work in Station Square at the moment. Perhaps I will ask Tails or Chuck.**

Jake: I'm so psyched to see the next chapter coming up, I wonder what will happen in it.

 **Angel: Didn't you already review for this...?**

Sam: Wow I just read this story and it's amazing I can't wait to read more of this and the next chapter that's coming up and I really like Sophia that she's a princess from another world.

 **Sophia: *smiles* I have quite the nicest fans complimenting me, it seems.**

GreenD109: You know, so far I'm pretty amazed that Tails is Princess Sophia's mechanic and Knuckles is somewhat loyal knight sworn to protect the Master Emerald in his own way all by Sophia's behest.

 **Sophia: Yes, Tails is very amazing at what he does. I do not ask him frequently to invent certain things for me. Sometimes I will ask him to create things to help our friends. *thinks* I do not know if Knuckles is my knight, per say. I never officially bestowed that title to him, but I would like to think he is one. Even if he is...short tempered.**

Diana: I like this story and I get what you mean. I think it's okay if Sophia doesn't matter who she'll be paired with. I like her for who she is.

 **Sophia: *smiles* Thank you very much, Miss Diana. I do not understand why I must be 'paired' with anyone, really. I would much rather have my own decisions when it comes to...boys. I am still young, there will be other opportunities in the future. I would rather be myself with others and have them as friends, or...enemies. *frowns* Such as Eggman himself. He is despicable.**

Scrappy Doo Fan: Ichabod: Ay, carumba! It started, and ya didn't even tell us?! I get you were swamped with other stuff, but...y'know what? No problem, cuz good ol' Ichabod will have his day...and debut! *blushes* Lucky I feel like followin' to see what happens next...

 **Angel: For those of you reading this segment of review replying, I don't necessarily have to announce it, because I did announce the day it would be posted on other stories. Technically, you could also look at my profile to check. *shrugs* So that's my reasoning. And also, I decided not to put Ichabod in this because Scrappy suddenly put this OC on me and I wouldn't know what to do with him anyway, so I'm sorry, but he's not going to be in it. But that doesn't mean I won't use him in other stories. And 'other stuff' right now is homework, essays, practicing my driving, going to school, and typing other chapters.**

Brittany: I can't wait to see the next chapter and on what'll happen in it next.

 **Angel: If you've watched all the episodes, then I'm pretty sure you should already know...? XD**

Jake: Great story Angel I read your story twice and I can't wait to see the next chapter when they get the Chaos Emerald.

 **Angel: Wow, twice? I'm not even that far into finishing it. Not unless I write two episodes a week...**

"So this 'Chaos Control' created a warp in time and space and that's how you guys ended up here," Chris says as they've explained how they got to his world. "Hmm, I think I understand that much but I still don't understand these 'Chaos Emeralds' you guys are talking about." The group are sitting in bean-bag chairs in the attic, where they're staying so no one in the house can see them.

"You've never heard of the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asks in surprise. "Boy, you really do have a lot to learn, don't ya?"

"Yes...quite a lot," Sophia sweats a little, her hands on her skirt.

"Each Chaos Emerald is filled with a magical power. So you could imagine what would happen if you found all 7 of them," Amy explains. Chuck turns around in his chair.

"But no one has ever found all seven Emeralds and now it's highly improbable that anyone ever will find them," he states.

"Why is that?" Cream asks.

"Well you see, Cream, every one of the precious Chaos Emeralds has disappeared," he answers.

"That doesn't mean they're gone for good." They turn to Sonic, who lies on the window still near Sophia. "Any time the seven Chaos Emeralds come together in one place, they scatter and disappear all over again!"

"Then that means they're all still out there someplace," Chris says in realization.

"That's right," Sonic gives him a thumbs up.

"Only we don't have any way of knowing where. If they're on this planet, that's good, but if they're still in the planet we came from, we may never get home," Tails points out. Chuck starts to yawn.

"Listen, if the Emeralds ARE somewhere on this planet, and if we can find some way to locate them all, maybe we'll be able to reverse that time warp. You guys will be back on your home planet before you know it! Right, Sonic?" He smiles at the blue hedgehog.

"Yeah, no worries!" Sonic replies. Chris turns to Sophia.

"So, Sophia...how is this all connected to you? I know you're the princess, but have you ever had them all?" He wonders and Sophia closes her eyes.

"Normally I do not like going into my past, but...if I must," She sighs a little. "My story starts with my parents, if I must be honest. My people are from a planet called Xenia, but I am not. We are a race that look mostly like you, Chris, but not entirely. You see, when our planet was destroyed by my jealous uncle because he was not crowned king, my parents wandered around space for what seemed like forever. I do not know what happened to the people or the other members of the royal court. I do not know if they perished from the explosion or...worse," she closes her eyes. "All of this occurred before I was even born, therefore I do not know much about what Xenia was like. But, finally, my parents found Sonic's planet. However, I do not think anyone was around at the time, not even Sonic. So my parents salvaged what was left of their ship to create my current home, the castle. And from what I can remember, a few years later, the king and queen created what is now Sonic's world."

"Wait...so you're an alien princess?!" Chris asks in shock, Chuck blinking as he takes in her appearance. "But what part of you isn't human?"

"I have been told time and time again to never show my true form and I will abide by that promise," Sophia narrows her eyes a little. "It was the first thing I learned when I was born."

"Oh...well, then how did you meet Sonic and his friends?" He wonders.

"Well...after my parents helped build what our world is today, I was born. I am only 1/16th Xenian since I was not born there. My whole life, I was taught the proper etiquette and manners that I have now. But, I will admit, I had a more...mischievous side of myself," she smiles slightly. "I believe I was 5 years old...well, looked 5 years old. My people do not necessarily look their real age."

"So does that mean you're...?" Chuck starts.

"Older than 12? Yes, yes I am. I do not keep track of my age, but it has been more than a thousand years. We age every month, if I am not mistaken. Back to the story of how I met Sonic, right? Well, back at that point in time, my parents often had to leave me with a royal guard to form peace treaties or to find more staff so that I would not be alone. I used to play pranks on the staff. But for cautionary measures, my mother gave me my sword. This is most likely the only thing I have to remember my history, as it was from the armory from Xenia. I used to watch her train with it and I eventually learned by myself. One day I decided to go find some of my mother's favorite flowers to welcome her back. And I...found myself lost," she sweats a little.

 _A younger Sophia walked through a flower field, picking flowers. "Mother will love these!" She smiled brightly. She wore her princess dress, wearing her white gloves. Her hair was a short bob._

 _"I was doing well on my flower arranging classes, so I wanted Mother to see how good I was. The last thing I expected was to get lost in the forest on my way back."_

 _Sophia walked through the forest, looking around in confusion. "Where is the path I took? Where did I go?" She shouted in surprise at a rustle in the bushes. She tripped and whimpered slightly, looking up in fear. However, it was just a bunny. It looked at her before hopping away. "I knew I should not have left all by myself...I knew it and I did it anyway..." She started to cry._

 _Another rustle approached and she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. Sonic popped his head out of the bushes. He saw her and stared at her for a second, noticing her clothes. She looked familiar to him, but he didn't recognize her. He knew he didn't know her, he had never seen her before._

 _"Hey, are you okay?" She looked up at him. "Hey there. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog! What's your name?" He kneeled down in front of her with a smile. She backed up away shyly. "Don't be shy, I'm a friend!"_

 _"A friend...?" Sophia murmured in confusion before looking down at her leg, which had a small bruise. "I hurt my leg..."_

 _"Aw, don't worry. See this?" He held up a pink cloth. "This'll make ya better! And look, it matches your hair." He wrapped up her leg. "There you go! Are you able to stand up?"_

 _"But...what if I cannot do it...?" She looked down at it._

 _"Don't give up! What's the harm in trying?" He held up a hand to her. She took it and she stood up on her legs, looking down with a beaming smile._

 _"I did it!" She cheered and he grinned. She picked up her flowers, turning to him. "Sophia. My name is Princess Sophia."_

 _"Ohh...now I remember you. Your parents are the king and queen, right?" He asked in realization._

 _"Yes, they are. I am looking after the castle while they are away...oh, I should be getting back. The guards must be worried..." She looked around. "But I do not know where I am..."_

 _"The castle? I just passed by it! I'll take you there! Hold on!" He put her on his back piggy back style. "I'll take these!" He took her bouquet and ran off, Sophia shouting in surprise._

 _"I had yet to adapt my speed, so it was really surprising to see someone who could move so fast. But Sonic...he became a close friend over time."_

Sophia smiles at the memory. "And eventually, he started visiting me at the castle with his friends. At first, I was a little shy, but then I became a part of their group. They taught me some of their admirable skills over time, at which my powers started to manifest. And I've known them ever since. As for the Chaos Emeralds...I am not too familiar with them. I do not even know when they arrived for the first time," she blinks slightly. "But they were a part of my lessons, as I use Chaos energy as much as Sonic. So yes, I know about them, but I have never harnessed them. I know that we will find them."

"We've been friends ever since," Sonic gives a thumbs up.

Chris and Chuck take in all this information, not knowing what to think.

"Wow...that's...a little sad that you don't know what your home was like," Chris says in sympathy.

"It is alright, my home is with Sonic and his friends now," she explains.

"But what happened to your parents?" Chuck wonders.

"Right now, my parents are in the galaxy for a festival. I miss them dearly every night," she frowns a little. "I am just glad that they are safe and they do not have to deal with Eggman. But, someone had to take care of the castle each time they are away, so here I am with you all."

"So that's why you got transported here. Hmm...hey Sophia, how would you feel about going to Chris' school?" Chuck offers. "I think you should go out and explore our world instead of being stuck here."

"Yeah! I can teach you how we do things here!" Chris exclaims, Tails grinning.

"Oh that would be a wonderful idea!" Sophia agrees, smiling as she clasps her hands. "I would love to see what other people learn about your Earth."

"And we can go shopping," Cream says happily.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Amy exclaims.

 _(Gotta Go Faster)_

At a construction site, a green Chaos Emerald is discovered in the dirt.

A plane flies over Station Square. "Then, where are they?" The President demands as he's been made aware of the recent incident with Eggman.

"It seems the hedgehog and his friends are staying with a family in Station Square. And our agents have traced Eggman to an island somewhere in the southern sea," an agent reports to him.

"Well, get going! I want them captured!" The President orders.

"With all due respect, it might be best to keep them under surveillance so we can observe their behavior. And I would like to remind you that one of his friends is a princess..."

The President growls to himself. "It's all well and good, but you'd better pay special attention to that dangerous Eggman character! And the princess. I don't want to cause a scandal by being unpolite."

"We've already sent out a reconnaissance team, Mr. President. We'll be sure to report back any suspicious activities," the agent explains.

At Eggman's base, a boat pulls up. The recon team sneaks on, one of them waving a light. He sees the light being flashed back.

"Any word on the animals and the princess?" The President wonders.

"We have our operatives watching them too, sir. And we're dispatching an undercover agent to get information on the boy. If there's any unusual activity, we'll know about it."

* * *

At Chris's school, everyone is waiting for class to start.

"Hey kid, 50 cents for your sandwich."

"I bet you that little hedgehog thing is so fast, they're never gonna get him, or that princess girl," Danny, Chris's friend brags to his other friend, Frances.

"I bet you're right. Chris, you think they'll ever catch that hedgehog?" Frances turns to him. Chris wasn't really paying attention to his book in front of him.

"Huh?" He looks up. "Uh, I don't know."

"Children, may I have your attention?" They turn to the school principal, who enters with an unfamiliar man. "I'd like to make some brief announcement to you all. Your teacher, Miss Westerly, will be taking a leave of absence. Therefore, she will not be with you for the remainder of the semester." Chris, Danny, and Frances gasp, the others murmuring among themselves for a couple of seconds.

"Wow."

"Please say hello to Mr. Stewart, who will be your substitute."

Mr. Stewart smiles at them. "Hello children."

"Hello, Mr. Stewart," they greet and Mr. Stewart keeps his eyes on Chris.

"He looks nice, doesn't he, Chris?" Frances asks.

"And my last announcement is that we have a new student joining us today. Please welcome Sophia," he gestures to the door and Sophia walks in with her regular outfit, a kitten backpack on her shoulders. Instead of her power rings, she has a blue pearl bracelet to match her blazer. She also has a kitten barrette near her bangs. All of the boys stare at her in shock and she sweats a little. Luckily, no one recognizes her from the news, meaning her disguise worked.

"Whoa..."

"Never seen someone like her before."

"She looks so pretty."

* * *

The bell rings and the kids begin to head for home. "Danny, c'mon, hurry up!" Chris calls out.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute!" He says back. "I just wanna see this."

"See what?" Chris asks in confusion. As if an answer, Sophia walks out of the classroom, all of the boys surrounding the entrance as a path.

"Hiya Sophia!" One of them greets as she walks past the boys.

"Yeah, I really like your hair."

"Need someone to walk you home?"

"Um, hello there. Thank you. No, I am fine," she waves them off.

"Maybe after school we can get a soda?"

"I regret to say that I cannot," she calls out.

"Wow, she's so polite!"

Chris sweats at the display. "Oh boy..."

"Christopher Thorndyke?" Mr. Stewart appears behind him. "The principal told me your name, and well, I was wondering if you were the same Christopher Thorndyke whose father is the CEO of the starship software company Nelson Thorndyke. And whose mother is the famous film actress Lindsay Fair."

"Yeah, that's me," Chris confirms, blinking.

"Well, I must say Christopher, it's a privilege to meet the son of such distinguished parents," he leans towards him.

"Thanks, that's very nice of you to say," Chris replies.

"Good meeting you, Christopher," Mr. Stewart holds out his hand and Chris shakes it.

"Good to meet you too." Sophia walks up to him.

"Hello Chris. I had a fun time at school today," she then notices Mr. Stewart. "Oh, Mr. Stewart."

"Hello, Sophia," he shakes her hand. "Do you know Chris?"

"Oh, erm...we are...pen pals!" She lies, Chris giving her a thumbs up. "I am from...Canada," she smiles nervously, remembering what Chris told her to say.

"By the way, this might sound strange, but do you have a favorite animal?" He asks curiously.

"Uh, well...um, hedgehogs, I guess," Chris answers, Mr. Stewart giving an interested look. "Is that weird?"

"Mine are, uh...kittens," Sophia thinks to herself. "But yes, is it strange?"

"No, not at all." He admits, the two smiling.

"Hey, Chris! Sophia!" They turn to see Danny running up to them. "Sorry, let's go!"

"It was nice talking to you, Mr. Stewart. See ya!" Chris and Sophia run off with Danny, Mr. Stewart keeping his eye on them the whole time.

* * *

Back at the construction yard, the crane drops some dirt into the truck. It then touches the tip of the emerald, the crane glowing. The construction workers shout in surprise, the controls going wonky. "Hey, what's happening?!" The crane moves all on its own. "Help! Somebody help me! I'm losing control!"

The crane moves to the truck, grabbing it by the window. The construction worker runs out and the truck lands on the side. The crane runs up some logs.

"Look out!" They move out of the way and the crane gets stuck by a pile. The worker is launched out of the crane, landing on the ground.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"I don't know...All of a sudden, the thing had a mind of its own." They look at the crane before it finally comes to a stop. The Chaos Emerald glows slightly in the dirt.

* * *

"Hey Chris, what was Mr. Stewart talking to you two about in the hall?" Danny asks Chris and Sophia at lunch.

"Uh...he asked us what our favorite animal was," Chris admits.

"Huh, that's kind of weird," Danny comments.

"Yes, it was very...strange," Sophia says, thinking to herself. She felt that something didn't sit right with their new teacher...

"So how do you like our school so far?" Danny asks her and she smiles.

"Oh, it has been wonderful! I made a variety of friends and everyone seems so nice," she explains.

* * *

"An unusual gemstone was discovered today at a department store construction site," As the news goes on, Cream is reading a book about a princess while Scarlet goes on. "Eyewitnesses at the site report the construction machinery seemed to malfunction whenever it came within close contact of this strange jewel," Cream starts to fall asleep along with Cheese. "The stone does appear to be radiating an invisible, highly-charged energy. Now some of you watching at home, may be experiencing some static. This is a direct result of the gem's magnetic power," Cream drops the book, which makes her open her eyes. "This is an artist's rendering." Cream wakes up immediately as she recognizes it.

"Chao chao," Cheese says.

"We gotta tell Sonic! Hurry!" She jumps down and runs, Cheese closing the door.

Sonic is lying on a branch in a tree. He stretches his limbs. "Pretty good nap. I needed that."

"Sonic, you won't believe it!" He looks down.

"What's up?" He slides down the tree.

"They found one. They found one," Cream runs up to him.

* * *

Unfortunately, Eggman is watching the same broadcast at his base. "Authorities are conducting a thorough investigation of the surrounding area to determine the possible source of the gem. SSTV will continue to keep you posted with further updates. This is Scarlet Garcia reporting live from the site for SSTV News."

Eggman laughs to himself. "Well, what do you know? A Chaos Emerald right under my nose!"

"Doctor?" One of his robots calls out.

"Yes, Decoe," Eggman turns to Decoe holding a pack of cards.

"Your cards," he offers them and Eggman takes them, thinking.

"Hmm, let's see. Ah, which one? Hmm, I can't choose." He grins and presses the button, placing the cards in the slot again like he did for Missile Wrist. He pulls the lever and it lands on a purple and yellow robot. "Beacon. Ah HA HA!" He stands up, giving two thumbs up.

Beacon prepares to take off into the skies while Eggman flies side by side with it on his Egg Mobile. Beacon lowers its wings before taking off, Eggman flying beside it. A GUN agent looks up from the bushes, placing his phone to his ear. "Enemy aircraft spotted."

"Roger."

"Once I get my hands on that Chaos Emerald, I'll create an even more powerful robot and getting rid of that pesky blue hedgehog will be a breeze!" He laughs again, following after his robot.

* * *

At the Thorndyke mansion, Tails has started the Tornado 2, Amy sitting in the back. Cream and Chuck stand near the back. "Be careful. Don't get hurt, Tails," Cream calls out.

"Don't worry, Cream," Tails turns to her. "We'll be okay."

"I hope Sonic knows where he's going. If he gets lost, we won't know where to look for him," Amy states, concerned.

"Don't worry about Sonic. If anyone can find the Chaos Emerald, he can. Well, along with the princess, but she's still at school," Tails replies, thinking to himself.

"Good luck and be sure to keep your eyes out for Sonic," Chuck calls out. "I certainly hope they can find that Emerald."

* * *

In the streets of Station Square, Sonic jumps from a gap between buildings to another before running on the streets. "The place is around here somewhere. Bet I could see it easier with a bird's-eye view." He jumps in the air, grabbing a red bar that stands up. He jumps up the red bar to the top of the structure and looks at the town around him. "I'll just chill out up here and wait for Tails and Amy!"

As they fly across the ocean, Eggman notices four purple blips on his radar in front of him. "Hmm?" He turns around. "Well I do believe that someone is following me," he sees the GUN missiles, laughing to himself. "This could be fun," he turns to his robot. "What do you say, Beacon? Let's sink the vinks!"

Beacon tricks the missiles into following it and manages to avoid just before touching the water. "How do you like them apples? You foolish flyboys thought you could pull one over on the good doctor, didn't you?! Well, I guess the bad doctor proved you wrong!" He and Beacon continue flying to the city, the buildings in their sight.

* * *

Mr. Stewart finishes working the math problem, turning to the class. "Questions, anyone? Alright, now you try it."

Everyone goes to work on the problem immediately. Sophia finishes first, folding her hands together. Chris turns his head outside and sees the Tornado fly by the window. "Ah." Sophia sees it too and keeps quiet. But Mr. Stewart heard Chris, listening closely.

"What are you looking at, Chris?" Frances wonders.

"Er...um..." He stands up. "Scuse me, Mr. Stewart, Sophia and I will be right back. We gotta do something," he takes Sophia's arm and pulls her along to her surprise.

"Chris," Danny turns to them. "Sophia!"

Mr. Stewart, curious, turns to the class fully. "Keep working, class. I need to step away for a moment. Study quietly on your own," they watch him leave, Frances and Danny looking at each other in surprise.

Chris skates down the street in his roller blades, a determined look on his face. He follows after the Tornado. "Chris, I understand your determination, really, I do," Sophia speaks as she flies above him. "However, I must advise that you do not do this. Sonic has the means to handle this on his own."

"I've just gotta find that emerald, Sophia! Just got to! I wanna help," he explains and she frowns.

"Do you really wish to skip our class for this? What if Sonic heard about your little adventure?" She wonders, coming to a stop. He turns to her.

"My adventure? It's ours now. I think we both know that you're involved in this as much as I am. You're not the type to sit around and do nothing. Well, neither am I!" He skates off again and she sighs, following after him.

"I have a feeling that I will regret this..."

They don't notice as Mr. Stewart following behind them in his car. Sophia lands, stopping as she turns around. Mr. Stewart quickly backs up and Sophia narrows her eyes in thought. She continues running normally instead of flying, just to be sure. He keeps a good distance on them, making sure he doesn't lose their trail.

* * *

Sonic stands up as he sees the Tornado coming into view. "It's about time. You think they could fly that thing a little faster."

"Hey Sonic!" Amy calls out, pointing ahead. "It's over there!"

"Chaos Emerald, here I come!" He slides down the pole. He jumps from roof to roof towards the location of the emerald.

The police and a large crowd are gathered around the construction area where the emerald was found. Even the SSTV News are there, standing outside their van.

"Wow, pretty freaky, huh?" The news reporter asks.

"Yeah, you said it," The cameraman comments. "First that weird hedgehog and princess come out of nowhere, now this magnetic emerald. Hey!" He stands up, looking at the sky.

"What's the matter?!" The news reporter questions.

"Look, up there!"

"What's that?" Scarlet joins them. The cameraman starts filming.

"Whoa. Hey, it looks like that Dr. Eggman guy!" The crowd gasps as Dr. Eggman flies closer with Beacon. He smirks evilly.

Sonic runs as the crowd starts to run away, screaming in fear. The blue hedgehog notices them from above. "What's going on here?" Sonic turns and sees Dr. Eggman approaching. "So," Sonic starts wiping his nose with his finger smugly. "Dr. Egghead thinks he can nab that Chaos Emerald before me." Sonic takes off down the rooftops, going to the location of the emerald.

"Heh, we're closing in," Eggman turns his head to the left. He sees Sonic running across the rooftops not too far away. "It's that blasted hedgehog!" He turns to Beacon. "Change of plans. We'll come back for our little treasure later on. First, we'll get rid of that meddling Sonic! And then we'll find the princess and get her too!" Beacon flies ahead of Eggman, flying towards Sonic. Sonic jumps off a roof, not noticing Beacon coming straight towards him. Sonic jumps off the roof, getting hit by Beacon's beak, which makes him fly up in the air. Eggman laughs in amusement.

Sonic gets hit again and again. Tails flies the Tornado towards Sonic and Beacon. "Quick Amy!" Tails yells at her and Amy holds up a power ring.

"Look, Sonic! The ring, I'll throw it to you!" She waves the ring for him to see. Amy throws the ring towards him. "Catch!"

Sonic reaches out to it, but the ring ends up falling to the ground.

"Not good," Tails says as he looks to where the ring fell.

"Oh no. We're too far away," Amy says in panic. "Hey! What if we try to get closer?"

"It won't be easy, but I can try," Tails replies confidently.

"Alright, let's do it!" Amy declares as he flies over.

Eggman laughs again. "Now that our speedy little friend is out of the way, let's get back to our original plan, shall we?" He chuckles as he comes to land. Eggman jumps off his Egg Mobile, lifting the cloth and beginning to dig through the dirt. He finds the Chaos Emerald, smiling. He reaches out to the emerald, only to have it snatched. "UGGH! Give that back to me!"

"I can't believe it. I found the Chaos Emerald!" Chris doesn't hear Eggman or see him.

"Our friends will be very proud of you," Sophia smiles as she places a hand on his shoulder. "I shall see if I can contact Sonic and the others. You wait here," she walks off. Eggman walks up to Chris, tapping him on the head. Chris looks over his right shoulder, Eggman hitting the hand that holds the Emerald and catching it in his hand.

"Hey, that's mine!" Chris turns to him.

"Sorry, not anymore. Besides, my dear boy, you hardly know what to do with such a thing," he walks off.

"But I found it first!" Chris runs after Eggman, trying to take the emerald back.

"Get off, kid," Eggman tries to push him, but Chris doesn't relent.

"But it's mine!"

"Let go of me, you pipsqueak!"

"Give me that!"

Eggman finally gets Chris off and flies away, but Chris hangs onto the bottom. Sophia walks back, looking around. "Chris? Chris? This is strange. I only left him alone for a-" She gasps as she sees Chris and Eggman. "Chris!" She opens her wings and flies after them.

Sonic is still getting thrown around by Beacon in midair. "Hey!" Sonic yells. "Knock it off!" Beacon comes at full speed towards him, hitting Sonic so hard he goes higher in the air, starting to spin around.

"Sonic!" He sees the Tornado coming towards him, Amy holding up another power ring. They come closer and Amy is able to pass the ring to Sonic this time. He absorbs the energy of the power ring into himself. He flies straight down towards Beacon, starting to spin into a ball. He goes straight through the robot, hearing it explode right before he lands on the street.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" Sonic looks at Chris's direction, seeing him hanging onto the bottom needle of the Egg Mobile. Sophia tries to catch up with him on her wings.

"It's Chris and Sophia!" He runs after them while Tails flies after them.

"We're coming, Chris and Sophia!" Amy yells.

"Chris, Sophia, hang on!" Tails tries to pick up some speed, Sophia doing the same.

Eggman admires the Chaos Emerald in his hand. He smiles evilly, not noticing Chris starting to climb up. Sophia manages to fly up to him, whispering, "Chris, you must not let yourself get into danger. Let Sonic or myself handle him."

"Sophia, you know that I can get that Emerald back. Fly me around him!"

"I..." She sighs a little. "If you insist on doing this, then I will help you." She grabs him and flies over the left wing. She drops Chris there and he ducks down, hoping that he won't be seen. Sophia flies underneath him and Eggman smirks. He tips the Egg Mobile to the left, catching Chris and Sophia off guard. Chris holds on and Sophia steadies him, glaring at Eggman. He tips it to the right and Sophia pulls Chris up. Eggman laughs a bit before tipping the Egg Mobile again. Chris loses his balance and falls off, Sophia about to catch him, but he grabs Eggman's mustache. Sophia giggles to herself. "Perhaps I do not have to handle him at all." Eggman tries to pull himself up, but Chris hangs on tightly.

"I won't let go! Give us back that emerald!" Chris yells stubbornly. Eggman grabs Chris's hand, trying to pry him off.

"You grubby little beast. Let go of my mustache!"

"No, actually, keep holding onto it," Sophia smirks in amusement.

"Oh you're enjoying this, aren't you, you little brat? Once I'm through with him, I'll deal with you myself!" He tells her and she simply snaps a photo with her camera. Eggman gets Chris to let go, but doesn't notice that Sophia had snatched the emerald.

"CHRIS!" Sophia flies down.

"That caterwauling brat certainly was a handful," Eggman fixes up his mustache. He stops when he sees that the Chaos Emerald is gone. "My emerald!"

Chris yells in fright as he's falling straight for the ground. Mr. Stewart sees him, pressing a button that moves the top of his car away and inflates the cushions of the back seats. He looks at the radar. I'll save him!" He speeds his car up and tries to save Chris, but he gasps when Sonic and Sophia run past him. Sonic runs up and catches Chris in his arms.

"I got him, Sophia!" He calls out and she sighs in relief.

"Thank you, Sonic," she replies. They run down the road and around a corner. Mr. Stewart parks his car on the side, looking in the direction of where they just went. His car turns back to normal as his mouth is open in shock.

"S-Sophia...h-how...what...wait...there was a report of a pink-haired girl running with him...so she's the princess...Well, it's good to know someone else is looking out for the kid. Speaking of kids...I better get back to school." He turns the car around, driving back.

* * *

After getting back to the lab, everyone except for Sonic is gathered around Chris, who holds the Chaos Emerald.

"Now that we have one, we just need six more," Cream says excitedly.

"That's right, Cream," Amy replies.

"I'm not certain we should keep it here. After all, it might have an effect on my equipment," Chuck explains.

"No problem," Tails offers. "If anything goes wrong with them, I'll fix them for ya!"

"Alright," Chuck smiles, "It's a deal."

"Okay, Grandpa!" Everyone looks at Tails in shock and confusion.

"Erm...well, I believe I may have a solution to your problem," Sophia bends down to her backpack, holding out a royal purple case with glass as the top. There are 7 holes inside. "We can hold the Emeralds in here. Tails has made sure that the Emeralds do not affect your possessions with this case, Chuck."

"Oh yeah!" Tails rubs his neck sheepishly. "I forgot about that thing."

Chris puts the emerald inside one of the holes and walks up to Sonic, who is resting on the window sill. "Umm, Sonic? I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Sonic asks him.

"Well...for...for losing-"

"You got it back, didn't ya? That's all that matters," Sonic tells him. Chris looks up at him. "I think you did a great job," Sonic gives him a thumbs up.

"I...I did?" A slight bashful blush is on his face.

"You sure did, Chris," Chuck walks over to him. "Just be a little more careful next time, huh?" He starts laughing.

"Thanks," Chris nods slightly, turning to a smiling Sonic. Everyone looks at him, giggling slightly. Chris looks at the emerald inside the case again, proud of himself.


	5. Cracking Knuckles

**Angel: Some people have been messaging me about this story, so I wanna address that. Guys, stop worrying about how I'll do future chapters, I know what I'm doing XD I make this all up as I go along, I'm not even kidding. And don't even think about pming me about Sophia's love life, because I will ignore those. Just read the story and enjoy it for what it is, don't ask all these personal questions about Sophia's life. Isn't it already enough I explained her history?**

Dream lightning: Is it bad I want Sophia and Sonic as a couple it'd be so cool keep it coming looking forward to all the seasons.

 ***record scratch is heard***

 **Sophia: I, erm...I beg your pardon? Me and Sonic?**

 **Angel: You guys are just relentless on the shipping lately...'Sophia should be with Chris,' 'She should be paired with Sonic,' I even got one about Knuckles of all people. Guys, I do not WANT a repeat of Sonic 06, just making Sophia and Sonic a thing reminds me of that. Plus, she is human. I don't care if she's an alien princess, she's not an animal like Sonic and that just looks wrong. In Sonic 06, he got kissed by a human princess because he died and just...ugh! Plus, I ship Amy and Sonic more in this series.**

 **Sophia: Yes, I...have to agree with her. I am not looking for romance. I would much rather live my life until I eventually must take the throne. I vision Sonic more as a best friend, I would not say I see him in...that way.**

 **Angel: Not only that, she does look 12...and don't give me the point that Amy is 12, she's a hedgehog and Sophia is not. The point is, I'm not pairing her with ANYONE. You heard it here, folks, I'm not pairing her with anyone and I'm very sure with my decision.**

Scrappy Doo Fan: Ichabod: That's da way, youse guys! Crack dat mook Eggman but GOOD! (BTW, forgot to mention he talks like Edward G. Robinson.) While YOU guys keep on a-fightin', I'LL stay on da sidelines an' watch! A win-win!

 **Sophia: Thank you, Ichabod. *bows head***

 **Angel: ...Yeah, if I had accepted him, I never would be able to do his dialogue, because I have no idea who that is.**

Bajy: Thank you. That's deep. Great job here! I'm a little confused here on Sophia's age, is she like: 12 in the body and much older in the mind or something, if not then please tell me so that I may understand. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Sophia: Yes, I am certain that is how my people age. I look 12 in my body, but in actuality, I am much older than 12.**

Guest: That was amazing and Sophia and Chris make a pretty good team. Next is Cracking Knuckles I love that episode I can't wait to see it.

 **Sophia: Thank you, we do make a good team...erm, but not as a couple if that is what you are implying.**

 **Angel: No, I don't think that's what the guest meant...I hope.**

Starfire: I read this story and I'm impressed by it. I really like Sophia's parents' origin and how it happened and how she met Sonic and the gang including her other alien form can't wait to see what will happen in the next chapter.

 **Angel: Thanks, it took a while to come up with it. But as the thought came, it made more sense and better than just having her crash on Sonic's planet.**

April: Great story and isn't that the same stuff the boys in Powerpuff Girls Z said to Bubbles in Episode 1 Secret of the Powerpuff Girls?

 **Angel: Yes, yes it is :) I wanted to take inspiration from that since Sophia is the new girl in school.**

Guest: Cool chapter hope you can update the next chapter soon.

 **Angel: I only update when it's convenient to me. Like, if I finish a chapter during the weekend, I won't post it until a week later so I can catch up on future chapters and be done with this story as soon as possible.**

Guest: Hope you can update the next chapter today or on the weekends we'll be waiting to see it

 **Angel: Please don't ask me to update on a certain timeline, I'd rather update on Tuesdays or Thursdays instead of weekends unless there's an emergency.**

Sapphire: Hope to see the next chapter published soon on the weekend I really like this story

 **Angel: Okay, lemme make this clear XD If for any reason I don't update on Tuesdays or Thursdays (which is the actual schedule), only THEN will I update on weekends. Like, for example, say if I have a busy day or something and I don't finish a chapter, then I'll update the chapter on a Thursday or the weekend. Okay**?

Eeveegirl13: I can't wait to see the next chapter it's my favorite episode in Sonic X can't wait for it

 **Angel: Thanks!**

Luna: Can't wait to see the next chapter hope it'll be updated on Tuesday or Thursday

 **Angel: I hope my explanation about this was helpful. *points to the response above***

Knuckles sits in a dark alley in the middle of the night. A newspaper lands on his leg and he grabs it. He looks at the page, seeing a picture of Sonic fighting Eggman. He sighs and lets the paper fly into the wind. He thinks back to Angel Island where he would be doing his job for the princess by protecting the Master Emerald. He stops thinking when he hears footsteps coming from his left. He turns around, stands up, and growls when he sees Eggman come out of the shadows. "What do you want, Eggman?"

Eggman makes a sad face, falling to the ground. "Please help me Knuckles." Knuckles is surprised to hear that. He grabs Knuckles' hands. "If we don't do something fast, Sonic and Sophia could make us prisoners on this planet forever!"

"Huh?" Knuckles asks in shock. Sophia wasn't the type to hold a friend prisoner. Needless to say, he was surprised that she would do that.

"If we can gather all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, there's a fighting chance that we can somehow reverse the effect that sent us to this world and return to where we came from!" Knuckles starts to think about what happened. "Sonic and Sophia knew they could use the Chaos Emeralds to warp himself through time and space. That's the reason they attacked Chaos Control. They found I collected all the Chaos Emeralds to keep them out of their grasp! That's why I kidnapped the princess, you know how ruthless she is and how Sonic is reckless by her side! I was afraid of what they might do if they got a hold of the Emeralds, so I set up defenses, but there was no stopping Sonic! He was determined to push his selfish search for thrills all the way this time, no matter who got hurt! Finally, Sonic invaded Chaos Control and to my horror, the princess was ordering him the whole time! They finally achieved their goal! Sonic and Sophia destroyed Chaos Control and sent us all here, just for the fun of it!"

Knuckles couldn't believe it. Sophia was his friend...she trusted him. "Sonic...he's crazy! But Sophia? She...she would never do that!"

"Why do you think she asked you to take care of the Master Emerald?" Eggman is holding a handkerchief. "She wanted to make sure no one would take her precious emerald! I've changed my ways and want to live in peace, but Sonic and Sophia won't let me!" He blows into his nose, sniffing a bit. "What can I do?! They won't even give me a chance to fix things! I want us to get back but when I found one of the Chaos Emeralds, do you know what happened? They snatched it from me, and said they're going to stay for as long as they please!"

Knuckles growls, looking up. "Those selfish hogs! I can't believe I thought she trusted me."

Eggman smiles beneath the cloth. "They said that we can't leave here until they say so! He thinks this world's a lot more fun than ours and if we don't agree, it's our tough luck!" Knuckles starts to get angry. "You'd think they'd be more concerned about their buddy!"

Knuckles looks at him. "Sonic isn't my buddy! And Sophia is no longer my friend! I'm sick and tired of them turning everything into a game! Either Sonic and Sophia give us that emerald or I'm going to take it from them!"

"Be careful! Sonic and Sophia said they'll crush anybody who tries to get it back," Eggman fake whimpers.

"So then," Knuckles brings his fist up, "A battle to the bitter end."

Eggman's face turns into a smirk. 'My Chronic Sonic and royal troubles are over.' Knuckles doesn't notice it. Eggman's new plan is for Knuckles to fight the two and get the emerald for him.

 _(Gotta Go Faster)_

Tails and Chris look at the green Chaos Emerald from Sophia's case. "A Chaos Emerald. Does anybody know where they come from or how they work?"

"Nobody knows much except that they're real powerful," Tails explains. "Like Sophia says, even she doesn't know."

Chuck sits at his computer, watching them with a smile on his face. "I hope my analysis reveals something about its make up."

Someone knocks from the floor door. They turn their heads around. "I know you're in there. You haven't let me clean your room in so long I'm issuing a dirt alert!" Ella, the maid, declares.

"Oh no, it's Ella! Quick, Tails, hide!" Chris warns him. Tails looks around the room, but before he can move, Ella opens the door. Tails quickly sits down, acting like a stuffed animal. Chris puts his hands behind his back, blocking the Chaos Emerald from her view.

"I thought I'd find you up here, Christopher," she looks at him.

"Oh, hi there Ella," he waves at her. She looks around the room.

"Keeping this room dust free is a losing battle," she starts to vacuum. "Not that I'm complaining, but it's like trying to vacuum a dirt road. Even Sophia's room looked better! I-" She looks down at Tails. A smile spreads across her face. Chuck and Chris start to look worried. "He's so precious! Is this your toy?"

"Urr, I'm taking care of it," Chris rubs his neck.

"Ahh, it almost looks real to me." Tails moves his eyes, which make her look in surprise. Chris snatches Tails.

"I...think I'll go outside and play." Chris puts a smile on his face and she looks at him suspiciously. Chuck quickly gets up, rubbing his neck.

"Uh, me too! I think I saw Sophia outside!" They run down the stairs, Ella looking in shock.

Chris and Chuck run outside, Tails on Chris' back. "Wow Tails, that was a close call."

"We sure fooled her," Chuck says. Sonic is lying on his back against a wall on the railing on a balcony, Sophia sitting on the railing with her parasol over her head. Sonic opens his eye slightly.

"Can't I nap in peace?"

"There will be other times for a moment of rest, Sonic," Sophia shakes her head.

"Yeah, which is now," he retorts, closing his eye again.

"Oh dear," Sophia sweats a little.

The trio are looking behind them, laughing along the way. They stop when Chris runs into Mr. Tanaka, Chuck running into Chris as a result. "Master Chris, what, may I ask, is going on?" He stares down at them.

"Um," Chris rubs the back of his neck while his Grandpa holds his nose, "We were just playing capture the stuffed animal." He laughs nervously, walking by Mr. Tanaka. "Bye."

Chuck groans again while holding his mouth. "I think I'll-"

"Sir," Mr. Tanaka interrupts, Chuck looking at him in fear. "While I commend your desire to stay fit, I would stick to adult sports like bowling."

Chuck crosses his arms stubbornly, eyes closed as he moves his head away. "You can't tell me what to do. I'll play ring around the rosey if I-" He looks back in fear at the look Mr. Tanaka gives him.

"Perhaps you should slow down. Rest is important, and I believe it's time for your nap." He pushes Chuck away.

"I don't need a nap!"

"You can play later." Chris watches them as they argue.

"I have work to do!"

"Come along, Mr. Thorndyke."

"Forget it!"

"Off to bed."

"Take your hands off me!" Tails stops acting, looking up. Chris sighs in relief. Amy comes running, not seeing them as she bumps into the two. The three fall down before getting up except Amy felt a little pain in her body while trying to get up. Chris and Tails look at her in surprise.

"Amy! You know it's dangerous to go wandering around here by yourself."

Amy gets to her feet. "I just saw a news report! It looks like they found another Chaos Emerald." The two blink and follow Amy back into the living room to watch the report.

"The strange energy spikes, which seem to be coming from the Silver Valley area, have played havoc with computers and machinery across the entire region. Investigators are looking into-"

"I bet it's a Chaos Emerald," Tails murmurs.

"You know, Silver Valley isn't very far from here," Chris explains, standing up. "Let's check it out!"

Amy runs outside to tell Sonic what's going on. She turns her attention to him. "Hey Sonic, Sophia, you heard the news?"

"Huh?" Sonic opens one of his eyes, Sophia turning to the ground.

"No, I am afraid I have not. What is this news that has you so intrigued, Amy?" Sophia wonders.

"We're going to Silver Valley. Come along and we'll have a picnic there," Amy starts to flirt with Sonic. Sophia giggles, placing a hand in front of her mouth.

"But we're going for the emerald," Tails reminds her.

"Nah, we've been there before," Sonic has both his eyes open.

Amy gasps in shock. "You went without me? ...Oh, so you stopped there doing one of your runs then, huh?"

"Yep, you guessed it. Sophia wanted to see it," Sonic glances at her. Sophia holds up a hat with Silver Valley written on it, smiling.

"It was very beautiful."

"Sophia...went with you?" Amy looks up at Sophia, giving her a questionable look. Sophia sweats a little.

"Amy...we are just friends. Believe me, I have rules when it comes to...that," she darts her eyes away to the right slightly. "I have known you for as long as I have known Sonic, do you not trust me with him?"

"Fine, Sonic!" She yells, looking at Tails and Chris. "Come on! We'll have more fun without him anyhow." Even though she didn't answer Sophia's question, she knew the answer. She knew that Sophia didn't like Sonic that way, they were just good friends. And there was the fact that Sophia can only court royalty, which Sonic is not.

"How can we get there without a car? My Grandpa's resting and I can't ask Mr. Tanaka to drive," Chris points out.

"If I drive, I'm gonna get spotted," Tails adds.

"What can we do?" Chris looks at him. Tails thinks of something.

"Hey, I know how we'll get there!"

* * *

The next thing they knew, they're on a train to Silver Valley, Tails and Amy acting like stuffed animals. Chris felt a little uncomfortable as almost everyone on the train was staring at him.

"Those stuffed animals are really cute," one girl says.

"Isn't he a little old for those toys?" A woman asks.

Chris sighs, looking embarrassed. "They're all staring..."

"It's okay Chris, we're almost at our stop," Tails whispers quietly.

"Don't talk, they'll hear!" Chris warns him.

"Hey Chris, I need to blink, what do I do?" Amy wonders. A little girl starts to pull on Amy's ear.

"Hey Mom, could I get one of these? Wake up, Mommy! Look it! Oh, please can I have one?" Amy starts to get annoyed. "Please Mommy, please, you said I could have a toy if I was good. I want it-" Amy kicks the girl, waking up the mother and looking in shock. The little girl starts to cry.

'Ah. Now if I could only blink, everything would be perfect.'

* * *

Back at the mansion, Sonic and Sophia are still in their spots from earlier. Sonic opens his eyes, both of them noticing a small black flying robot (A/N: I really...don't know what he is, exactly) above them. Bokkun is Eggman's messenger. He lands in front of them and Sophia stands on the balcony next to Sonic.

"Bokkun," Sophia greets, giving a deadpan look. "Whatever it is this time, I am not in the mood."

He pulls out a small TV from his bag, holding it in his hands. "Message for you two," he places it on Sonic's shoe, turning it on. "Here you go!"

Knuckles' eyes are on the screen. "Sonic, Sophia, I'm sick of all your selfish stunts. This time you've gone too far." Sophia gives a confused look. "I'm challenging Sonic to a showdown. Both of you meet me at Silver Valley in one hour. I want the princess to watch...don't be late." Bokkun starts backing away.

"This message was brought to you by the Eggman Empire which is not responsible for its content...except this part." Before they have time to react, the TV explodes. Bokkun takes off into the skies, laughing. Sonic is covered in dirt, Sophia's face also covered in the dirt. Her hair has been blown away by the explosion, leaving it a mess. She coughs out smoke slightly along with Sonic.

"Knuckles is gonna regret that." He looks at Sophia. "You okay, princess?"

"...Define sufficient..." She murmurs. "But I do not understand. Why is Knuckles accusing me of treachery? I trust him...I thought he trusted me back..."

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Sonic narrows his eyes, since he didn't understand it either. Knuckles was always friendly and loyal to Sophia.

"Alright...pardon me..." She falls to the ground slowly.

* * *

At Silver Valley, Tails, Chris, and Amy are enjoying their picnic together. "This picnic was a super idea, Amy," Tails says, eating a sandwich.

"It was worth the trip, even if there is no emerald," Chris adds. Amy looks around.

"Shouldn't there be a lot of people here if they found a Chaos Emerald?" She wonders.

"Maybe something else caused the energy spikes," Tails suggests.

"I guess it must've been a mistake," Chris accepts. "We can still have some fun while we're here."

"We could take a hike in the mountains, or go swimming in the lake," As soon as he says that, the water comes crashing above. They all scream and the water stops to reveal a giant robot that has a storage area inside. The robot grabs them with its claw as they start to run away. The robot scoops them up, opening the storage unit and dropping them inside. Eggman lowers himself in his Egg Mobile, his usual smirk on his face. They gasp in shock.

"Eggman," Chris says and he laughs a bit. "You rat! You tricked them into broadcasting that news story!"

Eggman moves two fingers back and forth. "I generated artificial energy spikes just like the ones made by Chaos Emeralds! It isn't my fault that those news hounds barked up the wrong tree!"

"I hate to admit it, but Eggman even out-foxed me," Tails tells him.

"Uh?" Chris looks at him in shock.

Amy pulls out her hammer. "Well his plans fail cuz we're out of here!" She attempts to break the glass with her Piko Piko Hammer, but it doesn't work. After a few times, she's out of breath.

Eggman laughs at her attempt. "You can't leave. I need you in case my first plan to beat Sonic and Sophia fails."

"Sonic and Sophia aren't here," Amy tells him, Chris and Tails glaring at the fact that they're bait. Eggman looks over his shoulder.

"They'll be here any second now."

Knuckles sits on a rock with his arms crossed, waiting for Sonic and Sophia. 'Where are Sonic and Sophia? They should have been here by now.' He opens his eyes just in time to see Sonic and Sophia show up. Sonic is posing.

"Hey there, Knuckles."

"You're late," Knuckles stands up. "Slowpoke."

Sonic continues to smile. "Yeah well, we stopped to enjoy the scenery." He brings a flower up to his nose. "This planet is pretty cool. It's nice here. Yeah, you'd like this world too if you weren't such a partypooper."

"Sonic," Sophia sweats a little. "Are you trying to upset him even more?"

"Enough talk you two. Let's go," Knuckles growls.

"Knuckles, should he really have to fight you? This should not be the way to resolve-"

"You shut up!" He growls at her. "With your lies and deceit!"

"Relax, will you? Lay off her. We have all afternoon to duke it out, buddy boy," Sonic says.

"I'm not your buddy or Sophia's and don't forget it, smart aleck!" Sophia gasps in horror, confused on what she possibly could've done to anger Knuckles. "Now put 'em up! I didn't come here to sniff the flowers!"

"But Knuckles, why are you so-"

"That's your loss. You don't know what you're missing, but if you'd rather get clobbered by me-"

"SHUT UP! Give me the emerald you both stole. Or else!" Knuckles demands, interrupting Sonic.

They look at him in shock. "Knuckles, I would never steal-"

"Your brain's even slower than your feet!" Sonic replies, a vein appearing near Knuckles' eyebrow. He feels insulted by that.

"Sonic!" Sophia yells at him, hands on her hips.

"Stay back! You're only here to watch!" Knuckles growls and Sonic steps in front of Sophia, throwing the flower in the air. Knuckles lunges for Sonic, punching the ground. Sophia jumps out of the way while Sonic jumps up in the air. Sonic lands nearby, jumping away from several punches from Knuckles. He punches rock again, seeing Sonic across from him. Sonic gives an unamused look, placing his hands on his hips. Sophia just looks between the two, not knowing what she should do. Knuckles runs towards him, jumping in the air with a yell. Sonic jumps up from another punch, Knuckles gasping. Sonic flips around so that he's behind Knuckles. He swings his legs for a kick, but Knuckles moves out of the way. Sonic smirks at him.

Knuckles charges again, only for Sonic to jump away. He jumps along some rocks, Knuckles punching them to bits. "Please, you both have to stop!" Sophia catches up with them. "You two are friends! Knuckles, I trust you. How can you think otherwise?" Neither of them listen as Knuckles growls at Sonic. Sonic lands on the other side of the lake, running away. Knuckles lands and runs after him. Sophia opens her wings, following after them. The two run up a mountain, Sonic giving a smug look. Knuckles looks absolutely enraged as he climbs up after Sonic at a surprisingly fast pace.

Sonic runs up a tree, landing at the top. He lifts a leg as he puts a hand over his eyes. "Oh, not a bad view!" Knuckles grabs the tree that Sonic's standing on, throwing it. Sophia gasps as Sonic is sent flying. He lands on the ground unharmed. He turns around and sees another tree tilting towards him. Sonic jumps out of the way, Knuckles continuing to knock down trees in an attempt to crush Sonic. The hedgehog proves too fast for his rival, waving his tongue mockingly. Knuckles spins his arms wildly, knocking down trees.

"Knuckles, stop!" Sophia calls out as Sonic slides down a tree, being lifted up in the air as the tree behind it lands. Sonic spin dashes down the tree that Knuckles had just knocked down. Knuckles holds him while he's still spinning, pushed back by the force. They split a tree in half, falling down the cliff while wrestling. They land in the water, Sonic thrashing around.

"Hey, help me!" He notices that he's not sinking and sees the lake. Knuckles has his hands on his hips as he looks at him. "Huh? It's lucky I fell in the kiddie pool," he shrugs sheepishly. He jumps, landing on the other side of the lake. "Get ready, you're going down." Knuckles grits his teeth.

"Let's end this now!"

"No!" Sophia holds her hands out. "You both need to stop fighting! It will solve nothing!"

Eggman sees them, pumping his fist. "Go Knuckles! Show Sonic he can't keep us stuck here! Our only hope is for you to trounce that tyrant!"

"Sonic," Chris says.

"Do they have to fight right now?! Can't they free us first?" Amy asks in annoyance, Tails kneeling in front of the control panel.

"There," they turn to him in confusion. He has opened the panel.

"Good work," Chris comments. "How'd you do it?"

"I...used my screwdriver," Tails holds up his tool.

"You're really handy!" Chris tells him.

"No big deal. I'm not the princess's mechanic for nothing!" He turns back to the panel. "Now I just have to figure out how this thing's wired."

"We don't have time for this, Tails!" Amy exclaims, "Step aside." She's holding her hammer. "I'll fix that robot."

"Ah! AMY!" Tails shouts, holding out his hands with a panicked look.

"No, no! Don't!" Chris protests and she hits the panel, causing an explosion. Sonic and Sophia turn around to see it, only for Knuckles to knock him into the air.

"Knuckles, stop!" Sophia protests and he just stares at her. He could see her hurt and confused look, looking away. Sonic can see Eggman from where he is.

"Get him, Knuckles!" Eggman is cheering. Sonic narrows his eyes.

"It's Eggman," he lands and takes Sophia in his arms, speeding across.

"Get back here!" Knuckles demands, chasing after him. "You quitters!"

"We'll settle this later," Sonic looks at him, annoyed. He speeds off and jumps to where the explosion happened. The explosion caused a hole in the glass.

"Hey! Get us down from here!" Amy shouts.

"Look what you've done!" Eggman looks at them. "You've wrecked my robot, and it isn't even insured!" A flash of blue goes into his vision. Suddenly, the legs explode, the robot tumbling backwards. Sonic steps in front of them, placing Sophia down.

"Hey, what's up?" Sonic waves at them.

"Thanks guys," Chris says and Sophia bows her head.

"We saw your distress from the explosion over there," she explains to them, pointing to where they were. "Are you all alright?"

"Yeah, we're okay," Tails gives her a thumbs up.

"It's not over, Sonic and Sophia! My robot may be down, but it certainly isn't out!" Eggman exclaims, the robot getting up and trapping the three once more. "Attack!" The robot starts firing at Sonic and Sophia. They quickly dive behind a rock, which is blasted to pieces in seconds. Sonic turns his head to see the rock has disappeared.

"Huh, uh oh..." The robot continues to fire at them. Sonic and Sophia jump up in the air. Suddenly, Knuckles comes out of nowhere and kicks one of the guns.

Eggman looks in surprise. Knuckles jumps down, looking at Eggman. "This is a battle between Sonic and me! I'll fight my way!"

"Knuckles, no!" Sophia protests. "You misunderstand."

Sonic just shrugs.

"Fight your way?" Eggman asks. "If you're going to insist on fighting a clean fight, then I'm going to start playing dirty!" The robot launches itself, along with Tails, Chris, and Amy. Knuckles looks in shock and surprise. The robot lands on the other side of the lake, Sonic and Sophia also looking in shock. Eggman looks at them, smirking. "Plan A didn't work so now we'll have to go to Plan B. Bring me that Chaos Emerald, or you'll never see your friends again!"

"Plan A...?" Sophia asks in confusion.

"What is this?" Knuckles asks in surprise. "Eggman swore to me that all he wanted was to live in peace."

"He's sure tricky, isn't he?" Sonic places his hands behind his back. Sophia's eyes turn into realization at what Plan A was. She narrows her eyes at Eggman.

"You...turned my friend against us?" She demands, angry.

"That swindler, he lied!" Knuckles looks angry as well.

"You're catching on, pal."

"Sonic! Sophia!" They look up at Eggman. "We all know your weak spot is water, so I stuck your friends over there where you can't save them without treading H20."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Sophia shakes her head, her eyes closed. "You think you know all of the scenarios, do you not?"

"Yeah, that's what you think." Sonic and Sophia zoom off across the lake. Eggman looks in shock and surprise. They then trip the robot's legs over, making it fall to the ground so their friends can get out.

"Showoffs," Eggman murmurs.

"You alright?" Sonic helps Chris out of the robot while Sophia helps Tails.

"I'm okay," Chris says and Sonic goes over to Amy. Before he can get further, she jumps on him, giving him a hug. She starts to cry.

"Take it easy, Amy," Sonic replies as he holds her in his arms.

"I just knew you would come here to save me," She goes in for another hug. The robot suddenly starts to get up again. They scream, running away from the robot.

"I'm not calling it quits yet, Sonic and Sophia. You've only had a preview of this robot's fire power. You and your friends are through," Eggman declares. Many missiles come blasting out of the robot. "I've got you now."

Sonic, Sophia, Amy, Chris, and Tails are hiding behind a rock. Knuckles slides in front of them. "Let me take care of Eggman."

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance," Sophia stands up, sweeping a bang away from her face. "I am quite prepared to fight this robot and I am through with Eggman tricking my friends."

"Princess...you shouldn't-"

"Knuckles," she gives him a sharp look. "I will not take no for an answer."

He slowly smiles, "I'm liking your style."

"Okay," Sonic smiles at them.

Sophia and Knuckles go running for the robot. It fires at them and Sophia suddenly disappears. "What?!" Eggman exclaims in shock.

"Yeah!" Knuckles cheers as she's just used her invisibility. Sophia reappears, jumping with her sword in her hand. They hit the robot as they climb it. They jump to reach Eggman.

"You!" Eggman says in surprise.

Knuckles goes for the punch. "You liar! You made me believe Sophia wasn't my friend!" He punches him and Eggman goes into the sky. Sophia spins around as Knuckles lands on top of the robot, punching it. Sophia slices through the robot, cutting it completely in half. It blows up and they have to look away as pieces of fly past them. Sonic gets out of his spot, Knuckles flying out of the sky. Because of her durability and invulnerability, Sophia cannot get injured or harmed. Sonic and Sophia grab Knuckles, holding onto a tree branch.

After the wind dies down, the others get out of their spot. Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles jump out of the tree. Sophia opens her parasol, using that to land safely. He stares at them before smiling gratefully. They smile back. Knuckles hangs his head. "Princess...I'm...sorry for doubting you. I can't believe I trusted him with his dirty lies about you!"

"Knuckles...it is alright for one to doubt," she places a hand on his shoulder. "But have you ever wondered why I entrusted you with the Chaos Emerald?"

"Because you knew I'd screw it up?" Knuckles asks bitterly.

"No," she shakes his head before sitting down on her knees. "The reason for that is because I trust you to keep it safe. I know that you do not disappoint. You are headstrong, understanding, and kind. You also never give up on your goals. And lastly, you are my friend and I would never betray you. I know now why you were angry. Eggman deceived you, but you are not at fault here. When we get back...I shall make you the official guardian of the Master Emerald."

He gives a surprised look at her and she just smiles at him. Knuckles eventually bows his head. "Thank you, princess...!"

Sophia giggles at him. "Sonic!" The others run up to them.

"You all made it!" Chris says in relief as Amy hugs Sonic.

"Oh, Sonic!"

"Knuckles, Sophia, and I had it all under control," Sonic reassures and Knuckles starts to leave.

"Uh? Knuckles!" Chris calls out to him, the others staring. Knuckles just waves goodbye.

"Hmph!" Amy runs up to him. "I bet you want to apologize to Sonic for believing all the lies Eggman told about him? And you probably wanna thank him too, only you're too proud."

"Zip it!" Knuckles yells in her face. Amy smiles at him knowingly. Knuckles smiles, turning to look at the others. "I only apologize to Sophia. Later," he walks off into the forest. Sophia just shakes her head at him, giving a little smile herself.


	6. Techno Teacher

Dream lightning: Great chapter glad he said sorry to Sophia, Knuckles was silly believing in Egghead any chance update on Thursday any news on Hey Amy Jungle Movie? Being written

 **Sophia: Yes, Knuckles can be very gullible at times, unfortunately. Villains like Eggman could take advantage of him with that trait.**

 **Angel: I...don't understand some of the review, but as for the Hey Arnold Jungle Movie...if I do the Jungle Movie, I would have to do the first film and I really...don't want to do the first one. I know that Helga and Arnold kissed in that one, but I don't really like that movie. So, no, I won't do the Jungle Movie if I have to do the first film.**

Bajy: Great job here! Love it! Worth the wait! Thank you for answering my question. What Egg-dope did here makes me so mad, especially since he fooled Knuckles into being Sophia's enemy and made Sophia very upset! I look forward to reading the next chapter!

 **Angel: Thank you! I don't know why some people thought I would update on both Tuesday and Thursdays...it's one or the other, not both.**

 **Sophia: Yes, I was very upset. But at times, Eggman and his plans can be a little...absurd.**

Superfan1: Wow amazing and with the powers Sophia has she might be really powerful than her friends I'm impressed she could be a superhero.

 **Sophia: Thank you, I would assume that I am powerful. I am invulnerable to any heavy artillery. But I do not see myself as a superhero. After all, who would look after the kingdom? I have no heir and I am not married.**

Ichabod: Seriously?! Ya don't know about Edward G. Robinson? He was da guy in all a'dose old-timey mobster flicks!

 **Angel: *thinks* Hmm, nope. Still don't know him. If this was before 1999, then I wouldn't know about it.**

Guest: When Shadow shows up will you have him meet Chris's friend Helen? (Since she kind of looks like Maria Robotnik)

 **Angel: Whoa whoa whoa, this is only episode 6. Shadow won't appear for a while. And I don't think I will. To me, Helen doesn't look like Maria. I don't think they ever had a chance to meet, anyway...**

Jake: Cool chapter can't wait to see the next one tomorrow

 **Angel: Again, I won't update on Thursdays unless I CAN'T update on Tuesdays. So unless there's an emergency situation where I can't update on Tuesday, I'll update on Thursdays. I don't update on both days, only Tuesdays.**

Supergirl13: I can't wait to see the next chapter today

 **Angel: *facepalms* I'm not gonna explain this a third time.**

Guest: Cool I can't wait to see the next chapter.

 **Sophia: Your wish has been granted.**

Isabella: Cool chapter can't wait to see the next chapter

 **Sophia: I believe that Eggman and his plan for this one was a little silly...**

 **Angel: It was plain weird...**

Sonic stands on top of the roof of the Thorndyke mansion, staring out into the open sky. He jumps off, deciding to go for a nice run. He jumps up, seeming to disappear into the sun. Not even a minute later, he runs back to the mansion, skidding to a stop. Amy opens the door to see him.

"Hey, where'd you do?" She asks.

"Just out!" He walks past her and she stares at him as he enters.

'He's so mysterious!'

 _(Gotta Go Faster)_

* * *

Chris is eating breakfast with Sophia and Ella walks into the room, the phone being heard ringing from another room. Mr. Tanaka answers it as Ella offers more fruit for Chris and Sophia. "Thorndyke residence. Very good, sir." He walks into the dining room as he hangs up. "Your father has requested that I inform you that he and your mother will be stopping by for a visit this afternoon."

"Wow Ella, they're coming to see me!" Chris exclaims happily.

"What a nice surprise," Ella agrees.

"Absolutely," Sophia clasps her hands together. "You must be excited, Chris."

"It's not even my birthday!" His look suddenly turns into worry. "Uh oh." Sophia realizes why he has that look. Mr. Tanaka raises an eyebrow at Chris's sudden mood.

"Is there something wrong?" He asks.

"No, we're all done. Can we go now?" Chris and Sophia stand up.

"Yes, go ahead," they run off.

"See you later!" Chris exclaims.

"Thank you for the breakfast, Ella. It was wonderful!" Sophia sends Ella a slight smile before following Chris. Ella blinks at them, turning to Mr. Tanaka in confusion.

"Something is up," she notes, Mr. Tanaka tilting his head at her, also confused.

* * *

In the garage, Chuck is eating his breakfast along with the others. Chris stares down at them, Sophia by his side. They're both wearing their backpacks. "We've gotta go to school, so we're counting on you guys to stay out of sight when my parents show up."

"Gotcha," Tails nods his head. "No problem."

"Yeah, sure!" Amy gives a thumbs up. "You can count on us!"

"It won't be for long, Mom and Dad's visits have to be short because they both have busy schedules," Sonic stands up and walks away. "Hey Sonic," Chris calls out, but he doesn't reply. "Is he mad at me?"

"Don't mind him," Amy dismisses and Sophia notices that Cream isn't in the room.

"Get going, Chris and Sophia. You'll both be late for school if you don't hurry up!" Chuck warns them. They see the clock and give a panicked look. Chris rushes down the stairs, only to fall down and cause a crash.

"Uh, I'm okay!" He calls out.

"Please be careful, everyone," Sophia bows her head before rushing down the stairs. "Chris, are you alright?"

The three sigh. Tails turns to the others. "Chris sure is happy about his folks visiting, huh Chuck?" He smiles slightly. Chuck nods, looking at his breakfast.

"He is," he confirms.

"What do they do?" Amy wonders.

"Chris's dad is president of a huge software company," Chuck explains. "He spends most of his time in the office or traveling on business."

"And what about his mom?" Amy questions.

"She's a star. A famous actress who jets all around the world making movies," Chuck tells them.

"I bet it's pretty tough for Chris not having his parents around most of the time," Tails gives a look of sympathy. "Just like with Sophia."

"Yes," Chuck simply says.

"He must miss them," Amy comments.

"So what are Sophia's parents like?" Chuck wonders as he thinks to himself.

"Valentina is very kind, Sophia gets her personality from her. She's also very brave and caring, she handles all of the events back home," Tails starts. "She knows how to throw a good party. She also teaches Sophia about how to be a princess and the proper manners."

"And Elliot can be pretty overprotective," Amy blinks slightly. "But he loves Sophia very much and she looks up to him for guidance. He handles all of the peace treaties and taught her how to control her powers."

"Did she inherit her powers from them?" Chuck raises an eyebrow.

"Well, no. Neither of them have powers like her. But they know how to handle themselves with Eggman," Tails explains.

Sonic is lying on the roof, arms behind his head as he looks up at the sky.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Eggman's base, he is trying to come up with a plan, but so far has none. "I've got to think of something," he swings around in his chair, Decoe and Bocoe behind him. He growls in frustration as he tries to think. "I've got to think of a way to conquer this planet!" A smirk comes to his face. "Perhaps the children...maybe one of my robots could brainwash the school kiddies so that they'd love me and honor me and look up to me as a hero and they could persuade their parents to accept me as their ruler!"

"Here are your choices," Decoe holds out a pack of cards to him.

"Let's see," Eggman looks through them, putting a finger to his chin. "This is a tough one." He grins and places his cards in the slot. "I'll let the machine decide." He pulls the lever and it ultimately lands on Intelligente. "Perfect!"

The doors to the base open as the robot stands there, hands on his hips. Intelligente flies out the doors and into the sky. The school is in his sighs and he lands in the middle of the field.

* * *

The students are talking amongst themselves as Mr. Stewart waits for someone to solve the problem on the board. The math problem looks very complicated for them to solve.

"What do you think this is?"

"I don't know..."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Chris exclaims, turning to Sophia, who shakes her head.

"I cannot even begin to solve it, Chris. My intelligence is limited to problems such as this one," she explains.

"I don't even know where to start!" Frances comments.

"I'm totally lost!"

It turns out that Mr. Stewart...is sleeping. Even he was tired of this problem. "Should we wake him up?" Chris asks, since he is the teacher.

"No, don't!" Danny warns him.

"Maybe he'll put us to sleep," Frances points out.

"Perhaps the solution will come to us eventually," Sophia suggests as she looks at her book. Intelligente suddenly enters the room.

"My, my! What an intelligent-looking class!" He declares, everyone turning to him in confusion. "Oh, perhaps I've arrived during nap time!" Mr. Stewart wakes up at his voice.

"Uh, I'm sorry, what are you?" He asks, perplexed.

"Hmm," Intelligente places his hands on his hips. "I'll give you three guesses, young man!"

Mr. Stewart stares at him. "You're a robot?"

"A robot teacher," Intelligente glides up to him using his wheels. He opens his eyes on his circular face, revealing narrowed red eyes. "Hmm, goodbye. I'm taking over."

"You are?" Mr. Stewart asks in utter confusion, since he wasn't informed of being replaced. Intelligente eyes him suspiciously.

"I am!"

"How's that?" Intelligente picks him up by the jacket collar, throwing him out of the classroom. The students give a look of shock and he lands on his face. Mr. Stewart sits up, angry. "They're replacing me with a robot, huh? Wait'll I give that principal a piece of my mind!" He grits his teeth.

* * *

The school principal sips his cup of coffee in bliss. "Delicious!" Mr. Stewart suddenly bursts into the room, surprising him and making him throw his cup into the air. The coffee spills all over his hair and face.

"HOW DARE YOU..." Mr. Stewart pauses as he sees the principal's predicament.

"I'm glad to know you never hired that robot," Mr. Stewart escorts the principal to his classroom, having informed him of the situation. "My students will be relieved too!"

They hear laughter from the room and give a confused look, Mr. Stewart peeking inside. Intelligence is explaining the problem. "And that's how to crack an equation! Mathematics is a breeze when you keep your eye on the pie!" He points to his eyes.

"Now it's starting to make sense!" Chris exclaims.

"It's easy!" Frances agrees.

"Mmm, alright!" Danny pumps his fists slightly.

"Yes, I can understand it now," Sophia bows her head slightly. The other students agreeing, commenting in awe. Some of them give him thumbs up. The principal gives a fascinated look.

"That robot is a great teacher!" He declares, Mr. Stewart giving a look of disbelief. "Send him on this class and study his technique!" He pats Mr. Stewart on the back, walking away as the teacher whines at his failed attempt.

"But sir..." His eyes twitch as he looks at the cheering students.

"Thank you, class," Intelligence gives a proud look. "It's an honor to teach you!" His eyes sparkle.

"There's something fishy here," Mr. Stewart narrows his eyes. "I better check this out with headquarters!" He smiles in joy to himself as his glasses glint slightly. Mr. Stewart sneaks into the boy's bathroom, making sure no one is watching him. He goes inside and sits in a stall, pulling an antenna from his watch. He places an earbud to his ear. "Come in. This is Chalkboard Charlie calling homeroom with a Code Red priority alert."

"Let me get this straight," the operator says as Mr. Stewart finishes his story. "You want us to send out our land, sea, and air forces because a robot kicked you out of your classroom?"

"Roger, I'll transmit my coordinates."

Just the thought of it made the operator laugh. "Wait'll control hears this!" He slams down his fist, the watch malfunctioning, shocking Mr. Stewart slightly, and breaking the communication.

"Seems like we're having technical difficulties. I'll have to go to the police," Mr. Stewart's eye twitches slightly.

* * *

The police officer sits in front of his desk with various junk food in front of him as he speaks on the phone with Mr. Stewart. "So you were assaulted by a robot who took over your class and now he's holding all your students prisoner? Stay right there, I'll be over in a jiff to investigate."

Mr. Stewart waits impatiently outside the school building. "Where is that cop? He's late. Hm?" He hears the siren and the car arrives. "Well, finally!" He pushes against the car. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" He speeds to the front door, the officer tracking him from behind slowly as he eats a hamburger. "Come on, officer! The kids are in danger, let's move it!" He appears in front of the door. "Just remember, the robot's dangerous."

The officer stares at him before Mr. Stewart forces the door open. He looks in shock to see that the room is empty. "That mechanical menace kidnapped the kids!"

In actuality, Intelligente is outside with the kids for PE class, planning on playing baseball as he holds a bat. "I've always wanted to play baseball! Shall we?"

The kids all cheer for him. "Well, what are we waiting for? Play ball!" He holds the bat in the air and they gather around to play. Sophia smiles at them as she watches.

"Right there!" Mr. Stewart points at the group. "You knock it down and I'll attempt to disable its power supply! There's no time to lose!" Intelligence is guiding Chris.

"Remember to keep your wrist relaxed all through the pitch like so," he gently moves his arm forward. "So you see?"

"Doesn't seem like those kids are in danger to me. In fact, it looks like they're having a great time!" The officer declares. "I wish I was out there playing," he takes a bite of his burger, not having any interest at all. Mr. Stewart turns to him in annoyance.

"Stop pigging out and arrest him!" Mr. Stewart snatches the burger from the officer.

"Hey!" He pulls out his truncheon. "I'm nailing you for burger burglary!" He starts to chase Mr. Stewart. "Drop that sandwich, scumbo!"

* * *

Back at Eggman's base, Eggman is wondering about his robot's progress, as he hasn't contacted Eggman at all. "I wonder if Intelligente has successfully brainwashed those brats into admiring me yet. I'd better look and see how it's going." He presses a red button in front of him to see the kids and Intelligente on the baseball field.

"What's this?!"

"I'm ready!" Intelligente calls out with determined eyes.

"Put it on the plate!" Danny shouts, Chris nodding.

"You can do it! Throw the ball!" Frances yells, Sophia clapping. Chris throws the baseball and Intelligente hits it, impressing the students as it flies out into space. Danny sweats a little as he looks up at the sky, the ball not planning on coming back anytime soon.

"Mr. Intelligente is amazing!" Frances comments as the other students have their mouths wide open.

"Yes, his skills are very admirable," Sophia smiles.

"My first home run!" Intelligente glides past the first base. "How thrilling! Baseball is such an exhilarating activity!"

Eggman is watching this feed from a satellite. "Intelligente sure is a hit with his students," Decoe comments. "They love him."

"He's supposed to make those kids love me!" Eggman yells. "Not himself!"

* * *

Various planes approach the Thorndyke mansion, the yellow and blue one landing on the roof. The mansion has its own landing pad for the plane. Mr. Tanaka and Ella watch closely as the stairs are laid out. Two men step out, helping Lindsey and Nelson out of the plane.

"Welcome home," Ella and Mr. Tanaka bow to them.

"Thank you," They both say. Chuck appears from the door, hands behind his back.

"Lindsey, Nelson."

"Good to see ya, Dad," Nelson greets.

"Hello Father," Lindsey replies. "How is everything going here at home?"

"Wonderfully well now that the two of you are here!" Chuck exclaims happily, leading them inside.

"When do Chris and this Sophia get back from school?" Mr. Tanaka and Ella help them with their bags. Chris has told the adults that Sophia was a pen pal and she had nowhere else to stay, so they gave him permission for her to stay with them. Amy and Tails have been watching the group from the garage far away.

"Chris's dad seems like a nice guy," Tails points out.

"His mom is really pretty," Amy turns to the side. "Don't you think so, Sonic?"

Sonic looks uninterested, continuing to rest on the roof. Amy whines a little that he's not paying attention. It appears something is clearly bothering him.

* * *

"Yay!"

"Go Danny!"

"Knock it out!"

Danny hits the ball. "Wow, nice shot!" Chris pumps his fist.

"Hooray!" Sophia claps for him.

"That is gone!"

Intelligente slides over, flies in the air, and catches the ball. "That's the greatest catch ever!" Chris says in awe. Danny sweats as he was running over to second base.

"Whoa, he's cool!" Frances claps slightly.

"I wonder who assembled him..." Sophia murmurs in thought.

"Well well well," Intellgente flies down, rubbing his neck. "Seems the old retro thrusters aren't as rusty as I thought," he laughs slightly. "Reminds me of my early days on the cricket field when I was no bigger than a laptop!" He laughs again as Bokkun appears, flying in front of him.

"Message for you!"

Sophia sees him, confused. "Wait...Bokkun?"

"Bokkun!" Intelligente turns to him.

"Dr. Eggman has a message for you!" Bokkun declares, Intelligente confused.

"Hmm? A message?"

"How'd you like to visit the junkyard!" Bokkun recites.

"Do you mean he's miffed at me?" Intelligente asks in confusion.

"Sure the doc's angry at ya! Those kids are supposed to be stuck on him, not you, bucket brain!" Bokkun reminds him.

"That used to be my mission," Intelligente says proudly, Bokkun confused as he sweats a little. He grunts angrily. I'm afraid all that's changed."

"Huh? How come?"

"I was sent here to make these students admire Dr. Eggman, but I found it far more rewarding to be admired myself!" Intelligente places a hand on his metal chest, looking in glory.

"What?! You blow a circuit or something?! Don't you know Dr. Eggman will turn you into scrap metal, you barrel of bolts!"

This argument gathers the kids around Intelligente. "Mr. Intelligente, what's going on?"

"Dr. Eggman may do with me as he wishes, but I refuse to abandon the students in my charge!" Intelligente gestures to them, Sophia's eyes widening before she smiles. While she wasn't happy about the fact that Eggman created him, she could tell that Intelligente meant no harm to her or her classmates.

"You're the greatest teacher I know!" Frances becomes happy. "I wish all teachers were as great as you are!"

"Me too!" Chris chimes in.

"Same here," Danny jerks a thumb at himself, winking.

"I agree," Sophia bows her head.

"Ohh..." Intelligente marvels at being loved in return, hearts on his face where his eyes are. "Thank you. That's wonderful!" He makes crying sounds and Bokkun lands on the ground, angry.

"Stop crying and teach those kids to admire Dr. Eggman!" Bokkun suddenly feels jealous. "Now I'm crying!"

"He lost it," Decoe comments as he, Bocoe, and Eggman are watching the feed.

"That cry baby!" Eggman gets even more angry. "Ha! They should like ME!"

* * *

The bell rings for school to end, Bokkun gone. Intelligente waves at them. "I'll see you all tomorrow, class!"

They all say goodbye to him as they put the equipment away. Chris turns to Frances. "We've gotta hurry home now, guys!"

"Yeah, how come?" Frances wonders and Sophia smiles.

"Cuz my mom and dad are coming home for a visit. Sophia will get to meet them today. See ya!" Chris explains, turning away. Sophia waves at Frances.

"Farwell, Frances. I shall see you and Danny tomorrow!" They suddenly stop in their tracks, surprised as Eggman himself appears in the sky. He jumps down from his Egg Mobile, a tool belt in his hand.

"Intelligente!" He sounds angry. The robot looks surprised as he wasn't expecting for him to show up, freaking out in fear.

"Oh, my hard drive! It's you!"

"I bet you think you're smart for disobeying my orders, you transistorized traitor! But I'll fix you!" He shows his belt.

"Ohhh! No, please don't disassemble me!" He goes to Chris and Sophia. "Chris, Sophia! Help me get away!" The two glance at each other.

"Huh? But what about what you said a few minutes ago when you swore you'd never abandon us no matter what Dr. Eggman threatened to do to you?" Chris looks confused.

"I really said no matter what?"

"You did," Frances looks slightly annoyed.

"We all heard it," Danny reminds him and Sophia holds up a recording device, playing exactly what he said.

"I suppose there's no way around it, then. What was I thinking?" Intelligente laments.

Eggman starts to laugh, Sophia turning to him with a glare. "What's so funny?" Chris glares at him too.

"You don't really believe that sniveling circuit box plans to keep his promise. I'm ordering him to keep you in detention where you'll be forced to respect me!" Eggman tells them. Their eyes widen.

"No way!" Chris declares.

"I would rather die than to respect you in any high regard," Sophia crosses her arms, holding her head up high.

"What a snake!" Danny narrows his eyes.

"Listen robot, unless you want to end up in a scrap heap, you'll follow my orders!" Eggman clenches his fist, Intelligente sweating with wide eyes. He salutes to Eggman, not wanting to be disassembled. His eyes are suddenly red.

"Yes sir!"

"I'm not staying. I've gotta go home," Chris replies.

"That is the best idea," Sophia starts walking with him, only for the two to be grabbed by the collar from Intelligente's hands.

"Not so fast!" He holds them up in the air. "You'll stay in detention with the rest till Dr. Eggman dismisses you!"

* * *

Sonic is looking up at the sky, Tails and Amy watching something from the window. They have yet to see Chris and Sophia arrive, when they know that they were supposed to be home already. Lindsey and Nelson look a little worried.

"Hm, I wonder what's keeping Sophia and Chris," Chuck says in thought. "They know you two are here to see him."

"What if there's been an accident?" Lindsey turns to Nelson.

"I'm sure my security people would find out and contact me," Nelson assures her.

"You're right..." She places a finger at her chin. "He's probably playing with his friends and Sophia and simply hasn't noticed the time. What is this Sophia like, anyway? And why didn't Chris tell us about her?"

"Oh, her? She's a joy to have around! She's from Canada, you know!" Chuck says nervously.

"Oh, that's nice for Chris to be making friends from all around," Lindsey looks happy.

Ella is preparing turkey and soup. "I wonder what's keeping Sophia and Chris. Dinner's almost ready," She looks at the pot.

"Perhaps I should go and look for them," Mr. Tanaka suggests. Ella turns her head to him.

"You know the Thorndykes' don't want Chris babied or treated different from other kids! I'm sure they're fine," Ella dismisses.

Nelson eventually loses it, standing up. "I'm going to look for the kids!"

Lindsey looks at him. "Nelson, have some faith in your son and his friend." He turns to her, desperate, but calming down.

"Right. He's a level-headed boy, and I'm sure Sophia would help him. I'm also sure there's a good reason why they're late. WE HAVE TO STAY CALM!" He shouts the last part. Chuck can't help but smile while all this goes on. He feels proud that Nelson cares so much about Chris and Sophia, who he hasn't even met.

'He hasn't changed since he was a boy.'

"I'm getting worried now too," Amy clasps her hands. They look up at the roof.

"Hey Sonic!" Tails calls out.

"Could you go look?" Amy asks, but they get no answer. They turn to each other in confusion, not knowing that Sonic is already on his way to the school.

* * *

At the playground, all of the students, including Chris and Sophia, have sketchbooks in their hands. "For today's art class, we will sketch the illustrious figure of the great Dr. Eggman. As you draw, take special note of the doctor's noble visage and dignified bearing!"

"Does this pose inspire you?" Eggman starts taking on many different poses. "How about something more dynamic?"

Chris sweats sheepishly, a sweatdrop appearing at the back of Sophia's hair. "Uggh, it doesn't matter how Eggman stands, he'll always look terrible!"

Sophia giggles at him, frowning. "Must I really draw Eggman? I am already familiar with him on a hate level," she murmurs. "You think he would come up with something more sinister than having children worship him."

"Sophia, aren't you gonna do something?" Chris gestures to the robot and Eggman.

"And what exactly do you wish for me to do, Chris?" She turns to him, frowning. "If I attack him, the other classmates will know about my abilities. I cannot have that happen, so all I can do is sit here. I do not like this as much as you do, believe me."

A blue streak runs past them, the books flying out of their hands. Danny looks around, puzzled. "Hey, what was that?" Frances looks confused. Intelligente turns around, sweating.

"What?"

The blue streak climbs up a flagpole. "Perhaps a pose like a champion."

"Please no," Sophia looks annoyed.

"You mean a chump!" Intelligente turns to Eggman in anger. "You're so busy showing off, you haven't noticed we're under attack!" Eggman turns as someone stands on top of the flagpole. Sonic has a smirk on his face, his arms crossed.

"I always knew you were a poser, Eggman!"

Eggman turns to his robot. "Intelligente!"

"Yes sir!" The robot takes on a soldier stance.

"Get rid of Sonic!" Eggman demands.

"Who's Sonic?" Danny and Frances ask, the students all confused with what is happening. Chris and Sophia stare, their mouths slightly open.

"Yes sir! Whatever you say!" The hat opens up, missiles shooting out of the hatch. Sophia looks at Sonic, who runs down the flagpole and easily dodges them all. He makes his way towards Intelligente as the missiles come back flying. Sonic moves past them, continuing to run towards the robot. Sonic delivers a very powerful headbutt to its chest, destroying Intelligente in an explosion. All the students look at the smoke, Sonic emerging from it.

"Wow!" Danny comments in awe.

"He's tough," Frances points out. Sophia gives a small smile.

"Here, Soinc. Your prize," Eggman says as Sonic walks up to him.

"What prize?" He asks, annoyed.

"A little reward for your victory," Eggman offers him a badge with his face on it.

"I don't want a booby prize," Sonic crosses his arms.

"Fine," he offers it to the students. "You take it!"

"No thanks, keep it!" Chris refuses.

"Yeah, who'd want that?" Frances wonders.

"Nasty," Danny comments, Sophia giggling. Eggman holds it out to her and she narrows her eyes.

"Are you mentally incompetent?" She asks in disbelief.

"Alright, I'll wear it myself!" He pins the badge on his jacket. "Bye!" He hops into his Egg Mobile, taking off. There's an awkward silence in the air, the students wondering what just happened.

"He's a weirdo," Frances murmurs.

"Yeah," Danny agrees.

"He could keep me after school for a million years and I still wouldn't admire him," Chris states.

"If I ever even think about it, please just knock me out," Sophia turns to Chris.

"You better hurry home, Chris and Sophia. Your parents are waiting," Sonic reminds them.

"Yeah, that's right!" Chris rushes out of the playground, Sophia following him.

"Goodbye everyone!" Sophia waves to them. Sonic rushes after them, leaving Frances and Danny to admire Sonic.

"He's so cool!" Danny says in awe.

"He sure is," Frances agrees with him.

* * *

Chris and Sophia continue running, Mr. Stewart seeing them as it's now sunset. He's still holding the burger he took from the police officer, reflecting on his teaching skills. "You know, maybe there's more to being a school teacher than just passing out homework and taking naps in class." He takes a bite out of the burger. The officer suddenly appears from behind.

"Enjoying my burger, bub?"

Mr. Stewart turns around, the burger in his mouth. He makes a run for it. "Hey, get back here! Stop chewing your teeth! One more nibble and I'll call up the SWAT Team!"

* * *

Chris and Sophia eventually reach the mansion.

"Hey Mom and Dad, we're home!" He calls out. Lindsey comes up running first.

"It's Chris!" They hug him and he laughs. Sophia smiles at the sight.

"Oh, I was so worried!" Lindsey comments.

"I told your mother you could look after yourself, but she wouldn't listen!" Nelson chuckles.

"Sorry, we got...held up at school," Chris admits, Chuck smiling at the sight too.

"Oh, and you must be Sophia!" Lindsey turns to her. "It's wonderful to finally meet you!"

"Thank you," Sophia bows her head, offering her hand. "It is a pleasure." Lindsey and Nelson hug her, to her confusion.

"Thank you for looking after Chris!" Nelson tells her and she chuckles sheepishly. "You can stay here as long as you want!"

"It was not a problem..." She looks towards Chris for help and he just says nothing, smiling.

* * *

Nelson laughs as they enjoy a nice, comfortable dinner together. "Of course, I knew there was absolutely nothing to worry about! You know, when I was your age, I was kept after school a few times myself." He laughs again at the thought.

"Oh, I'm sure Chris is better behaved than you were, dear," Lindsey laughs too.

"That's for sure," Chuck gives a smug look. Ella and Mr. Tanaka appear in the kitchen, holding more food. "Actually Chris, your father was more worried about your absence than he lets on. Wasn't he, Tanaka?"

"Well, Mr. Thorndyke was concerned enough to phone the president," Mr. Tanaka starts, to Sophia and Chris' confusion.

"And Mrs. Thorndyke called all the TV networks to get the bulletin on the nightly news," Ella states.

"I didn't call _all_ of them," Lindsey denies, Amy and Tails watching with a smile.

"The Thorndykes seem like a real nice family, don't they, Amy?" Tails wonders.

"I'm glad Chris and Sophia made it back home in time," Amy comments.

"Uh huh. It always feels good to get back home," Tails looks up at the sky. Sonic stares up at the stars in the sky.


	7. Party Hardly

Guest893: This surely is a good story you're writing here. I like to see more of it. See you next time. Over and out.

 **Angel: Thanks! Over and out XD I love that.**

Bajy: Great job here! Love it! Now I know what Sophia's parents are like :) After this it's party hardly, one of my favorite episodes, wonder how it will go? Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Yeah, I felt like I had to do it, seeing how the readers didn't even know their names. And this episode is a favorite of mine too!**

Ichabod: I tell ya, dat Eggman is cracked in da head! Pfft...Eggman...CRACKED! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I MADE A FUNNY! But look, da point is, I talk like an old-timey gangster! Comprende?

 **Angel: -_- Why, just why...did you need to make that joke? Just no. And I'm not good with old-timey gangster speak, anyway.**

Dream lighting: Aww so sweet please keep going is Sophia getting taken by Shadow? I know it's a long way off love her character see a sibling relation between Chris and Sophia it's cute looking forward to next chapter thought about writing Sonic Boom at all.

 **Angel: No, she's not. That episode is a long way off, please stop asking about episodes that are too far away. I haven't even thought about the episode where Shadow appears yet because this is only episode 7, people. 7!**

 **Sophia: Thank you very much for the compliment. *bows head***

 **Angel: No, I haven't thought about Sonic Boom, because I don't really watch it anymore. I haven't really seen it being aired lately anyway and I don't have time to watch the episodes right now...do NOT get any ideas about asking me to do Sonic Boom, because the answer is no! It's already bad enough this story won the poll. I think one Sonic story is enough to ask of me.**

Guest: Cool and we finally see what Sophia's parents are like now we'll wait for their sudden appearance when they appear in any of these chapters later anyway can't wait for the next one.

 **Angel and Sophia: *glance at each other***

 **Angel: I don't really...know if I'll have Valentina and Elliot appear yet. Technically, even if they did come back from their festival soon, they wouldn't know where Sophia is.**

 **Sophia: Correct. By my calculations, they will be gone for quite some time.**

Jenny: Cool chapter I can't wait to see the next chapter and I wonder in the next one if Sophia will think about her mother and father the same way Cream misses her mother.

 **Sophia: I do miss them dearly, but not as much as Cream with her mother. You see, my parents are always away, so I have gotten used to them being gone for a long time.**

Guest: This just gets amazing and cool with this story.

 **Angel: Thanks!**

Diana: Cool story Sonic X is my favorite show and I like this better than ever.

 **Angel: Technically, it wasn't gonna be a story until SO many loving fans wouldn't stop asking about me doing it...**

Wonder gal: Okay in this chapter it was kinda weird when Eggman was trying to do poses but I wouldn't dream on that and I'm glad Sophia didn't use her powers the whole class would've freaked out if she was the princess anyway good luck on the next one.

 **Angel: Well...technically, someone did see her using her wings a couple of episodes back.**

 **Sophia: If I must conceal my powers, then I must do what is needed to ensure that my identity is kept secret. But yes, I do agree that Eggman and his plans are...absurd. Sometimes I wonder how he is such a threat.**

Lionfan12: Cool story I can't wait to see you the next chapter soon

 **Angel: Yeah, but I took a week off during my spring break because my cousins were around and they're nosy, so I wasn't gonna take any chances...that, and my wifi was down for half the week. I didn't get it back until just yesterday.**

Starfire: I'm impressed that you revealed Sophia's parents including a secret origin on how she developed her powers mysteriously can't wait to see how party hardly goes

 **Angel: Thanks. I didn't really have that much ideas when it came to the origins because for one, I didn't have that much information and two, I didn't know what you would think since Sophia doesn't belong to me. But then I got inspired to do a mysterious origin from the mystery genre. I felt like it would fit the story and it worked out in the end.**

"Remember Cream, you too Cheese," Chris is talking to the two. "Stand inside while Sophia and I are gone, okay?"

"Okay," she answers.

"Chao!" Cheese agrees.

"I'll see you later," he tells them, leaving his room. Sophia waves at the two before following him with her backpack. Cream and Cheese look at each other with a frown, sighing as they're quickly bored. Cream opens the door to the balcony, stepping out.

"I don't wanna stay inside. I wanna go outside and play," she gives a sad look before it turns into a smile.

* * *

The others are in the garage and Amy hears laughter, looking at the window. "That sounds like Cream and Cheese outside," she joins Tails at the window and they look outside to Cream and Cheese picking flowers.

"I wonder what she's doing out there, Amy," Tails says.

"Huh, I bet Cream's out there gathering some flowers," Amy turns to him. Sonic opens an eye.

"She knows we're supposed to stay inside while Sophia and Chris are at school," Tails states. "What's so important about going outside to pick flowers?" He gasps in realization.

 _Cream was picking flowers, humming to herself. Tails walked up to her from behind. "Hi Cream. What are you doing there?"_

 _She turned around, holding the bouquet with a happy smile. "I'm gonna surprise my mom by making her a crown out of flowers!"_

"I guess she misses her mom," Tails recalls.

"Of course she does. I just wish...I just wish we could do something to cheer her up," Amy replies. Sonic is listening to the entire conversation in attention. He blinks as he sees a poster of a meadow, which has plenty of flowers. He gives a thoughtful frown of thought as he eyes it. He quickly snatches it and zooms downstairs, closing the door. Amy and Tails turn around.

"Sonic?" Amy asks in confusion.

* * *

At the kitchen table, a horrible breakfast is laid out for Sophia and Chris. They hang their heads as Lindsey hums, holding a plate of burned pancakes, wearing a pink stained apron. "It's marvelous to be back in the kitchen again. On my movie sets, the chefs won't let me cook a thing. Here are your buttermilk pancakes, dears! Enjoy!" She places the plates in front of them, clasping her hands.

Chris gives a skeptical look, lifting up a pancake. Sophia pokes hers with a fork and both of their food cracks into pieces. Chris gives a sigh of dismay, Sophia sweating.

"Oh dear..."

Ella walks into the dining room. "Oh my!" She's shocked to see their 'breakfast.' "I smell something burning! Oh!" She sweats a little, but Lindsey just giggles.

"Oh, Ella, it's so good to be home again! I have an idea! Let's have a big party!" She declares.

"Party?" Sophia and Chris ask in surprise. None of them notice Cream and Cheese listening in on the conversation.

"Yes, a dinner party tonight, to welcome Sophia to our home! We can all dress up! I'm sure Ella can prepare something absolutely scrumptious!" Lindsey explains happily.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Sophia clasps her hands.

"A party's a great idea!" Chris agrees. "And do you think you could invite your brother Sam to come over since he's my favorite uncle?"

Sophia gasps in shock, as she's met Sam before, and didn't really like his attitude. "Of course darling, you can have anything you want!" Lindsey hugs him. "Anything at all for my adorable baby boy!"

"If we're having a party tonight, this calls for heavy duty cleaning! Time to clear some clutter!" Ella rolls up her sleeves, giggling as she runs away to get started.

"Wow, a party!" Cream exclaims in excitement. "This is great! I love parties!"

* * *

"A party?" Danny asks Chris while at school. "All for Sophia?"

"Well, I would not say that the party is for me entirely," Sophia rubs her neck nervously.

"Yeah, my mom wants us to have fun while she's home. My uncle's coming for the party, too," Chris explains.

"The racer?" Frances questions.

"Yeah, he's the coolest! And he's the leader of the S Team!" Chris continues, not noticing that Mr. Stewart is listening in on the conversation. He gives a little smile and chuckle, walking away.

* * *

Cream is making a flower crown, but is out of flowers. "This crown doesn't have enough flowers." She sighs slightly, getting off the bed. "I'd better pick more," she opens the door to Chris' room, closing it behind her. She runs down the stairs, stopping in her tracks as she sees Lindsey decorating the ceiling with garlands. "Maybe I can help decorate for the party."

* * *

The bell rings for the ending of class, the students talking to each other. "Bye," Chris waves to a fellow student, Sophia going through her locker. He grabs his backpack and Sophia closes her locker, turning to him with a smile.

"I am looking forward to this party. Your mother has gone out of her way to purchase a new dress for me for the occasion as a gift!" She states, placing a hand on her hip.

"Sophia, you're staying there until you and the others find a way to get back home. You don't need to dress up," he looks confused.

"You forget that I am still a princess. I cannot just wear my current attire. I must look the part. This party is for me after all," she insists, hanging her head up stubbornly. He shakes his head at her, closing his locker.

"Hey Chris! Sophia!" They turn around in confusion to see Mr. Stewart approaching. "I haven't been teaching here long, but I just wanted to say thanks. I'm really lucky to have so many intelligent and talented kids in my class. Actually, I think Sophia's the best student academically!"

"Uh..." They stammer, puzzled.

"You kids are terrific and I wanna know all of you better. So, I'm coming to visit you and your family later today."

They cringe nervously at that. "Huh. I can't wait to meet your mom and get her autograph!" He waves as he walks away, their mouths wide open. They absolutely had to make sure that Sonic and their friends would stay out of sight.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic is staring at the poster, standing on a mountain rock. He looks to make sure he's in the right place, placing a hand over his eyes. He rolls up the poster, speeding down the rock and two others to find the flowers.

The door opens, Sophia and Chris running inside. "Hey, we're home!" He calls out, Mr. Tanaka turning to them. He bows his head at them.

"How was school today, Miss Sophia and Master Christopher?"

"It was pretty good, Mr. Tanaka," Chris answers.

"Mr. Stewart says that I am doing well," Sophia closes the door behind her.

"Oh, Chris, darling, you're home!" Lindsey hugs Chris and Sophia close.

"Uh, I hope it's okay, but our teacher, Mr. Stewart's coming over today to visit. And it sounds like he's a really big fan of your movies, Mom!" Chris looks up at her.

"That reminds me!" Lindsey places her hands on her cheeks. "What am I going to wear? I should have had the studio send over a gown! Oh, Sophia, do you like your new dress? I made sure it fit just right!"

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Thorndyke," she bows her head.

"Oh, so polite and well mannered! How delightful it is for Chris to have a pen pal like you!" Lindsey smiles at her.

"I feel sorry for dogs!" They turn to see Chuck descending down the stairs, wearing a suit and tie. "How do they stand it? This collar's killing me!"

"How come you're wearing those clothes, Grandpa?" Chris walks up to him.

"Mr. Tanaka said I couldn't wear my lab coat to the party!" Chuck complains. "I don't see why not!"

Sophia giggles as she walks up the stairs. "Chuck, you continue to amuse me."

Chris leans in, neither of them noticing Cream and Cheese decorating the room right next to them. "Hey Grandpa, when you see Sonic and the others, can you ask them to please stay out of sight until Mr. Stewart and my uncle go away?"

"I know that Amy and Tails are up in my room," Chuck thinks to himself, "But I haven't seen Sonic or Cream and Cheese all day." They then notice Cream and Cheese, shouting in surprise. Cream is putting up paper chains. They both sweat nervously, as it doesn't seem that anyone else was in the room at the moment.

"It's Cream and Cheese!" Chris exclaims anxiously, Lindsey walking up to them from behind.

"Is something wrong?" They shout in protest, waving their arms to block the sight. "Uh, what's the matter with you two?" Chris places his hands on her back.

"Everything's okay here, Mom. You better hurry up and get ready. In fact, I think Sophia said something about needing help! Me and Grandpa will take care of the rest of the decoration for tonight's party!" He smiles widely.

"But there's plenty of time," she says in confusion.

"Yeah, but you know how times flies when you're putting on your makeup! Right, Grandpa?" Chris turns to a smiling Grandpa.

"Ahhh, yes, and don't forget all of the food that has to be prepared, too!" He smiles largely.

"Oh. Well, I'll go see how Ella's doing in the kitchen," she walks away, unfazed. Grandpa and Chris sigh in relief. Chris then remembers Cream and Cheese, running towards the room.

"What are you two doing here, Cream?" He sees Ella in the doorway, pushing Cream and Cheese to the ground. She has a laundry basket in her hands. She sees the paper chain.

"Mrs. Thorndyke decorates like a little kid!" She giggles as she walks away.

"Cream, I asked you to stay upstairs so nobody would see you," Chris whispers.

"That room was boring. But we only wanted to help you get ready for your party," she gives a little frown.

"Master Chris, understand." Chris gives a flabbergasted look as Cream looks up to see Mr. Tanaka looking down at them. "It is very thoughtful of you to help us get ready, Cream."

"Mr, Tanaka, you know about these guys?" Chris asks in confusion.

"Of course. I also know of Sophia's origins," he answers.

"You knew all along! Do you think you could help me and Grandpa keep this a secret for right now?" Cream and Cheese walk away.

"I will," he agrees and he gives a sigh of relief.

"Thanks a lot." He sees that Cream and Cheese are gone. "Hold on! They're gone!"

* * *

Sonic is speeding across the mountains as he looks at the poster in his hand. He gives a skeptical look, as he has yet to find the small meadow.

* * *

"Cream? Cheese?" Chris opens the door to his room. "I wonder where they wandered off to..." He opens the door to Sophia's room. He looks around in awe, as he's barely been in Sophia's room. Sophia has a canopy bed with pink sheets, pink walls, and white carpet. Her room is decorated with plush toys, a balcony, and a golden vanity. She has a white dresser near her bed, a golden lamp on top of it. She turns around as she has a dress on her bed.

"Chris?" She asks in confusion.

"Oh, sorry, Sophia. Have you seen Cream and Cheese?" He wonders.

"No, not since this morning before we departed for school," she shakes her head.

Ella is using the mixer to bake the cake. "I hope Sophia likes strawberry for her cake!"

"Ella! Ella!" Lindsey calls out.

"Oh! What?!" Ella calls out loudly, looking up. She turns the mixer off.

"I can't find my green Versace! You didn't send it to the cleaners, did you?"

"Oh no, it should be there!" Ella yells loudly.

"It's not here!" Lindsey insists.

"I'm on my way," Ella sighs a little, leaving the mixing bowl and other food. Cream peeks around the corner, running up the step stool and reaching the blender. She looks at all of the delicious food that has been prepared so far.

"Wow, look at all that food! It smells so good!" She exclaims happily.

"Chao!"

Cream turns to the blender and Cheese flies up to the mixer that has pink mix. "We can help, Cheese." She turns on the blender while Cheese turns on the mixer. The blender starts to spew out the contents, same with the mixer, as they didn't know what they were supposed to do with them. They rush out of the room and Ella walks in, seeing the mess.

"Hey Cream?" Chris peeks into a room. "Are you-" he hears screaming from the kitchen and Sophia peeks her head out from her room.

"Cream, Cheese!" They rush to the chaos in the kitchen, shouting in surprise. "Ella!" They look at her as she's covered in blender mix. "Are you okay?"

She sighs heavily. "My dinner is a disaster..."

"Oh dear," Sophia frowns at her as Chris looks around.

* * *

Sonic whistles at the waterfall in front of him. "This is cool." The bridge, however, is old, as some planks have been broken. Sonic speeds past it, breaking some planks off.

* * *

Lindsey looks at herself in the mirror as she puts on her earrings. "This should do." She has blue jewelry and a red gown on. "At least for my entrance." The phone rings. "Interruptions," she answers it. "Hello?" She suddenly gasps. "What's that? The starring role? I'll catch the next plane!" She stands up before giving a dismayed look. "Oh, actually I'm having a little for my son and his pen pal tonight," Cream and Cheese are walking past the door, hearing the conversation.

"I'm afraid I'll have to leave tomorrow morning. Oh. I didn't realize. We have to shoot on location first thing tomorrow morning. I know you can't put a hundred million dollar production on hold for a party. I'll leave immediately. Goodbye." She hangs up, having a guilty look on her face. She shuts off the light from her vanity. "Why does it always have to happen this way? I don't even have time to spend with my little boy. I may be a great actress, but I'm a terrible mother," she places her hands over her eyes. "Please forgive me, Christopher," she starts crying. Cream gives a sad look.

* * *

Sonic speeds until he reaches the top of the mountain, having finally found the meadow from the poster. He yells happily, speeding down there as quickly as possible. He looks at all the flowers, picking one up and sniffing it with a content look on his face.

* * *

"Cream, where are you?" Chris calls out. "Hey, Cheese! Ah, maybe they went back to the lab with Grandpa!" He opens the door to the living room and rushes outside.

"Chris!" Ella looks around for him. "Oh, the poor boy." She places a hand on her cheek. "Oh dear."

Lindsey has her car being prepared by Mr. Tanaka and he closes the trunk. Ella appears outside next to her. "Ma'am, I've looked all over, but I'm afraid I couldn't find Chris anywhere!"

Lindsey grabs her hand. "Ella, please tell Sophia and Christopher how sorry I am and apologize to Mr. Stewart and my brother."

"They'll understand," Ella grips her hands back. "You take care, Mrs. Thorndyke."

"Call me if Chris needs anything," Lindsey walks to the car.

"Certainly, Mrs. Thorndyke," Mr. Tanaka bows his head. She leaves, Mr. Tanaka looking up with a worried look for Chris.

Chris rushes into the garage. "Cream! Cheese!" He only finds Amy, Chuck, and Tails. "What? They're not here?"

"Weren't they with you?" Chuck asks in confusion, Amy joining Chuck and Tails.

"They're wandering around someplace and Mr. Stewart's gonna be here any minute now!" Chris panics, holding his head. "I'd ask Sophia, but she's getting ready! What am I gonna do if he sees them?!"

"Stay calm. Let's all split up and each one of us will search a different part of the house until we find them," Chuck suggests.

"Okay!" Tails and Amy agree together.

Lindsey has a dismayed look on her face as she's driving out of Station Square. Unfortunately, Mr. Stewart is almost at the Thorndyke mansion, holding a big bouquet of roses. He looks at a small device in his fingers.

* * *

Mr. Stewart arrives and rings the doorbell. Mr. Tanaka answers it. "I'm Chris and Sophia's homeroom teacher, Mr. Stewart," he introduces himself.

"Welcome sir," Mr. Tanaka bows his head. "We've been expecting you."

"Hi! Come in!" Chris appears at the door.

"How are you, Chris?" Mr. Stewart waves slightly.

"Sit down," Ella gestures to the couch. He sees the paper chains Cream made. "Do you like it? Mrs. Thorndyke isn't only a great actress, but an artist too!" She laughs at the thought while Chris sweats sheepishly. He had forgotten about that.

"Well, it's great! I can't wait to meet Chris's mother and give her my compliments!" Mr. Stewart comments, Chris sitting down.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Stewart, but just before you arrived, she was offered an important movie part and she had to leave right away to start filming," Ella explains, Chris gasping in surprise.

"No way!" He exclaims in disbelief.

"Oh dear," Sophia walks up to them from behind. She's wearing a golden-yellow dress, with pink ribbon-patterned designs on it, and black hem trimming on the bottom. The long sleeves and chest part are made of a sheer white fabric. She has a silver jeweled necklace on her neck, and a silver metal-plate-like covering around her waist. Her shoes are silver high heels with straps that are wrapped around her feet and ankles. Her hair has been curled and she wears a small silver tiara on her head. And lastly, she has sparkly gold eyeshadow on, along with light pink lipstick. "So soon?"

"Oh, well that is too bad. I was really looking forward to meeting her in person," Mr. Stewart sounds a little disappointed. "Sophia, you look great! Hmm, I guess I'll offer these to you, then," he offers Ella the flowers.

"Oh! Why thank you, Mr. Stewart!" She takes them and he smiles. "What beautiful roses! I'll put them in some-" A crashing sound is heard and Tails pushes away a cabinet door.

"Hello?"

"What was that?" Ella asks in confusion, rushing towards the noise. Mr. Stewart sneaks around while Chris and Sophia are distracted, pulling out his little box device. Ella looks outside the window, seeing that Chuck is laying on the ground with ruined flower pots. He stands up, smiling widely as she sweats a little.

"Ha ha, sorry Ella. I was just leaning out the window and I fell out and knocked the pots down!"

"I don't know what you think you're up to, but you better be on your best behavior," she warns. "Because Chris and Sophia's teacher is here."

"Oh!" He gives a surprised look. "I better come in and say hi," he crawls in through the window.

"Oh sir, why can't you just use the front door like everybody else?" Ella asks in annoyance, Chris and Sophia looking down to see Cream's legs by the window.

"One way in's a good as another," Chuck protests, Chris screaming. They all turn to him.

"What's the matter, Chris?" Ella asks in concern. "Why did you scream?"

"Uh, duh...it's nothing!" He sits back down, hands behind his back. Ella looks at Sophia, who just gives an innocent look.

"Well my, this certainly is an extraordinary painting!" Mr. Stewart tries to divert attention away from him. Cream and Cheese notice Sonic jumping onto the tree in front of them, holding flowers. He waves the bouquet, pointing to the left. He jumps out of the tree.

"Thanks, Sonic," Cream says out loud, stepping away from the curtain and revealing herself. "Guess what, Sonic went out and picked a whole bunch of pretty flowers just for me!" Ella holds her up, confused. "You can have some too if you want."

"Oh...I can't...is this little animal talking?" Ella asks in surprise, Chuck's hand on top of his eye.

"Talking animals? What a joke!" Chuck says, sweating.

"Yes, that's some joke," Mr. Tanaka agrees.

"Very amusing, indeed," Sophia smiles nervously.

Mr. Stewart nods at the painting. "Love this painting."

"Thanks for finding my stuffed animal toy for me, Ella. Can I have it back now?" Chris approaches her.

"Toy?!" Ella asks, giving Cream to him. "Look, I heard that thing talking and nobody's going to convince me otherwise! If this is some kind of joke, then you better quit before I do!"

"Cream, act like a toy," Sophia whispers to her.

"Hey hey!" They turn to see Sam arriving. "Ha ha, hey, where's the party?"

"Uncle Sam, this is our teacher, Mr. Stewart!" Chris says, happy for the distraction. Sophia gives a nervous look, hoping Sam wouldn't recognize her from the news.

"Our?" Sam notices Sophia in the room. "Oh, you're that exchange student my sister told me about. The pen pal, right?"

Sophia gulps slightly. "Ah, yes...from Canada..."

"A pleasure," Mr. Stewart shakes Sam's hand. "I understand you're involved in the Highway Patrol somehow."

"Well, I don't like to brag, but I'm the leader of the S Team," Sam states.

"That statement is only half correct," Chuck deadpans.

"Really?" Mr. Stewart turns to them.

"My uncle drives fast. No other driver's quick enough to catch him! That's why he's called the Speed King!" Chris explains, "You came up with the name yourself, didn't you?"

"Sure," Sam shrugs. "A little self-promotion never hurt anybody!" He starts laughing, giving an accusing look. "Let's cut the chitchat and get this part moving. It's too slow!"

"And your mouth is too fast," Ella closes her eyes, annoyed.

"Ha! I can't help it that I like speed," Sam sits down. "I've always been fast, I even beat the doctor to the delivery room. I was the only kid in town who had a five-speed transmission in my baby carriage."

Mr. Stewart sweats, giving a flabbergasted look. "How...nice for you," Sophia murmurs in confusion.

"I admit it. I like living in the fast lane. Even when I'm in the supermarket no matter how many items I have, I use the express checkout. I can't even walk my dog, I make him run!" He laughs again. Chris, Sophia, Ella, Chuck, and Mr. Tanaka give annoyed looks. "There's only two guys who's faster. I never saw anything move that fast, but don't you worry, I'll catch up with them someday!"

"Really? What did they look like?" Mr. Stewart asks.

"It's weird, but he looked like a blue hedgehog and the girl had pink hair. He even had a spike and she-huh?" He looks up to see Sonic waving at him from the tree outside. "Hey! There he is!" He points and they turn around, Sonic jumping away before Ella can look. They give doubtful looks. "There, did you see?! It was the blue hedgehog I was talking about!"

"Sorry, I was just admiring this painting," Mr. Stewart calls out.

"I didn't see anything, did you?" Chuck replies.

"Perhaps your eyes were playing tricks on you, sir," Mr. Tanaka denies.

"But I'm telling ya, I saw it! You saw it too, Chris and Sophia, didn't you?" He turns to them. They shake their heads in denial. "Hey...wait a minute...that hair..." Sophia sweats a little. He rubs his eyes, looking at them. "I saw it! My eyes don't lie! That thing waved at me and ran off! And I swear, Sophia looks a little like that girl I saw! How often do you see a girl with pink hair?!"

"I, erm, I dyed it," Sophia stammers.

"You know, they thought I was crazy too when I heard that animal talking," Ella approaches him.

"Animal talking?" Sam gives a surprised look. "Well, I didn't hear it say anything, but I'm sure it could understand what I said. We both saw the same creature! That proves that I'm not crazy."

"The animal I heard is over there," Ella points at Cream.

"You know, I'm sorry Mom can't be here for the party, but she got a phone call and had to leave to make a movie. I was pretty mad," Chris explains, dodging the subject. "Mr. Stewart was looking forward to meeting her, but she went away before he even got here. That was pretty rude, huh?"

"Chris," Sophia warns him, gesturing her head towards Cream.

"Wow, that sounds like my sister alright," Sam comments. Cream remembers Lindsey's reaction from earlier.

 _"Please forgive me, Christopher," she cried into her hands._

"You're wrong!" Cream jumps out of his arms. "Your mom felt very badly that she had to go and she tried to find you to say goodbye." Ella and Sam give shocked looks. "You're lucky. You get to talk to your mom all the time on the phone." Tears appear in her eyes. "I can't do that!" She runs out crying, all of them staring at the door.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed that," they turn to Mr. Tanaka. "I've been rehearing my ventriloquism act for weeks now and if I do say so myself, I'm not half bad." He clears his throat.

"Oh yes, this painting is stunning."

"Cream!" Tails and Amy run past them.

"Come here, Cream!"

Ella and Sam's mouths are open in shock.

"I'm seeing more of them now!" Ella puts a hand to her head.

"Hey Ella!" Chuck takes her hand. "Would you care to dance?" He leads her away.

"Well Uncle Sam, I hope you can come and visit us again," Chris replies.

"Yeah, but you know me, Chris. It'll have to be a quick visit." The two both laugh, Sophia shaking her head.

"I guess I've seen and heard enough," Mr. Stewart comments, looking down at his device. He was supposed to plant it so that the president could get more information on Sonic and the others, but he puts it back into his pocket. Chuck dances around with Ella, twirling her in a fast motion. Sophia, Chris, and Sam stare at them.

"Chris, Sophia," the two look up at Mr. Stewart. "I'd better get going, I have homework to grade. Please give your mother my regards, Chris, and tell her I hope we get to meet soon." He walks away.

"We're sorry, Mr. Stewart," Chris calls out.

He leaves through the gates, Sam giving them a two-finger salute from his car. "Later guys. See you in my rearview mirror." He speeds away, Mr. Tanaka bowing. He opens the door for Sophia, Chris, and Chuck. Chris sighs as he walks into the room, seeing a tired Ella.

"Oh dear. I'm working too hard. I'm hearing things..." Sophia frowns at her, Mr. Tanaka leaning in.

"Mr. Chris, Ms. Sophia, would it not be wise to let Ella in on your little secret too?" He suggests.

"He's right. Things would be a lot easier if she were in on it too," Chuck agrees.

"Sure, okay." Chris agrees.

"Certainly," Sophia bows her head and they walk up to her.

"Hey Ella. Listen, it's like this..."

* * *

"So the only nutty thing in my kitchen is my pecan pie! What a relief! I'm so happy that you don't have to hide from me anymore, sweetie," Ella is making dinner, Cream helping her with the dishes.

"We can be friends and I can help you out in the kitchen," Cream suggests, Sophia making cookies, an apron over her dress.

"You're such a dear. I'm sure your mother misses you terribly," Ella starts to cry, wiping her eyes.

"Please don't worry. Sonic and my friends will find a way to get us all back home," Cream assures her with soft eyes. "And you can take care of us until then."

Ella turns to Cream. "I will, Cream, I will."

"Thank you, Ella," Cream tells her.

"Yes, thank you so much," Sophia turns to her with a smile.

"I still can't believe that you're part alien, dear! And yet you look so beautiful!" Ella sniffs, Sophia smiling sheepishly.

"I receive that a lot..."

Sonic and Chris are watching the display from around the corner. "Now that Ella knows we're here, we can have the run of this place," Sonic whispers.

"Sure," Chris nods in agreement before giving a nervous look. "Uh...oh..." He walks away, remembering how Cream got mad at him.

"Chris?" Sonic looks at him. He peeks into Chris's room, seeing him sitting on his bed. "What's wrong? Why are you sad?"

"I didn't mean it when I complained about my mom missing the party, but Cream got really angry. I didn't even think about how bad she misses her mother, or Sophia. I...just hope she doesn't stay mad at me."

"Don't worry," Sonic winks at him. "It'll be okay." He hears humming and turns to see Cream arriving in the room.

"Hello Chris. I made this especially for you," she holds out a flower crown. "Do you wanna put it on?" He lowers his head and she puts it on him.

"Wow, thank you."

"You can wear it to school and tell your friends that I made it for you! Now I'm gonna give Ella and Sophia their flowers!" She giggles as she runs off.

"Way to go, buddy. Cream will only give her flower crowns to the people who she really likes a lot, like you," Sonic explains.

"Really? You think she likes me?" Chris asks happily.

"You bet," Sonic winks again, giving a thumbs up.

Cream gives her flower crowns to Ella and Sophia, Amy, Chuck, and Tails cheering on. Ella hugs Cream and they laugh.


	8. Satellite Swindle

**Angel: Sorry about not updating this on Tuesday or Thursday, I was busy with washing my hair and then having a hair appointment respectively. And yesterday, I had job interviews to attend. Luckily, I have nothing planned today except to go to the bank...but tomorrow, I have a job interview, so I figured to post this chapter now rather than wait.**

Guest: Aww the ending was so sweet and cute

 **Sophia: Yes, Cream has her ways of doing that.**

 **Angel: That's true.**

Bajy: Simply perfect! This was a really great chapter! Love it! And I totally love Sophia's dress design! Very royal! Very extravagant and lovely! I look forward to reading more soon! This was totally worth the wait, and so will the next one.

 **Sophia: Thank you very much. *smiles* Mrs. Thorndyke has exceptional taste when it comes to my attire.**

 **Angel: Yeah, with this one...I was busy to update XD But I am almost done with the next episode, so there's that.**

Abby254: This happened to be one my favorites episodes of the series. I just love Cream and Cheese!

 **Angel: This is a favorite of mine too, because Ella's reaction was priceless XD And all of the craziness of trying to keep them hidden...man...**

Ichabod: *sighs, droops* Why do I even try...? It's like a guy can't catch a break around here...

 **Angel: I am...so sorry, but I really don't know how you speak...**

Jake: I read this chapter it was great plus I saw a comment CJ sent I remembered watching that show when I was little.

 **Angel: I know she left it, but I'm still not done with the chapter for that story...I haven't had the time to type for it lately, but I know that I have two pages left...**

CJ: Hi angel I read our stories I think they're pretty amazing on the TMNT movie I sent you a question and it was misspelled I asked when you were a kid did you watch a show called Codename: Kids Next Door?

 **Angel: Aw, thank you. And I already addressed the status of that story for now...don't know when I'm gonna have the time to finish that chapter...but yes, I did watch that show. I remember playing all the games from Cartoon Network...but I'm gonna level with you. Sometimes when people ask me about shows that I've watched, they ask me to write them with an OC included. After all, that's how Sonic X started. So if someone asks me to write Codename: Kids Next Door...my answer will be to ask someone else. I don't want to be pressured like last time.**

Dr. Eggman presses the button to open the slot for his Selection Machine. He places the pack of cards inside and closes it shut. He pulls the lever and it lands on an incredibly large green robot that is called as E-90 Super Sweeper. "Perfect!" Eggman laughs, standing up and pumping his fist. The robot is moved to the side and then lifted in the air. A hatch opens up in the grass and Super Sweeper takes off into the sky, and then into space before it's gone.

At Area 99, the personnel receive word of the rocket launch.

"What was that?"

"Some kind of rocket launch?"

"What's the word?" The leader asks.

"An unknown object was spotted about five minutes ago. I'm afraid that's all we know, sir," one of the personnel reports.

"That Dr. Eggman is up to something. I only wish I knew what it was." A satellite is looking down at Earth. "Has it been identified?"

"I'm afraid not, sir."

The leader growls to himself.

"Well now, time to have a little fun?" Eggman wiggles his fingers, pulling a lever. Super Sweeper opens its mouth, producing a large red vacuum. "Super Sweeper," he laughs and the vacuum activates, using electricity.

An alarm sounds off at the Area 99 base. "What's going on?" The leader demands.

"Communications cut off. Sir, the satellite, it's..."

"Gone?!" The leader finishes, standing up in shock.

"Yes sir."

"This can't be happening! It's impossible!"

All the satellites around Super Sweeper are drawn in towards the robot. The satellites are sucked into the body. "Just look at all my shiny new toys," Eggman chuckles to himself. "Ah well, too bad I have to grind them all into robot parts! Who knew recycling could be so much fun? And cost-effective!"

"It's getting closer!"

The leader grits his teeth. "We've got to alert the president!"

* * *

Sonic is lying on the roof while everyone else is inside, Mr. Tanaka lowing the lawn outside. "You know what I like to do, boys and girls? I like to dance! Dancing's lots of fun and it's good exercise too! Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't you dance with me?" Cream and Cheese happily dance, watching The Next Show. Chris and Tails are sitting on the couch behind them. "That's it! Look at you! Go!"

Ella walks into the room. "Hi! Snack time, everyone!" She, Sophia, and Amy are holding pies. "Here we go," they lay them out.

"Ella showed us how to make homemade apple pie!" Amy explains, hands on her hips with a proud smile.

"I think our little Amy has quite a knack for baking. I just might be out of a job soon!" Ella comments.

"Perhaps we should let you do the baking around here so that event does not occur," Sophia smiles sheepishly.

"Hey Ella, Sophia!" Amy gives a happy look. "Maybe Sonic would like some pie." Tails licks his lips, reaching out to one of the pies.

"He can have the other one," he takes it.

"No you don't! That pie's for Sonic!" Amy snatches it from him, swinging it back. Tails gets launched into the TV. As soon as he collides with it, the TV immediately goes to static.

"Tails, you broke our...TV!" Cream gives a disappointed look.

"I'm sorry," Tails rubs his head.

"Amy," Sophia gives her a look and she sweats sheepishly. She sighs and walks over to Tails, checking over him.

"And that was our favorite program..." Cream says sadly.

"Don't worry, Cream," Chris takes the remote. "Maybe this will help." He tries to switch it back, but nothing works as all they get is static. "Okay, guess that didn't work."

Sophia sweats at him, "Oh dear." She hands Tails a pie and he takes it happily.

Cream starts to cry. "Now we can't watch our program!" Sonic hears her crying, opening an eye.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sonic rushes into the room as Amy and Sophia try to comfort Cream and Cheese.

"Hi Sonic," Chris greets him. "Cream and Cheese are upset cuz the TV's busted."

"That's what they're crying about?" Sonic raises an eyebrow.

"Uh huh," Chris answers.

"What do we do?" Amy asks in confusion. "Now I can't watch my cooking show."

"Or Mrs. Thorndyke in the movie of the week," Ella adds.

"Or my soap operas..." Sophia murmurs wistfully.

"Or the martial arts matinee," Mr. Tanaka gives a slight glare as he stands at the door.

"Sorry Mr. Tanaka," Chris sweats sheepishly. They hear laughing and Bokkun flies into the room. Amy and Ella move their pies away as he lands on the table, surrounded by everyone. Chris and Sonic jump behind the couch, peeking at him.

"That was a disappointing welcome if you don't mind me saying so!" Bokkun retorts.

"We do mind," Sophia mutters under her breath.

He pulls a small TV out of his backpack. "Got a brand-new message for Sonic and Sophia from Dr. Eggman, so listen up good!"

"I...shall move out of the way," Sophia backs up. "The last time Eggman sent a message from you, it imploded into my hair and face."

The TV turns on to reveal Eggman. "Greetings, my little warthog and royal pain. Sorry it's been so long since my last message, but I've been such a busy little bee. Take a look," the feed switches over to Super Sweeper taking the satellites.

"That thing's swallowing up satellites!" Chris, Sophia, and Sonic glance at each other.

"And it's ruined our television reception," Mr. Tanaka's eyebrow twitches a little.

"Don't get any ideas, Sophia and Sonic. After all, I'm only having a little fun. So stay out of it if you know what's good for you!" Ella and Amy are hiding as well, holding logs from the fireplace. "As we speak, my E-90 is floating above the stratosphere, collecting all matter of space junk." Cream, Cheese, and Tails are hiding too, Tails holding a pillow as they were expecting an explosion at some point. "So that I can make more and more of my ever-so-helpful mechanical friends. Well? What do you say to that?" He laughs evilly. "Pretty soon you might be obsolete, Bokkun!" Bokkun starts to cry at that.

"What's E-90?" Chris asks Tails, who shrugs.

"I don't know, Chris, but I'll bet it's one of Dr. Eggman's robots. I wonder what a stratosphere is," Tails wonders.

Chuck suddenly bursts into the room from outside. "A layer of air miles above us! It's as high as the sky!" Tails looks a little disappointed and confused. "We can do without you, cry baby," he snatches Bokkun.

"No! Put me down!" Bokkun begs, Sophia shaking her head at him. Bokkun produces an explosion, Sonic and Chris closing their eyes. Sophia covers her eyes with her arm. "Gotcha!" He laughs and Chuck comes back extremely charred. Chris, Sophia, and Sonic smile at him sheepishly.

"Looks like that robot's the bomb!" Chris jokes, Sophia sinking to the floor in disbelief at him.

"I believe it was unwise to do that, Chuck," she murmurs.

"Very funny!" Chuck retorts, "But this is serious, Chris. Eggman's causing havoc, miles above anyone's reach."

"I bet the Tornado can get up there," Chris suggests. Tails frowns as he has his arms crossed.

"Hmm..."

"Come on, Tails." Tails turns towards Sonic in confusion. "Why not? I'm game! Let's go!"

"I will come along as well," Sophia bows her head, speeding after Sonic.

"Okay, let's go!" He follows them. Sonic jumps into the Tornado in the garage. Tails jumps into the pilot's seat, turning to Sophia. "Come on, Sophia."

"No thank you. You forget that I possess flight abilities," she opens her wings and they take off.

"Can you even fly that high?" Sonic asks in slight concern. "Wouldn't want ya to lose control and suddenly fall like a meteor!"

"My wings can withstand any environment, I assure you. After all, I am part alien," she reminds him.

"We can do it!"

"You bet!" Sonic agrees with Tails and they fly off.

"Good luck, you guys!" Amy waves at them as she, Chuck, and Chris watch them leave. "We'll be waiting!"

* * *

Eggman sees two dots on his radar system. "Huh?! E-90, zap those meddlers!" Super Sweeper starts firing lasers, Tails and Sophia dodging them. Sonic sees the open mouth.

"Move in close!" Sonic orders Tails and Sophia. They fly past the mouth as it closes, looking back at the robot.

"We moved too fast for it!" Tails flies above the robot, trying to attack. It fires several large lasers at them.

"I think that was too close!" Sonic comments in slight relief.

"Don't worry, I think I've got an idea," Tails tells him. "Sophia, you stay close to the Tornado!"

"Right," Sophia nods, Super Sweeper firing several bombs at them. Tails and Sophia manage to dodge them all, flying around Super Sweeper. This forces it to twirl in order to see them. This makes Eggman very dizzy, the whole thing confusing him. Tails and Sophia fly over Super Sweeper.

"Here goes!" Tails fires at the top. Sophia puts her hand near her shoulder before sweeping her arm, firing three pink spear-like projectiles from her hand. A successful explosion happens and leaves a small fire along with smoke on top of the robot's body, but it isn't enough to destroy it. Tails and Sophia do a 180, flying forward while firing more of their defenses. Super Sweeper soars upwards.

"Stay with it!" Sonic calls out.

"Just hold on tight!" Tails assures him. Super Sweeper releases a large block of steel and they all scream. Tails and Sophia quickly ascend to dodge it. Super Sweeper is getting closer to the stratosphere. Eggman grins as Sophia and Tails reappear.

"Time for some fireworks!" He pulls a lever and several missiles are fired at them. Sophia and Tails dodge them all happily. Sonic jumps out of the plane, kicking the missiles to destroy each other. One of them hits Super Sweeper. Sophia grabs Sonic's hands, flying back to the plane. She lets go and he lands safely. "You think you're so smart, don't you?! Super Sweeper!"

The robot opens its mouth, trying to suck them in. "It's sucking us in!" Sonic shouts, Sophia flying out of control. Tails pulls the lever with all of his might, but cannot seem to escape it. Sonic sweats nervously, narrowing his eyes. Sophia appears behind the plane and pulls it back with her super strength.

"Thanks Sophia!" Tails calls out as they fly around.

"It's coming up behind us!" Sonic looks behind him.

"I know a way to shake it. Sophia, follow my lead!" Tails flies down, Sophia doing the same. They then fly up into the clouds. Super Sweeper sucks up the clouds. "I can't believe it! It's swallowing up all the clouds!" The propeller suddenly blows, smoke pouring out of it. "OH NO!" It stops spinning, starting to plummet towards the sea.

"SONIC, TAILS, NO!" Sophia shouts in horror, flying towards the plane. Tails pulls with all his might, Super Sweeper catching Sophia, preventing her from saving them with its vacuum. The two just miss the water as Tails manages to control it again. Sophia sends Super Sweeper a fire blast to distract it, flying after the plane.

* * *

That night, Sonic is thinking about what happened, lying on the roof. A frown is on his face.

Tails, Chris, Sophia, and Chuck are in the garage, Tails upset about what happened as well.

"It appears our foe is more powerful than we thought," Chuck states. Tails frowns, placing a hand on the plane.

"It would appear that way, yes," Sophia says bitterly.

"Hey Tails!" He turns to see Sonic landing a few feet away. "Problem is the Tornado's too slow. So, what you oughta do is soup this birdie up a little bit." Chris and Chuck gasp in realization.

"Yes, I believe that is the solution to our problem," Sophia nods in agreement.

"I could try," Tails murmurs.

"Really, Tails?" Chris asks in surprise.

"Maybe I could use the Chaos Emeralds. But there could be a problem." Chris and Chuck look in confusion. "It's all that energy. The Chaos Emeralds got huge amounts of energy. It would only take a tiny bit to run the Tornado, so all that extra energy wouldn't have anywhere to go. And that could be a real, big problem!"

"What do you think, Grandpa?" Chris wonders.

"We need to find a way to burn off the emerald's excess energy," Chuck suggests.

"I wouldn't want to just waste it," Tails protests.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Chuck asks.

"Well we could install a backup engine. That way with two engines instead of one, the energy would have another outlet," Tails offers.

"Do you really think two engines could contain all that power?" Chuck asks skeptically.

"If we want to beat Dr. Eggman, it's sure worth giving it a try," Tails replies.

"In order to install that backup, we'd have to rebuild the plane. Are you sure you have the know-how to do that, Tails?" Chuck asks in concern.

"Well, I've never done anything like this before...but I'll give it a shot," Tails frowns in doubt.

"You can do it, Tails. I know it!" Sonic encourages him.

"Well...Sophia, wanna make it official?" Tails turns to her. Sophia smiles at him softly, bending down to his height.

"Tails, in order by me, I request that you make a brand-new plane. And if you have doubts, you can talk to me. I will try to help you in any way I can," she places a hand on his shoulder. "I assure you, if you can create a new security system for my castle, then you can reform a plane."

"Come with me, Tails. I've got something that might interest you," Chuck winks at him. Tails just blinks at him in confusion, looking up as Chuck is behind him. "In fact, I'm certain it will." He chuckles slightly as he starts to lead Tails.

"I will retrieve the emerald from my room," Sophia leaves the garage.

* * *

An elevator descends down and it opens up for Chuck, Sophia, and Tails. Sophia is holding the case that contains the emerald. "What's this?" Tails asks curiously, as he's never seen this room.

"It's my secret laboratory," Chuck explains, turning on the lights. Tails and Sophia look in awe, Tails turning to him.

"It's amazing!" He exclaims happily.

"Impressive..." Sophia murmurs under her breath.

"I think you'll find everything we need," Chuck smiles at them.

"Sure!" Tails cheers.

"Now let's rebuild the Tornado!" Chuck pumps his fist.

"Yeah!" Tails agrees, Sophia nodding her head.

"And I will assist you," she offers to their agreement.

They begin their construction later that night. Tails, Sophia, and Chuck look at a blueprint. Tails uses a wrench as he looks under the plane. Sophia hands him a tool when he asks. Chuck works on the front plate. Sophia and Chuck watch as Tails works on the wires.

"You've been working all day long, Tails. Why don't you take a break?" Chuck offers.

"Perhaps I could prepare you a snack?" Sophia questions him.

"It's okay. I'm almost done. Though, I would like that snack, please!" He turns to Sophia with a smile and she smiles back, heading out with Chuck.

"Alright..."

Someone puts a hand on Tails' back. "Want some help?" He turns around to see a smiling Chris.

* * *

Sonic stands on the roof, watching the sunrise. Chris, Amy, Cream, and Cheese are sleeping on the couch. As soon as Cream wakes up, she's happy to see the TV turning on, but the logo says 'Egg TV.' "Good morning!" His face appears on screen, scaring Cream greatly. "It's time for the one and only Dr. Eggman show! This program is coming to you live by a satellite, from a beautiful island in the southern sea!" Chris and Amy see the broadcast as well, looking in worry. Sophia walks into the room, frowning.

"He's scary," Cream whimpers slightly. Sophia places an arm around her shoulder protectively.

"Unfortunately, this is on all frequencies," she reports to the others.

"Today's show is brought to you by the amazing Super Sweeper, for a cleaner, safer stratosphere," Eggman recites, his two robots filming him.

"Cue!" Bocoe calls out. A spotlight falls on Eggman as he holds a microphone.

"Who's the most brilliant scientist in all the universe?" He twirls around, jumping at the camera. "Ha, why it's Dr. Eggman!"

Super Sweeper takes off into space. The footage of the robot is shown to the leader at Area 99. "Sir, the object appears to have been launched."

"Then I'm afraid we have no choice but to launch a counter-attack," he orders.

"Yes sir!"

"Sonic!" The hedgehog turns and jumps off the roof to meet Tails and Sophia. He runs up to them.

"Did ya finish?" He wonders, Tails having a bashful smile on his face.

"Yup, we sure did!" He gives his best friend a thumbs up.

"I believe you will like the results," Sophia bows her head.

"Come on, we'll show ya!" Tails and Sophia run off to get the others. They gather around the closed doors of the garage. Tails nods at Chuck and he opens the garage door. Amy and Cream gasp in surprise. In front of them is a silver brand-new plane. "Presenting Tornado X!" Sonic smiles at it proudly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Super Sweeper is preparing to grab another satellite. "Target Lock on, sir." This time, the Area 99 personnel are prepared to take on the robot. Super Sweeper brings out its vacuum.

"Fire laser!" The leader commands. The satellite fires at Super Sweeper with multiple lasers, but they do nothing as a shield comes up and stops them. "What is happening?!"

"A feeble attempt at best, my friends. Come on, Super Sweeper. Do your stuff!" Eggman orders and Super Sweeper snatches up more satellites.

* * *

"Let's shove off, Tails and Sophia!" Sonic declares. Chris approaches them from behind.

"Hey Sonic," he starts, the three turning to him in confusion. "I was hoping I could go, too."

"Chris, you can't come with us. You know the plane's only a two-seater," Sonic explains.

"And I certainly will not carry you. In the stratosphere, you will require a helmet, and I can only survive because of my roots," Sophia adds from behind Tails.

"I thought..." Chris falters, Sonic frowning at him.

"Guess I forgot to tell ya," Tails rubs his cheek with his finger, Sonic turning around in confusion. "I made a couple of more changes," Tails presses a button from his remote, revealing more seats in the back.

"I asked Tails if he could put in an extra seat," Chris turns to Sonic. "I hope you don't mind, Sonic."

"Hmm," Sonic crosses his arms, as he didn't want to put Chris in danger.

"Well Sonic?" Tails waits for his answer, Sophia falling silent as she has her hands on Tails' shoulders. Sonic smiles at him.

"Just so long as you don't get in the way, okay?" He offers, Chris giving a thumbs up.

"You got a deal."

The engines start and the X Tornado starts to move. "Tornado X ready for takeoff!" The wings straighten themselves out, Amy's mouth open in shock.

"Let's clear the runway!" Chuck presses a button and the trees tilt to the side to make room for the wings. "I can't wait! I'm so excited, I could fly!" Amy stares at him. Chris is sitting with Tails and Sonic is sitting with Sophia in the back.

"Tornado X castoff!" Tails pulls the levers and the X Tornado starts flying. "Here we go!" The plane takes off for the first time. "Okay, get ready. We're about to enter X hyper speed mode!" Two more wings reveal themselves, allowing more speed.

Decoe and Bocoe see the plane from their radar. "Sorry to disturb you, Dr. Eggman, but something's headed straight for E-90 and it sure is fast," Decoe points out. Eggman rubs his hands together, knowing that it's Sonic, Sophia, and Tails.

"But not fast enough! I'll teach them to sneak up on me!"

Missiles are launched at the X Tornado, but Tails dodges them all. "Let's do it!" Sonic declares, him and Sophia jumping out of their seats. They begin to hop on the missiles, using their trajectory to soar effectively towards the Super Sweeper. The two land on top of it, giving a look of surprise to see laser cannons. They quickly dodge them and charge, only to be continued to be shot at. They resort to jumping to escape, but that doesn't work either. They maneuver out of the way from the lasers.

"Don't worry, Sonic and Sophia!" Tails fires lasers of his own. "I've got your back!" The cannons are destroyed.

"Thanks, Tails!" Sonic calls out as he gives a thumbs up. Sophia waves up at the plane before they turn their attention to the robot.

"SONIC! SOPHIA! I'll put an end to that hyperactive hedgehog and girl!" Eggman is angry, pressing more buttons to activate more cannons on Super Sweeper. The lasers all fire at the X Tornado, but they also all miss.

"I can't get any closer!" Tails laments, eyes narrowed. While the lasers focus on Tails, Sonic and Sophia ram through the large cannon, destroying it as they fly up into the air. Sonic is knocked back from the explosion.

The others are watching the footage from the TV. "Isn't Sonic the bravest?" Amy clasps her hands, looking in wonder.

The X Tornado is underneath the Super Sweeper. Sonic and Sophia jump onto the robot, but Sonic is thrusted backwards, losing his balance. Sophia grabs his hand as she hangs onto the robot. "Thanks Sophia!" He calls out, super Sweeper firing more missiles at the X Tornado. Tails dodges them once more, Eggman having a sinister smile on his face.

"Now try and top that!" Sophia looks up to see the vacuum approaching them and she grits her teeth.

"Here we go! Booster switch on!" Tails pulls a lever and the back of the plane moves, an engine appearing from below. The plane soars faster as the vacuum turns on. "Sonic! Sophia! Watch out!" Tails fires the lasers and the vacuum is destroyed.

"ALRIIIIGHT! Wanna fight dirty?!" Eggman gets even angrier as he pounds on more buttons. A hunk of steel is dropped, Tails smirking.

"Just try to get away!" He flies up to Sonic and Sophia. She lets go and they land on the plane. As they go higher into the stratosphere, Sonic starts to shiver, which Chris notices.

"Sonic looks like he's shivering."

"That's cuz we're close to the stratosphere. It's 50 below up here, but Sonic can take it," Tails explains to him. Sonic looks down to see his feet freezing. Sophia gasps, seeing herself in the same predicament. Parts of the X Tornado start to freeze as well.

"What's going on?" Chris asks in worry.

"Everything is okay!" Tails tells him, sweating a bit.

"A-okay," Sonic says before he and Sophia are completely encased in ice. Chris turns around and sees them.

"Tails, Sonic and Sophia are frozen solid!" He reports to Tails' confusion. More missiles are fired at them and Tails flies over them.

"Hey, the rings!" Chris suggests.

"No good!" Tails tells him, because the containment unit for the rings have been frozen over already. "I can't open the cockpit!"

"But we've gotta think of something!" Chris exclaims as more missiles approach from behind. Tails then remembers what Chuck said about releasing excess energy.

 _We need to find a way to burn off the emerald's excess energy._

"That's it...I've got an idea. Listen carefully, Chris," he produces two rings in the cockpit. "Take the rings and connect them to the yellow cable underneath the seat." Chris looks at the rings in his hand.

"What's that gonna do?" Chris wonders, leaning in.

"There's no time for questions!" Tails exclaims quickly.

"Uh, okay," Chris replies nervously, seeing four cables in front of him. He gives a nervous look as he starts to touch the yellow cable. Chris sees missiles approaching and gives a sound of surprise. He takes the yellow cable and connects the rings together. Energy from the rings starts to sparkle, releasing from the ship and flowing towards Sonic and Sophia. Sonic smiles as he feels the energy around him. Sophia's hair floats around as she opens her eyes. A blue aura surrounds them and they break through the ice.

"Watch out Eggman, we're all warmed up! Let's go get 'im, guys!" Sonic declares, Chris cheering.

"Yes, let us finish this metal menace together, Sonic," Sophia tells him. Tails flies faster, coming back around as the two rocket off the X Tornado, destroying the advancing missiles. They burst into Super Sweeper and destroy him completely from the inside. They soar up into the air, Tails and Chris cheering as Super Sweeper explodes. This causes the feed from the TV to go out, leaving their friends in confusion.

"Guess I need to call the cable guy," Mr. Tanaka comments.

Sonic and Sophia are falling, seeing the X Tornado appear right next to them. Chris and Tails give them a thumbs up and Sonic returns it, Sophia winking with a smile. She opens her wings and grabs Sonic.

* * *

Sonic is soaking his feet in a tub of warm water while Sophia is fanning her face with her hand. Ella walks into the room with bowls of soup. "Sonic, Sophia, I made my caliente chili for you. This'll make your tummy nice and warm." Sonic and Sophia smile at her.

"You sure taught Eggman a lesson, Sonic and Sophia," Chuck congratulates.

"It wasn't us, Chuck," Sonic corrects him. "We just helped out this time. Chris and Tails are the ones that did it. They're the real heroes."

"I must agree with Sonic. Tails and Chris are the ones that receive the credit," Sophia smiles slightly. Tails and Chris smile at them, high-fiving each other with a cheer.

"Let's celebrate!" Amy enters, holding a tray with a beautiful array of ice cream. "I've made this ice cream myself, for the coolest guy around!"

"Er...wow, cool!" Sonic flinches and shrugs sheepishly. Sophia gasps sharply, eyes widening.

"...Ice cream...?"

"OH no..." Tails shakes his head. "Amy...get that ice cream away from Sophia...now."

"Wait, wh-OH no!" Amy moves away, but Sophia advances on her regardless.

"Uhh, what just happened?" Chris asks in confusion.

"If there's anything you shouldn't do around Sophia, it's to give her sweets. She goes crazy around them..." Tails explains as Sophia chases after Amy, the others laughing nervously.


	9. The Last Resort

Ichabod: The point is, I talk like Meowth from Pokémon, or Rattrap from Beast Wars! There's plenty of video clips online you can watch to hear examples of it! I hope that cleared things up, alright?

 **Angel: *murmurs* Well that was a little rude...**

CJ: Okay I understand because I liked watching it when I was little no pressure bye

 **Angel: Oh thank God...because I wouldn't have the time. I recently got a job :3**

GreenD109: That was a good chapter as always, though I'm surprised that Sophia goes crazy over sweets, but does it have to with which types of sweet treats, or just being around them?

 **Sophia: Erm...when I'm around any type of sweets, I do tend to go mentally insane...I am not proud of it.**

Bajy: Great job here! Well done! And the ending bit was funny! Sorry this one is short got stuff to do. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: It's okay, because I took so long with the chapter anyway XD** **It was just a bunch of stuff coming up last minute...**

"The new Emerald Coast Resort sounds like the perfect place to get away from it all!" Amy exclaims happily. "You can hang out at the beach, or float in the crystal clear ocean all day long, then dine as you watch a spectacular sunset! It sounds absolutely romantic," she clasps her hands, giving a dreamy look. "I wish we were going to the opening party!"

Tails, Cream, Sophia, and Chris are packing the X Tornado, planning on going to the coast.

"We'll have fun at the Thorndyke's villa," Cream explains, turning around in her seat. "Are you ready to go, Cheese?"

"Chao chao!"

Sophia chuckles as she puts on her sun hat.

"I'm ready too, guys! My flight plan will take us right to the Emerald Coast!" Tails calls out, Sophia jumping into the seat in front of Cream.

"Be careful, Tails, and try not to let anybody see you," Chris warns them.

"They won't have a problem as long as they stay on the grounds of the villa," Chuck assures him.

"And I assure you, Chris, I will be watching them as I enjoy myself on the beach," Sophia bows her head. "I have heard about this method...tanning, was it? Yes, I would like to try that." Sonic is snoring slightly as he relaxes on top of the equipment.

"I wish I could hang out with them instead of going to the resort opening," Chris complains, as he has other business there.

"I know," Chuck looks down at the invitation, "But your mother can't make it, so she needs you to go in her place. You won't have to stay long, and after you can join the others at the villa."

"That's great!" Chris exclaims happily. "I can give you a swimming lesson, Sonic!"

Sonic opens his eyes, not wanting to do any of the sort. "You guys go on without me, I'm gonna stay right here."

Chris looks at him in shock, the others staring. Sophia frowns to herself.

"Sonic! You mean you're not coming with us?" Amy demands, hands on her hips.

"That's right," he lands in front of her. "Have fun, I gotta run!" He speeds away out the garage.

"That's weird," Chris comments, Amy frowning. "I wonder why Sonic doesn't wanna go to the Emerald Coast with us."

"It must be because Sonic hates water," Amy deduces. "He won't go near the ocean because he can't swim."

"I am afraid that Amy is right," Chris looks up at Sophia, who has her arms crossed with closed eyes. "Chris, do you remember when Sonic and I first arrived on your world?"

 _Sonic coughed up water as Chris rubbed his back. Sophia bent down to him, hands on his shoulders. "You had to pull him out from the bottom of the pool."_

"I forgot that," Chris rubs the back of his head.

"But Sonic doesn't have to swim," Tails suggests from the plane. "He could go running on the beach."

"No Tails," Sophia shakes her head. "He will not even touch it without his fear taking over. It might be too much for him." She remembers Sonic's fight with Knuckles and how he was scared of a little lake without noticing how small it was.

Amy stares after Sonic's direction. "It's not gonna be as much fun without Sonic."

Chris stands there thinking before a car horn is heard. "Mr. Chris!" He looks up at Ella and Mr. Tanaka in the car. "We have to leave now or you'll be late for the ceremony!"

"Have a great time, Chris," Chuck places a hand on his shoulder. Chris smiles slightly and nods at him before looking down at Amy.

"We'll meet up later."

"Okay!" Amy agrees, "Don't be long."

"See you there!" Tails waves at him. Cheese waves his arms, saying Chao over again.

"We will be waiting for you," Sophia smiles at him.

"And don't be nervous, Chris," Amy tells him confidently. "That opening party will be just fine!"

"Uh, yeah," Chris chuckles nervously, as he hasn't done this for his mother before. He wouldn't even know what to do.

The X Tornado starts up, the wings descending down to be straightened. All four are smiling as they couldn't wait to get to the beach. Chuck presses the button to move the trees away. "Next stop, Emerald Coast! Hang on!" The engines start before they take off, the girls giving nervous looks at Tails' speed. "Here we go!" He lowers the two levers, the plane taking off. Amy and Cream look down at the ground, Chuck smiling at them.

Mr. Tanaka drives as Chris is in the back seat. He hears a whirr before giving an excited look at the X Tornado flying right above them.

"Master Chris," he turns his attention to Mr. Tanaka. "Remember that you are representing the Thorndyke family on this trip."

"I'll do my best, Mr. Tanaka," Chris gives a sheepish look.

* * *

Sonic looks up at the sky and clouds as he lays down on flowers and grass. He takes one, putting it up to his nose. "Who needs the ocean?"

* * *

Everyone seems to enjoy themselves on the beach, the four having arrived at the villa, which is far off from the coast, so that no one will see them. Cream plays with Cheese in the water, as he's in a buoy. She's splashed by Tails as he plays around. Sophia is laying down in her beach chair, an umbrella over her. She wears a lavender sun hat on her head, wearing a pink frilly bikini top. She's wearing shorts to match and has a bucket that's decorated with strawberries, for collecting shells. Sophia holds a mirror close to her face, sunglasses over her face.

"So this is what they call tanning," she giggles to herself. "I must say, it is enjoyable."

Amy is snorkeling, looking around in awe at the reefs and fish. She takes a breath as she surfaces. She takes her mask off. "This place is unbelievable!"

"It sure is, Amy!" Tails exclaims. "I'm really glad we came."

"And we'll have even more fun when Chris gets here," Cream points out. "Princess Sophia, come join us!"

"In a moment, Cream," Sophia closes her mirror, sitting up in her chair.

"Yay!" She cheers, excitement going on at the resort. The guests talk amongst themselves, formally dressed for the event. Chris shakes hands with the arriving guests, Ella in a blue dress while Mr. Tanaka wears his usual suit and tie. Chris sighs slowly.

"Try to look interested," Mr. Tanaka reminds him. Chris smiles as he shakes hands with the next guest.

* * *

Amy walks on the sand, exploring the beach in her sandals and swim suit. "Lovely. I just wish Sonic were here to enjoy this with me!"

 _She dreams of her chasing Sonic on the beach, playing together in the water, and watching the sunset. Sonic offers his hand and she takes it, staring up at him in wonder. He smiles at her before they embrace in the sunlight._

"It would be so romantic!" She places her hands on her cheeks as she blushes. "Ohhh! We'd be so happy!" A coconut falls and hits her on the head. Amy glares at it as she stands up. "You just ruined my fantasy!" She throws it across the ocean and it unintentionally hits something. The coconut flies into the air before landing in the water. The object sinks into the water, revealing that it is an octopus robot. Amy didn't see it at all as she pants in anger. She suddenly realizes her anger and puts a fist to her hair sheepishly.

"Just thinking about Sonic can make me crazy." She sighs to calm herself down before hearing giggling. She turns in confusion, seeing a couple sitting on a rock not too far away.

"You're so wonderful, Chad."

Just watching them made her think of Sonic. "Sonic, where are you?" Her voice echoes.

She continues walking. "Chad, I made something for you." Amy looks up and decides to watch them.

"For me?"

"Yes. It's nothing really, but I want you to have it. It's a lucky charm, for when you go in the water. It's just like mine."

"Thank you," Chad takes it from her hands. "I'll always wear it, and think of you."

"Oh Chad!"

"Oh Wendy!"

Amy gets an idea as she hears them.

* * *

Tails and Cheese are making a sandcastle, Sophia walking along the beach as she is collecting shells. She sees a conch shell and gasps in surprise, picking it up and putting it in her bucket. Amy is looking at her work from the balcony of the villa. She has created the same bracelet she saw before. "Hmm. I wonder what Sonic would say."

Cream suddenly appears, blocking the sun. "Who's that for, Amy?"

She hides it behind her back. "Oh, nobody."

"You didn't make that for Sonic, did you?" She suspects, pointing at it.

"No, of course not!" Amy denies, a rumble interrupting their conversation. They turn to the resort, Tails and Cheese looking in shock. Sophia turns to her right and drops her bucket.

"Oh no, Chris!" She exclaims as she remembers he was still there. Smoke is coming from the resort. An explosion happens, the guests running away in terror. The octopus robot that Amy hit before is attacking the resort. Eggman is flying in his Egg Mobile, just watching.

"I'm turning the Emerald Coast Resort into my kind of stomping ground!" He declares, a tentacle hitting a boat. It completely destroys it, the people running. Chris just stands there, not knowing what to do. "Alright, time for my deconstruction crew!"

Dozens of construction robots appear from the water, all of them working together to destroy the resort. Soon, it's destroyed. "I have to find a way to call Sonic!" Chris, Ella, and Mr. Tanaka turn to see the robots surrounding them.

"You're my first guests! Welcome to Eggman's Scream Park, where your first vacation is guaranteed to be your last!" He laughs evilly, Mr. Tanaka standing protectively in front of Chris.

"Stay back, Chris. I will guard you. As your father's servant, it is my duty to protect you, even if it means sacrificing myself." He narrows his eyes. "Now it is time for both of us to face our fate!" He does some karate poses.

"Easy now," Ella pulls him away. "Tanaka, you aren't even strong enough to lick a stamp!"

"True," Chris comments, Mr. Tanaka blushing in embarrassment. "Right now, our only hope is Sonic." He stares at Dr. Eggman, hoping that Sonic will come to rescue them.

* * *

"Hey," Sonic walks into the room with flowers, seeing that no one is in the living room. "I forgot that everybody's gone but me." He puts the flowers in a vase. "You don't see beautiful flowers like this at the seashore. The mountains are far superior," he says that last sentence in a mock snobby tone.

"Sonic!" He turns to see Chuck at the front door. "So you're finally here, are you?"

"Yeah..." Sonic answers slowly. Chuck groans, turning on the TV. The attack of the resort is being broadcasted right now.

"A gang of robot destroyers has been wrecking hotels and resorts all along the Emerald Coast. The situation is growing more dangerous by the hour. Authorities have issued evacuation orders." The video changes to Eggman's grinning face. He chuckles, Sonic gasping in shock.

"The owners of the Emerald Coast Resort didn't invite me to their opening, so I knocked it down and turned it into my own vacation destination! It's now...Eggman Scream Park!" Sonic cringes at the screen, hearing something. He turns around to see Bokkun holding a bomb in his hands.

"I brought you a personal invitation! Your friend Chris is already there," Bokkun informs him. "He's having a great time! Stop by, we'll have a real blast!" He smiles widely as he backs away, having lit up the fuse. Sonic holds the bomb, panicking a little. Chuck stares at it before it explodes into their faces, Bokkun laughing in amusement. Both Sonic and Chuck are covered in soot. Sonic shakes it off, shrugging.

"Oh well." He speeds away, leaving a confused and soot-covered Chuck.

* * *

Amy looks at the damage to what's left of the resort using her binoculars. She gasps as she sees Eggman. "It's Eggman!"

"Out of the way!" Tails is flying the X Tornado nearby, Sophia sitting behind him. "I've gotta save Chris!" Amy throws the binoculars to Tails, climbing into the plane. "Amy, what are you doing?!"

"Sonic's gonna show up to help, but if he doesn't, Chris will need all the help he can get," Amy explains, Tails smiling.

"Okay! Here we go!" He puts the glass down and they take off, Amy with a determined look. Cream has to cover Cheese as the plane speeds past them.

"I hope they make it back safely," Cream murmurs to herself, worried.

The construction robots continue to build Eggman Scream Park. He laughs evilly. "Faster! Don't use too many nails and bolts! And make sure you wipe down the cement! I want these rides to be the most dangerous in the universe!"

Chris, Ella, and Mr. Tanaka all give a look of fright as they watch. A blue blur speeds by, cutting one of the attractions down. When the smoke clears, the robots that were working on it are destroyed. Sonic lands in the middle of the rubble. "Well, well."

Chris gasps in shock. "Sonic!"

"Hiya Chris," Sonic waves at him. "Thought I'd drop by for a visit." He turns to see the octopus robot in front of him.

"Youfell right into my trap, Sonic! I know you can't swim, so I lured you to the sea!" Eggman reveals, Sonic clenching his fist as he growls. "Get him, Octoron!"

The tentacles fly towards Sonic, but he just laughs as he runs. He dodges them all, jumping up to kick, but he hits the wire. He shouts in surprise as he's positioned there, the tentacle grabbing him. He struggles in its grip.

"You won't get away."

"Oh yeah? Just watch me!" Sonic declares, trying to get out. Octoron lowers Sonic into the water, leaving him helpless as he tries not to drown.

"Let him go!" Chris pleads, worried. Eggman just chuckles at the thought.

"I'm giving Sonic a choice. He can either forfeit the fight, or forfeit his life!"

Sonic continues to struggle from his hold, Octoron lifting him up in the air. "Well, how do you like the ocean?"

Sonic spits out water. "It's delightful!"

"Good, then let's see how long you're able to stay under," Eggman grins at him. Sonic is about to be placed in the water again until he speeds away, still caught. He begins to pull the robot due to his speed. "Don't let Sonic slip out of your grip, Octoron! Haul that hedgehog back into the ocean, and don't let him up for air!"

Octoron starts to pull Sonic back, crawling into the water. Sonic tries harder, staying into place. "Come on, Octoron! Flex those tentacles!"

The X Tornado arrives, Amy seeing Sonic's predicament. "Sonic..." Amy pulls open the hatch.

"Amy, wait!" Tails calls out as she jumps off the plane. Sophia stands up and opens her wings, flying towards Amy.

"Let him go!" Amy shouts, pulling out her hammer. Sophia knows what she's trying to do, a glint appearing behind Amy. Sophia and Amy set Sonic free with their weapons. Octoron falls into the water, creating a big splash.

"How could you?!" Eggman exclaims in disbelief.

"You attempted to drown him!" Sophia accuses, pointing her sword up at him angrily. "As long as I am the princess of our world, you will not harm him or any of my friends!"

"Keep your rotten robot away from my Sonic, or you're gonna be sorry!" Amy threatens him.

"Whoa!" Sonic is thrusted away slightly before he gets out of his hold. "Thanks Amy!" He speeds up an unfinished roller coaster, flying in the air.

"Hey Sonic!" Tails flies towards him, shooting a ring from the plane. Sonic reaches out to it and grabs it in his hand. He spin dashes in the air, falling towards Octoron. He crashes through it before going back and fling around it, denting Octoron all around. It falls into the water again before sinking into the ocean, exploding.

"Oh no!" Eggman laments, Sonic landing on the ground.

"Sonic!" Amy jumps up and hugs him.

"Whoa! Lighten up, Amy, ahh," he holds her back.

"You won this time, but I'm not through!" Eggman pumps his fist before escaping, Sophia narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah, right," Sonic retorts to him.

"Despicable excuse for an enemy," Sophia growls, putting her sword away. She looks at Sonic from behind. "Are you alright, my friend?"

"I'm a-okay!" He gives her a thumbs up before looking at Amy, hands on her shoulders. "What you did was crazy."

"I know," she clasps her hands as she looks at him dreamily. "But you make me do crazy things."

Sonic looks away, sweating as he didn't know how to respond to that. The X Tornado comes back. "Everything okay down there?"

"Yeah Tails," Sonic waves up at him. "Thanks for the ring!" Amy and Sonic stare at each other, Amy happy that he was okay. "Thank you." He starts to walk away, but then she remembered something.

"Ah, hey!"

He turns back to her, Amy holding out something. "Sonic, this is a bracelet I made to protect you in the water."

"Oh," he stares down at it in surprise. "You made it for me?"

"If you wear it, it'll bring you good luck," she explains bashfully.

"Really?" He looks up at her, making her blush. As he looks at her, Sonic realizes how much Amy really cares for him. Sophia looks on at them with a smile. He reaches out to take it, but a crash makes her drop it. She holds onto him and the bracelet goes flying.

"Your bracelet!" She holds out a hand to it, but the construction robots join together, destroying it. She gasps in horror. "Ah, I can't believe it!"

The construction robots form into a snake robot. Eggman returns, flying next to his robot. "I told you I wasn't through with you, Sonic and Sophia, didn't I? My Quizon have merged to form Serpentor, and it's ready to strike! Impressive, isn't it, Sophia and Sonic?"

"Well, that thing is pretty tall, but I bet in a battle it comes up short," Sonic retorts back, not even noticing Amy's dismayed look at the destroyed bracelet.

"No matter what petty robot you throw at us, we will stop you," Sophia puts her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"You'll need more than speed and a sword to survive this robot, you brats," Eggman tells them.

"Really? Yo, Fang Face! Let's see how quickly you can slither!" Sonic taunts, jumping into the air.

"After him, Serpentor!" Eggman orders, "Get rid of that blue bozo!"

Sophia is about to jump in until she sees Amy's look. "Amy?" She walks up to her, turning to her direction. She gasps sharply at the shell bracelet. "Oh no..." It wasn't the bracelet she was worried about.

"You heard your boss!" Sonic jumps around, clapping his hands. "Slow poke! Right here! Catch me!"

Amy picks up what's left of the bracelet in her hands, crying over it. Sophia places her hands on her shoulders from behind in comfort. She looks down at the bracelet with a soft look. The bracelet was a gift for Sonic...but now it was gone...

"I guess my charm...wasn't so lucky..." She closes her eyes as she sobs...

Someone was gonna pay.

Amy clenches the pieces in her hands, fire in her eyes. Sophia sweats nervously, backing away.

"Alright Serpentor, you know what to do. Put the squeeze on Sonic and then toss him out to sea!"

Amy yells, livid. "Now you're gonna pay!" She holds her hammer, larger than herself, over her head. Eggman turns around in confusion, Sonic blinking in surprise. "Don't mess with me!" She hits Serpentor's tail. Sonic could only stare, sweating.

"Oh..."

"Erm..." A sweat drop appears at the back of Sophia's hair. "Perhaps we should move out of the way..." She guides Sonic back a little.

"Oh my," Eggman looks scared and nervous. Amy swings back and forth, slowly taking Serpentor apart. Sonic had never seen her this angry before. "Oh no," Eggman gives an uneasy look, having no idea why she was so angry. "Perhaps I'd better...go." Amy smashes the head, stomping on it in anger as she continues to attack it. She's launched into the air when the head breaks, flying towards the Egg Mobile. She whacks it down into the sea.

"Oh my," Sophia puts a hand to her mouth in shock.

Eggman spits out water when the Mobile steadies itself. He looks up to see Amy soaring down towards him, furious. He screams for his life before there is a big splash. Chris, Ella, Mr. Tanaka, and Sophia gasp, worried for her.

"Amy!" Sonic runs towards the water, Amy in danger as there is no sign of her. He has no choice but to jump in the water. He takes a deep breath and dives in, Tails looking at the water.

"I can't believe it. Sonic's swimming!"

"No, Sonic!" Chris looks in worry. Sophia places a hand on his shoulder.

"Chris...someone has to help," she explains to his understanding.

All she feels is water as she's slowly sinking...Amy opens her eyes slightly to see a worried Sonic holding out his hands to her. She closes them again, falling unconscious as she's still holding onto the bracelet...

 _In the beautiful ocean air, Amy chased after Sonic on the sand. She was trying to catch up to him and he smiled at her._

 _"Hey! Sonic! Hold on!" She had her hand reached out, but she wasn't fast enough. "Wait for me!"_

 _Sonic suddenly skidded to a stop. She stopped too, giving a worried look. She felt like something was wrong. But he just turned to her with a smile. "Wake up, Amy."_

Amy opens her eyes, blinking as her daydream was interrupted. Cream and Sophia are surrounding her. "Amy! You're awake."

Amy is lying down on a beach chair. "Where am I?"

"You're back at Chris's villa. They brought you here after you were pulled out of the water," Cream explains.

"Yes, we were all very concerned," Sophia nods in agreement. Amy didn't seem to remember anything about the incident. The last time she remembered was attacking Serpentor.

"Who brought me?" Amy turns to the two.

"Chris and Tails in the X Tornado," Cream states. Amy gasps as she remembers Sonic all of a sudden.

"Is...Sonic okay?" She asks, worried.

"Yes, but he went back home," Cream tells her. Amy looks sad at the revelation.

"Oh."

"He said to me that he had something important to do," Sophia thinks, a finger on her chin. "But you must understand how he still dislikes water."

Amy looks at her hand, the bracelet gone. She didn't even remember letting go of it. "The bracelet's gone." She starts to cry. "I made it just for him, and now it's gone."

Cream has tears in her eyes. "Aw, don't cry."

"I am certain Sonic still appreciated that you made it for him," Sophia places a hand on Amy's shoulder. Amy looks up to the sun, a tear falling down from her eye.

"It was a good luck bracelet to protect him in the water, but I guess Sonic had good luck anyway..."

"I think Sonic's very lucky," Cream agrees with her.

"Yes...very much so," Sophia smiles, looking out to Tails, Cheese, and Chris jumping around in the sand.

* * *

Elsewhere, Sonic is looking out at the beach, meaning he didn't go home. He sneezes, putting a finger under his nose. "Sonic, you gotta stay out of the water." He stands up, the bracelet having been fixed as he wears it on his left wrist.


	10. Unfair Ball

Bajy: Great job here! Another favorite episode of mine. Looking forward to reading more soon! Sorry for the short review, I got things to do today.

 **Angel: That's okay, I've been pretty busy myself.**

CJ: Hey, didn't you say you'd be doing stories in the future someday along?

 **Angel: Yes, on my profile. But it's not summer yet, so there's no new stories right now. I think I'm gonna cancel the Hey Arnold one, though...**

Dream lightning: Keep it going love this story keep it up please

 **Angel: You got it! It's juice and jam time!**

Guest: Aww that was so sweet and Amy really cares for Sonic and Sophia really has good leadership skills to be a princess and future ruler to the throne.

 **Sophia: Thank you. However, the only circumstances in which I can be queen is if my parents step down or if they happen to...pass. I do not like thinking about that outcome. And I would also have to be married to royalty.**

Ichabod: The point is, I talk like Meowth from Pokémon, or Rattrap from Beast Wars! There's plenty of video clips online you can watch to hear examples of it! I hope that cleared things up, alright?

Angel: *murmurs* Well that was a little rude...

Ichabod: ...Sorry about dat...

 **Angel: It's fine...personally, there are enough characters in the Sonic X universe. I don't need to add any more OCs.**

Jake: Cool story I can't wait to see my favorite chapter/episode baseball I wonder if Sophia will play in the game.

 **Sophia: It would be unfair if I did not, hopefully that answer suffices.**

Light Seeker 001: Say, are you going to use the Japanese uncensored version?

 **Angel: Um, no...I don't speak Japanese, so there is really no need to ask that. Especially since I watch the _English_ version already. Plus, there's less effort on language that way.**

Anna: Cool story can't wait for the baseball game

 **Angel: Even though Eggman cheated...**

Emma: I can't wait for the baseball chapter it's my favorite sports game

 **Angel: Imagine if they played something else like hockey or soccer.**

GreenD109: Oh it's okay, I don't mind. You can take your time, I can wait patiently for the next chapter.

 **Angel: Thank you for understand. Sometimes work just gets in the way...**

Jake: I understand I'll wait patiently no matter what

 **Angel: I think next Tuesday I have to work again, so another slight hiatus, yaaaay...hopefully I don't have to work Thursday.**

Bajy: I understand, no worries

 **Angel: *sighs a little* Especially since there'll be another hiatus.**

Light Seeker 101: I know how you feel. I hate school sometimes as well. By the way, I did find YouTube playlists for the Japanese version of Sonic X. Let's face it, the dubbed version ruined Cosmo's death.

 **Angel: I have no plans to use the Japanese version, okay? You could've waited until today for my answer from before. I'm not using the Japanese version and I don't need to. I don't like it when some people keep talking to about doing certain franchises or dubs even after I say no, it's happened before like twice. Besides, I missed the one with Cosmo's death anyway, so it's not like I have an actual opinion on her death. All I know is that she sacrificed herself.**

In the night sky, Tails flies the X Tornado above Station Square for a test. The full moon sits there above. "The X Tornado seems to be running really great since we installed the Chaos Emerald. This has to be just about the smoothest one I've ever been on. Huh?"

He looks down in confusion to see the green Chaos Emerald glowing. He sweats a little. "I think it's picked up something." The plane starts rocking to the side.

"I can't control it!" The plane suddenly dives uncontrollably in the air. "Something's pulling us off course!" He cringes as he sees a baseball stadium up ahead. "Maybe it's another Chaos Emerald!"

He gasps in surprise to see someone on the field waving to him. "Stop! Stop!" Tails is able to regain control of the plane, soaring upwards.

"Better go down there."

The man looks up at the plane, blinking slowly.

* * *

Tails lands the plane outside of the stadium, walking inside slowly. He looks a little nervously since he's never seen one before. The two-tailed fox sees the open door, met with blinding lights. He looks in amazement at the views. His mouth opens in awe and he spins his tails around, using those to fly down into the field. He explores his surroundings before stopping in his tracks. Up ahead is the man who was waving to him from before.

"Excuse me, sir!" Tails calls out over the noise. The man was working on his lawnmower. "Hello! YO!"

The man looks down to see a smiling Tails, hands behind his back. The man hides behind the lawnmower in fear. "Keep away!"

"Huh? I'm sorry, it's just-I was in my plane and the Chaos Emerald started glowing and-don't worry mister, I won't hurt ya," Tails stammers, the man staring at him.

"Sure is some story, little fella," the man says after Tails has finished explaining himself. They're sitting under the scoreboard. "Never would've guessed that was you flying that plane up there."

"I'm sorry if I frightened you just now, sir," Tails apologizes, turning to him. "I've never seen a stadium as pretty as this before. You know, the grass is practically glowing!"

"Thanks for the compliment," the man smiles. "Lots of folks say the turf here at Diamond Stadium is the best in the world! Which makes me happy, because I've been the groundskeeper here at Diamond for 30 years."

"30 years?" Tails asks in perplexment.

"You bet," the man confirms. "Only I'm afraid today's my last day here at the old place. You see, the Diamond's manager wants to build an indoor stadium with artificial turf, so this place is gonna be demolished. I tell you, leaving this place behind feels like the end of an era. By the way little fella, did you mention something about an emerald?"

"Yeah..." Tails remembers saying that earlier, digging in his tails. He pulls out the green Chaos Emerald from the plane. "See, I'm looking for an emerald just like this one. It's called a Chaos Emerald."

"A wha?" The man looks in surprise, digging in his pocket. "Would this be what you're looking for?" He reveals a cyan colored Chaos Emerald. Tails' eyes widen in surprise.

"Ah, a Chaos Emerald!"

The man brings it up to the green one. "I saw it laying next to the dumpster a couple of nights ago. Wasn't sure what it was," he explains before the two emeralds start glowing. The two gasp in shock, and a bright light shoots into the sky. All around Station Square, people notice the light from the two emeralds, wondering what it is. Scarlet Garcia and her cameraman notice it, stopping their eating. Knuckles sees it too from a mountain.

"I know that light."

Decoe looks up, pointing to the light from their window. "Dr. Eggman, Dr. Eggman, you might want to take a look at this, sir."

Eggman walks up to the window and is taken aback. "What is that light?"

"It appears to be coming from the baseball stadium."

"Hmm, a stadium, you say?" Eggman gives a look of thought. "Fascinating." He pulls out baseball items, snickering. "I have a feeling there's an emerald out of that Diamond."

* * *

"Let's start with our first course," silverware and an appetizer sits on the table. Ella is teaching Sonic, Amy, and Cream proper dining manners. "Which knife and fork should we use?"

"Uh...these!" Amy picks up the right ones, Cream holding the same ones.

"I agree!" Cheese agrees with her too.

"Right. You're such smart children," Ella tells them. "And what good manners!" Mr. Tanaka and Sophia are standing nearby, Sonic eating an apple while sitting next to Chris.

"I don't see why we have to learn all this etiquette baloney in the first place," Sonic comments, hearing a low growl. He sweats nervously as he turns around to see an angry Sophia. He could tell because of her frown and narrowed eyes. "I-I mean, etiquette is a great thing to have! Heh heh..."

"My mom says it's important to learn good manners so we can eat properly," Chris explains, "And you shouldn't say things like that in front of Sophia..."

"Well, I never learned anything about manners and I've been eating my whole life," Sonic takes another bite of his apple.

"You never inquired a desire to learn," Sophia points out, crossing her arms. Mr. Tanaka leans towards Sonic.

"Sonic, time to use your fruit knife," he reminds him.

"I wonder what's keeping Tails, he should be back by now," Chuck says, hearing a laugh. They look up to see Bokkun flying above them.

"Sorry, I didn't know it was meal time!" He starts, Sophia huffing.

"Have you not seen outside? You never seem to care what time of day you show up," she says, Sonic laughing slightly. Bokkun blows a raspberry at her.

"But Dr. Eggman's got a real important message for ya!"

Sonic stands up, gritting his teeth. "Not again!"

"How dare you barge in on us like this?" Mr. Tanaka points an accusing finger at him. "You need to learn some manners!"

"Eh, that's what you say," Bokkun dismisses it, the TV turning on to reveal Eggman.

"Good evening, Sonic and Sophia. I suggest you take a look out your window," he starts off.

"Window?" Sonic turns to it in confusion. Sophia and Sonic push the window panes open, seeing the light from the stadium.

"What is it?" Chuck asks, as he hasn't seen what two emeralds can do.

"That light's coming from a Chaos Emerald," Cream says with narrowed eyes.

"Is she right?" Chris looks down at Sonic.

"You're half-right, Cream," Sonic corrects them. "But that's not just one Chaos Emerald."

"Correct," They turn around to the TV. "We both want those emeralds, but why not be good sports about it? That's why I suggest you suit up, and meet me over..." He ducks himself down before revealing himself in a baseball uniform. "At the Diamond Stadium."

"Diamond Stadium?" Mr. Tanaka questions.

"What for?" Chuck demands.

"I challenge you and your friends to a game of winner-take-all baseball!" Eggman shows his baseball, laughing evilly. Sonic's eyes twitch as he growls.

"You arrived here to have Eggman challenge us...to a baseball game?" Sophia asks, utterly confused. "I am starting to begin to wonder of plans absurd as these."

"You guys might be a little rusty, so how about some batting practice?" Bokkun giggles as he pulls out a baseball bat. Sonic's eyes widen as he sweats.

"Uh oh."

Bokkun starts batting balls at them, laughing in amusement as they struggle to avoid them. Sophia's eyes glow red before she fires a laser at the bat, melting it. "Huh?!" Ella then grabs him by the hat.

"You've got a decent swing, but you keep hitting a foul!"

Bokkun gives a nervous look before the maid kicks him out of the house.

"What kind of pitch was that?" Chris asks nervously.

"I think it was a screwball," Chuck answers for him.

"We have to get to that stadium!" Sonic declares, not wanting to lose the emeralds.

Chuck starts the car and takes off with everyone except Sophia and Sonic as they travel by ground. Chuck chuckles to himself as he tips his hat.

* * *

The light stops glowing after a while. "What just happened there, little fella?" The man asks, wanting an explanation.

"That always happens when Chaos Emeralds come together," Tails states, "I just hope the wrong person didn't see it."

He hears evil laughter and looks up to see Eggman in his Egg Mobile. "Well, if it isn't my foxy high-flying friend."

"Dr. Eggman!" Tails exclaims in surprise. Eggman snickers as he's in his uniform. He looks around as he was expecting more people.

"Where's the rest of your team? It's almost game time!"

"Forget it!" Tails denies determinedly. "You want the Chaos Emeralds, but I won't give 'em to ya!"

"Could it be Sonic and his pals are choosing to forfeit?" Eggman ignores Tails' warning as he thinks to himself. "I must say that's very unsportsmanlike of them. If there's one thing I hate more than a meddling hedgehog and royal brat, it's a quitter!"

Tails has no idea what he's talking about, since he hasn't been informed of the challenge. "I don't get it. What are you talking about?"

"If they won't play ball with me, I still win!" Eggman laughs, a mechanical hand appearing from the Egg Mobile. It reaches out towards Tails and he shouts nervously, jumping out of the way. The hand turns its attention on the man.

"W-What's going on here, anyway?" He struggles to keep the emerald in his hand, but the hand snatches it.

"Oh no! He's got the emerald!" Tails shouts in disbelief. Eggman is handed the cyan emerald, snickering.

"One down, one to go. Hand it over. I won it fair and square, now give me that second emerald or I'll have to use a force play!" Eggman calls out.

"I'd like to see you try it!" Tails eggs on, running. The hand reaches out to him, Knuckles coming out of nowhere and smashing the hand. Tails sees him, shocked.

"That was close. You alright?"

"Knuckles!" Tails says in relief. "Am I glad to see you!"

Knuckles lands safely, turning around with a sly smile. "Well, look who it is. I like your costume."

Eggman narrows his eyes. "You again. And what brings you here?" Tails joins Knuckles. "Doing Sonic and Sophia's dirty work?"

"You leave the princess out of this," Knuckles threatens, narrowing his eyes. He turns to Tails. "Let's get out of here, Tails."

"Okay!" Tails agrees, hearing a whoosh sound. They turn to see Sonic and Sophia speeding around before stopping in front of the two.

"Hey. How's it going, Knuckles?" Sonic greets, Knuckles giving a small smile. He stammers as he sees Sophia.

"P-Princess!" He bows respectfully and she chuckles lightly.

"It is alright, Knuckles. No need to bow."

"Well, if it isn't Sonic and her royal highness," Eggman clenches his fist. "I thought you weren't going to show up, so I took one of the emeralds and I was just collecting the second." He chuckles as the others from the car appear from behind. Mr. Tanaka is suited up. "But now that you're here, maybe we can play ball!"

"Alright, just give us back that Chaos Emerald," Sonic demands.

"All is fair in the game of baseball...even though I have no idea how to play," Sophia murmurs that last part.

"All in good time, my speedy little opponents, but first, let me introduce you to my fellow teammates." The two give a look of confusion before a large shadow looms over them. They turn around to see a flying saucer.

"Ah!" Chris' mouth opens in shock. The hatch opens and an army of E-21 Ballios appear.

"They're scary, Amy," Cream whimpers, Amy protecting her.

"It's okay," the hedgehog assures her friend. Eggman jumps down and lands in front of his team.

"Not too shabby, eh? Now why don't we knock out the pregame ceremonies and get to the reason we're all here. It's now game time."

"Let's play ball!" Decoe and Bocoe appear in front of them.

"You can't have your game here!" Tails yells at them.

"Wait," Chuck interrupts, stepping in front of Tails. "It just so happens old Grandpa Chuck here is a big baseball fan from way back." Tails just stares at him. "A nice friendly game of baseball sounds like a great idea to me."

"I beg your pardon?" Sophia asks in shock.

"But...but Chuck," Tails protests, Eggman chuckling.

"Ah, so you're Chuck, are you? Well, it's a great pleasure to finally meet you. A ballgame sounds most exciting after being cooped up in that laboratory of yours day after day," Eggman replies with a sly smile.

"I wonder why that sounds so familiar," Sophia smirks at Eggman, who growls.

"HEY! If you wanna have a ball game, then you have to have it someplace else!" Tails shouts to get his attention. "Isn't anybody listening to me?!"

"Well, Eggman. If the others are up for it, I would be more than happy to accept your challenge," Chuck ignores Tails as well.

"But you can't have your game here, you're gonna ruin all of the beautiful turf!" Tails protests. Sophia bends down to him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Tails, calm down," she soothes him. "Why are you so defensive over this particular stadium?"

"Sophia, just listen. My friend..." He starts explaining to her, the robots annoyed.

"What's that loudmouth fox getting so bent out of shape for?" Decoe wonders.

"Who knows?" Bocoe asks, shrinking under Sophia's glare.

"Hey!" They give a shout of surprise as Tails suddenly appears in front of them. "You know, this stadium means a lot to my friend!"

"It's okay, Tails," he turns to his friend. "Only a matter of time before it's demolished, anyway." Chuck and Chris turn to him.

"Have I seen you somewhere?"

"Maybe during the seventh inning stretch. My name's Albert Butler, I'm the head groundskeeper here," the man explains, Chuck giving a look of realization.

"Ah, I thought you looked familiar, I've seen you on television. You were good friends with the owner of the Diamonds. Elmer Johnson, right?"

"Wow, you know him?" Chris asks in awe.

Albert looks away slightly, a look of slight dismay on his face. "Elmer and I don't talk much anymore." He hears bawling and looks up at Chuck.

"This is such an honor to think that I get to play baseball in the world-famous Diamond Stadium!" He weeps, Sophia stepping over to him.

"I am certain that it is, Chuck, but please refrain yourself," she assures him.

"Shut your blubbering and let's play baseball!" Eggman shouts impatiently.

"Okay," Amy says slowly.

"How do we play?" Cream asks curiously.

"Alright, everybody!" Chuck shouts as no one answers Cream's question. "Time for the Chaos Emerald Baseball Playoff!"

Eggman pushes him away. "It's the First Annual Eggman Intergalactic Baseball Challenge!" He declares, Sophia, Chris, and Knuckles sweating at his antics.

"Oh dear," Sophia murmurs, walking away.

"This is sad," Knuckles deadpans.

"And totally embarrassing," Chris agrees with him. Mr. Tanaka is stretching his legs.

"Does he have to be on our team?" Sonic asks in annoyance, sitting on one of the robots.

"Sonic," Sophia warns him. "Mr. Tanaka is much as valuable to us as everyone else." Cream and Amy glance at each other.

"Amy, do we get to play too?" Cream wonders, since she was ignored.

"Don't see why not," Amy answers doubtfully. Mr. Tanaka continues stretching with a baseball bat between his arms. Eggman practices his swings.

"Hey Grandpa, I'm not so sure this baseball game's such a good idea. What if Eggman's got something up his sleeve?" Chris points out worriedly.

"Chris, you may be right. For all we know, that guy could be using a corked bat," Chuck answers, watching Eggman intensely.

"That's not exactly what I meant," Chris replies sheepishly.

"Chris, I regret to say that this is Eggman we are speaking of. I am afraid that he is not capable of playing this game fairly. That is how vile he is," Sophia narrows her eyes at him. "But we must be prepared for anything."

"Let's decide which team will be first to bat," Eggman holds up a fist in the air. "Rock, paper-"

"You can't be serious!" Chuck and Eggman turn to Knuckles. "You do know what will happen if Dr. Eggman wins, don't you? He won't just be winning the game, but the Chaos Emeralds too. If Eggman wins this game, it'll mean nothing but catastrophe for all of us."

"I'd say that's nothing but stinking thinking," Eggman disagrees, though he did have something up his sleeve...

"Why ruin everyone's fun, huh?" Chuck teases.

"Erm, I do not believe that you should speak to Knuckles that way," Sophia calls out nervously.

"Come on Knuckles, don't you wanna play?" Amy steps in front of him with an amused look. Cream has the same look on her face.

"Don't be chicken," she teases playfully.

"Cream," Sophia sweats anxiously.

"Me, chicken?!" Knuckles demands, his pride feeling threatened. If there was anything Knuckles wasn't, it was a chicken.

"Perhaps Mr. Knuckles is simply afraid to play a game of baseball, hmm?" Mr. Tanaka gives Knuckles an amused smirk.

"Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything!" Knuckles looks at the surrounding crowd in anger, Sonic speeding over to him.

"Great, then you'll play, huh?" Sonic nudges him, Knuckles growling to himself. He hangs his head before clenching his fists.

"Alright, you asked for it! You want a team player, I'll give you a team player! Let's get this game on!" Knuckles shouts, a vein near his eye.

"Al...right then. Not the method I would have used, but I am glad you decided to play," Sophia murmurs, slightly worried about Knuckles. She didn't know the full extent of his anger, as she's never experienced it, but all she knew was that she didn't want to see Knuckles that way.

* * *

Decoe holds up a hand as he's the umpire. "Let's play ball!" Chris is pitching first for his team, wearing a blue and orange uniform.

"Bring it on!" One of the robots is the pitcher, throwing a superfast fastball that Chris has no time to react for.

"Strike one!"

Chris gives a scared look, glancing at Sonic, who just whistles. "Strike two. Strike three. One out."

"How could anybody hit a ball that fast?" Chris laments as he walks away from the base. Eggman just chuckles, acting innocent.

"Loser. Okay boys, send in the next sucker!" Eggman calls out. Tails is up next. He's wearing the same uniform as Chris, but with no pants.

"It'll probably be a fastball," he deduces, as Chris had the same. However, he receives an unusual pitch that involves the pitcher stretching its arm across a long distance and flicking it to the catcher.

"Strike one." Decoe declares to Tails' confusion.

"Hey umpire! That's not fair!" Tails shouts angrily.

"What do you want? It's not my fault he's got long arms," Decoe dismisses without a care.

Amy is next, instead using her Piko Piko Hammer to bat. "Give me your best pitch, ball boy," she challenges. The ball is thrown to her. "I've got it!" She hits a powerful shot, her team cheering.

"We might not lose after all," Knuckles says cheerfully. A Ballios fielder throws his robot pal across a long distance, who catches the ball.

"She's out," Decoe declares, Amy stopping in her tracks. She hadn't even reached the base.

"But I thought..."

"Ha ha!" Eggman laughs boastfully, as the inning ends with Sonic's team having no runs.

* * *

Now it is Sonic's team to field, with Amy as the field pitcher. "Now I'll show 'im what I can do. I'm a much better pitcher, anyway," Amy says to herself. Mr. Tanaka is the catcher and when Amy throws the ball, it directly hits the Ballios pitcher, smashing it into pieces.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that," Amy calls out sheepishly as the robot player is taken away.

Just when Amy is about to pitch, a Ballios player near Cream takes off while the robot pitcher receives a strike. "Strike." Mr. Tanaka throws the ball, Amy ducking. Tails catches it, but the robot's legs extend. They leap over a large distance to the base.

"Safe," Decoe declares to Tails' dismay.

"Losing isn't fun," is all he says.

The next pitch is an out-of-the-park. "And it's out of the park!" Eggman declares, pumping his fist. Sonic catches it from the scoreboard.

"Home run, home run," Decoe pumps his fist.

"Whatever for?!" Sophia demands, standing up in disbelief.

"You caught it, Sonic, but if it's outside the fence, it doesn't count," Chuck explains, Sophia sinking to the ground in dismay.

"Ugh, who says we gotta play by the rules, anyway? Cut me some slack," Sonic complains, since Eggman definitely was cheating. The inning ends with that.

* * *

Sonic's team is batting again, Amy hitting the pitcher into pieces again. "Sorry, that's a hit!" She waves to the pitcher, who nods nervously as he didn't want to be hit again.

The game progresses further, with Sophia batting. "Huh! This should be good," Eggman looks on, arms crossed. Sophia grips her bat and the robot throws a fastball, but Sophia hits it anyway. "WHA?!"

Sonic's team cheers for her and she waves at them as she runs. "Oh no you don't," Eggman murmurs to himself, a robot extending its arms to catch it, but Sophia speeds to home base, waving to Eggman with an amused look. He growls at her.

* * *

The game progresses further, and Knuckles hits a home run. "Sad to say, but it's a home run." Sonic's team cheers happily as Knuckles runs. The score is almost tied. Scarlet Garcia, who witnessed the bright light earlier, has followed it to the stadium and is now reporting on it.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This is Scarlet Garcia with a live report from Diamond Stadium. There appears to be a most unusual baseball game happening right this moment. The notorious Dr. Eggman and a team of robots are playing a game against Sonic and friends here at the stadium. The soon-to-be former home of the Diamonds." Everyone around a TV is watching the news at this moment. "This is certain to become sports history. This is Scarlet Garcia reporting, stay tuned to SSTV for continuing coverage of this momentous game."

"We're closing in on them," Chuck looks at the scoreboard. "Now let's give it our best shot! Tanaka!"

"Yes, sir," Tanaka answers next to him.

"I'm putting in a pitch-hitter for you."

"Huh?" Mr. Tanaka asks in perplexment, as he hasn't had a chance to bat yet.

"It's Cheese."

"Chao!" Cheese looks happy to be involved. The pitcher seems to have difficulty due to Cheese's height, sweating. He throws it above Cheese.

"Ball one. Ball two. Ball three. Ball four." Cheese doesn't even move. "Take your base." Since he has four consecutive ball pitches, Cheese can move without any interference from the other team.

"Chao!" Cheese flies happily to first base, the pitcher sweating at Eggman's growl.

"You big loser! You call yourself a pitcher!"

"Well done, Cheese!" Sophia cheers for him.

Cream is up next, taking her stance. She looks pretty determined in the game. "Play ball."

"Oh Mr. Pitcher," Cream calls out, stopping the pitcher from throwing. "Could you...maybe not throw the ball too hard? I've never played before."

Being infatuated by Cream's kindness, the pitcher simply drops the ball. "Balk! Batter takes first base."

"Thank you, Mr. Pitcher," Cream calls out cheerfully as she runs past Eggman, who looks angry.

" _I oughta throw you on the scrapheap_!"

Knuckles hits another home run shot. "Alright Knuckles, another home run!" Chuck cheers.

"That means we're tied!" Amy says happily.

"Excellent job, Knuckles!" Sophia cheers, waving her arms.

"That one was for you, your highness!" Knuckles waves at her.

Chris suddenly gives a surprised look as he's looking out on the field. "Look everybody!" The stands are filling up with people due to the news broadcast.

"Hey guys, hit one over this way!" Two little boys are waving with baseball mitts.

"Huh?!" Chuck asks in shock.

"Where'd all these people come from?" Albert wonders, Sonic's team score changing to 35. Sonic hits the ball, speeding to first base before the robot can even throw it. Eggman grits his teeth, livid.

"You strike out that squirt or else!"

* * *

It is Chris' turn again to bat, giving a nervous look as he knows what happened the first time. A fastball is thrown and Chris misses, shaking nervously. "Strike one."

"Oh no. What if I let the whole team down?" He laments, faced with the shame. Sonic watches this as Chris receives another strike.

"Timeout!" Sonic calls out, Chris turning to Sonic in confusion. "Hey Chris!" Chris steps up to Sonic, Sophia speeding next to Sonic. "We know you can get a hit. There's nothing to it, Chris, all you have to do is concentrate."

Chris hangs his head. "That's easy for you to say. He's pitching so fast!"

"Speed should not deter you from making a hit," Sophia places her hands on her hips. "He is only using his mechanical abilities to his advantage. But you have an advantage as well. Your determination to win the game and the Chaos Emeralds."

"So he's thrown a couple of fastballs. You can't let that get you down, pal. Just keep on trying and don't give up!" Sonic declares, Chris surprised at the pep talk. Sonic winks at him. "Now get out there and do your best!"

"Sonic is correct. Just focus on the ball and you will surely hit a fastball," Sophia nods sharply. Chris smiles slightly at them, nodding.

"Okay!"

"Play ball!" Decoe holds out a hand. Chris focuses on the ball like he's told.

Sophia and Sonic are right. I just have to keep trying!

The pitcher throws a fastball and Chris sweats nervously. Chris swings fast, but gets a strike regardless. "Strike three."

"At least I tried my best," Chris murmurs to himself.

"Chris, run!" Chuck interrupts his thoughts. Chris looks up and sees that he had hit the ball, running. Sonic speeds past, Chris sliding to the base just in time.

"Safe."

"I did it! I got to first base!" Chris looks at Sonic, who gives him a thumbs up and a wink.

Sonic's team cheers as they're in the lead by a point. "Oh yeah? Those bumbling clowns!" Eggman is more angry before. "They won't make a fool out of me." Bocoe slides up to him, holding out a button. Eggman growls slightly, pushing it. One of the robots is remotely activated, the head detaching itself and attaching onto Sonic's head.

"What's that?" He asks in confusion.

"Oh dear, my robot! It's malfunctioning! It will explode any minute now!" Eggman flails around nervously, pretending that it will explode. "Run Sonic! Hurry, run away!"

"Sonic, what are we gonna do?" Chris asks nervously, all of them distracted.

"He's trying to get us to forfeit the game!" Sonic calls out. "I gotta get rid of this thing quick!" He runs around to get it off, but it's still on him. "Hey, you're really hanging on."

"Sonic!" He turns to Sophia and Knuckles. "Jump Sonic, hurry!"

"Okay!" Sonic shouts, jumping into the air. Knuckles and Sophia fly up to him. "Hey, watch it, will ya?" The two destroy it, the three of them flying above the explosion. "Thanks! You're lifesavers!"

"No need to thank us," Sophia smiles at him, opening her wings and flying the two down. Eggman laughs as he stands on his Eggmobile.

"You may have beaten me in baseball," they land safely, glaring up at him. "But with this shiny blue Chaos Emerald snuggled ever so safely in my pocket, I'm the real winner after all, aren't I?" He laughs as he escapes.

"YOU'RE DESPICABLE!" Sophia shouts up at him, fists clenched in the air. "We won fair and square!"

"Thank you for the compliment, your highness!" He shouts back, smoke coming from Sophia's head.

"Now he has both the Chaos Emeralds," Amy says in despair, the crowd cheering for their win, as they've enjoyed the game.

"As you can see, there's been quite a turnout for this event. The game was, of course, the last to played here at the stadium." The crowd cheers louder and Scarlet gasps. "Could that be?" A man steps out into the stadium.

"Hey look! That's Elmer Johnson!" Chris recognizes him. Elmer walks up to Albert.

"I was watching at home. I must say it was quite a remarkable game. It's all thanks to you, Al, and I...Well Al, I can't help but think how much you've done for the Diamonds over the years and what a great friend you've been," Elmer explains.

"Thank you," Albert says gratefully.

"I'm thinking of moving the Diamond turf over to the new stadium intact. I sure could use your help," Elmer offers, Albert gasping.

"Sure thing!" They shake to the agreement. Chris, Sophia, Chuck, and Mr. Tanaka look on happily.

"Well, we may have lost the Chaos Emerald, but I think we've learned an important lesson about working together. And I'm sure you'll agree we'll be even stronger next time we meet Eggman," Chuck explains in hope.

"My friends, we will retrieve those Chaos Emeralds back, and hopefully stop Eggman once and for all," Sophia declares, looking up at the sky in determination.

* * *

 **Angel: So next week, there will be another hiatus as I have to work Tuesday until closing time. I don't know how long it'll be, as I don't have my schedule yet. But if I happen to work Thursday, then I'll update next weekend...hopefully. Bye everyone!**


	11. Fly Spy

Bajy: Great job here! Eggman's a stink I tells ya, he plays as foul as...well I can't think of anything, maybe you guys can help? I didn't know Sophia has laser eyes! Reminds me of the Powerpuff Girls. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Sophia: He is as foul as a foul ball...**

 **Angel: ...What?**

 **Sophia: A foul ball. From the baseball game.**

 **Angel: ...Ohhh, I get the joke now...!**

 **Sophia: Oh dear...and they are not laser eyes. Some people may be fooled by that. They are actually heat vision eyes. The heat can increase enough to be as hot as the sun. But thank you for comparing me to the Powerpuff Girls. They are very strong and skilled.**

 **Angel: Oh cool, can you heat up my lasagna then?**

 **Sophia: -_-**

Guest: Okay that was great and I know they can do it

 **Sophia: We most certainly can.**

Ichabod: Fair enough. I can do more elsewhere, universe-wise...I'd just be anotha face in da crowd here...

 **Sophia: I am certain you will find your place somewhere, Ichabod.**

 **Angel: Heh...yeah...but I haven't updated much except for this one...my life has gotten busy T^T**

Crazycartoons5488: I wanna see chapter 11 Sophia X Ep11 – Fly Spy

 **Angel: It's called patience...and I was sick yesterday, you know. But now I'm all better! Sorta. Grandma's chicken noodle soup does wonders...**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia, Sonic, and their friends will be happy to go home on episode 51 Friends Till the End.

 **Angel: *uncovers Sophia's ears* They will be...**

SwanGirl24: I love anything Sonic and when I discovered this fanfic I was overjoyed. I can't wait till Sophia meets Shadow and Cosmo, those are my favorite parts of the series.

 **Sophia: Shadow? Cosmo?**

 **Angel: Erm, no one! And those arcs are a long way from now. This is only episode 11.**

Henry: Cool story I think it's pretty amazing that Sophia has those powers and she can't reveal her true form of her people from Xenia.

 **Sophia: Our true forms must be keep secret from the world. That is why we must never transform into our alien selves. And I will abide by that oath.**

Jake: I totally get it I'm patient feel better soon Angel and good luck

 **Angel: Thanks! Some of the nausea still lingers somewhere, but I'm well enough to move around. I did have to drive to school for my exam, after all. But I'll be okay. Tomorrow I have to work anyway...so I really don't know if I can type for this story this week because of my work schedule. I know that tomorrow I have to be gone by 4 for my shift, so we'll see...but the semester is over! Yay! And I'm skipping the long review because I don't know why it's there in the first place...I don't need descriptions for episodes.**

A light shines on a high security area one night. Rouge the Bat is scouting it with her treasure scope. She gives a sly smirk to herself as she flies away from the tree. Curious as ever, she flies towards it. Inside the facility sits a large, precious, and shiny diamond. Perfect for a jewel thief bat. Two security cameras are keeping an eye on the diamond, the security guard reading a magazine. The other two guards are playing cards.

"Anybody hungry? Huh?" The guard turns around to see Rouge already inside. She walks up to the diamond. "Hey!"

Rouge jumps inside the velvet rope, the alarm sounding off.

"What's going on?" The other two guards rush over.

"What's wrong?"

They stare at Rouge on screen. "How could anybody get in there?"

The alarm doesn't stop Rouge at all, nor does she acknowledge it as she just looks at the diamond in awe. She jumps up and kicks, breaking the glass in half. She snatches the diamond and holds it in her hands. "Hello gorgeous."

"We'll lock down the place!" The guard declares. They press the buttons to shut all of the doors in the facility. "Nobody's getting out of here now," he chuckles as the other guards go off to confront Rouge. They rush down the hall and enter the rom.

"Hands in the air!" No one appears to be in the vault, something sitting in place of the diamond. The guard examines it. A silhouette of Rouge is at the bottom while two words are above. "Thank you? What, is this a gag?"

The two guards are looking up and the first guard follows their gaze to see the roof has been lifted, which allowed Rouge to escape.

Rouge flies past the moon as she eyes her new jewel. "You may not be a Chaos Emerald, but you'll do...for now," she remarks to herself.

* * *

Cream and Cheese are watching a news report about the robbery. Sophia walks in, checking in on Cream when she turns to the TV. "I'm coming to you live from the National Museum, where officials say the world's largest diamond was stolen late last night. Law enforcement authorities are baffled by the outbreak of precious gem robberies, but private sources tell SSTV that they believe this was merely the biggest in a series of jewel thefts that have plagued Station Square in recent days. This is Scarlett Garcia, SSTV."

 _Hmm..._ Sophia gives a piercing look at the TV as she thinks to herself. _How familiar_...

"Sonic?" Cream and Cheese turn to Amy as she holds up the door to the basement. She's holding pizza in one hand. "Hey Cream, have you seen Sonic?"

"The last time we saw him, he was with Chris and Tails, but I'm not sure where they went," Cream explains as Amy walks up to her.

"Chao!" Cheese exclaims.

"That's too bad," Amy looks a little sad. "Hey, feel like having some pizza?"

"Yes! Are you sure it's okay?" Cream says a little skeptically.

"You bet it is! Sonic's loss is your gain!" Amy exclaims with a smile.

"Yay!" Cream and Cheese cheer together.

"Hey, where'd Sophia go?"

"She was just right here," Cream gives a confused look as they look around to see the open window.

"Huh...weird," Amy murmurs to herself. "Why'd she run off like that?"

* * *

Out above in Station Square, Tails is flying the X Tornado. Sonic spins a ball on his finger as he lays on the space between the seats.

"Tails, you see anything down there?" Chris asks from behind Tails' seat.

"No," Tails frowns a little. He tilts a lever, surprising Sonic as the plane slightly moves to the left. "Nothing there."

"Don't worry, we're gonna find those emeralds!" Chris declares in determination. "And Sonic will help, right?" Chris turns around to see no one. "Ah, Sonic!" He looks around in confusion. "What, where-where are you?"

Sonic is hanging on to the bottom of the X Tornado, but barely.

* * *

At the White House, the President is having a meeting about Eggman. "Something has to be done, gentlemen. We must take action. Eggman is a threat to our nation's security! We've no choice but to launch an attack!"

"Mr. President, I wanna stop this Eggman as much as you do, but it's not so simple," his chairman points out.

"I'm afraid the chairman is right, sir," one of the advisors agrees as he flips through a book. "After examining one of the remnants of one of Eggman's robots, we've determined that his technical capabilities and military hardware far surpass our current weapon system."

"That may be so, but it doesn't change the fact that something must be done!" Another advisor argues.

"Would you consider asking Sonic and Princess Sophia to assist with this mission?" A third advisor suggests.

"Sonic? Princess Sophia?" The President asks in confusion.

"Eggman is an unusual enemy, sir, and that calls for an unusual ally. With this in mind, sir, I think Sonic and the princess have what it takes to get the best of him. They just might be the only hope we have, Mr. President," the advisor explains.

"That's true..." The president looks out the window. "But how do we know we can even communicate with a hedgehog?"

"Our operatives have observed him speaking to the young boy he's staying with and the princess. He understands the language," the advisor assures.

"Fine. Then we'll do it," the president agrees with enlisting the two.

"I think you've made the right decision."

* * *

At school, the class are doing art. Danny has painted a soccer ball, and Frances a star. Chris had done a red Chaos emerald.

"Do you know where Sophia is, Chris?" Danny asks. "She's not in class today."

"I don't know," Chris answers in perplexment. "She was already gone when I checked her room. All I found was her backpack...it's weird. She didn't tell anyone where she went. Not even Sonic and the others."

"Hey, I bet that's that Chaos Emerald you and Sonic have been trying to find, right Chris?" Frances wonders, Chris having told his friends about them a while ago, including Sophia's history. He didn't go that much into detail for her sake.

"Kinda!" He answers sheepishly.

"It looks like that?" Danny wonders curiously.

"Let's keep the chatting to a minimum and focus on the painting," Mr. Stewart is standing right behind them.

"Uh, right!" They continue painting. Mr. Stewart notices Chris' painting.

"What's that you're painting, Chris?"

"Uh, an emerald," Chris answers nervously.

"But I thought all emeralds were supposed to be green?" Mr. Stewart asks in confusion.

"Ah, you're right! Funny, huh? I'll just start over," Chris exclaims anxiously.

"No Chris, your emerald can be any color you want it to be. Matter of fact, I heard a red emerald was found somewhere recently around Silky Heights," Mr. Stewart explains, Chris standing up in surprise, his chair falling to the ground. His other classmates look up at the sound.

"Uh, sorry," Chris looks embarrassed as he rubs his neck.

"In fact, if I'm not mistaken, they found that emerald in an old, dilapidated factory not too long ago," Mr. Stewart explains further, Rouge listening in from the tree outside.

"Hmm, who knows what interesting little tidbits you can pick up if you hang around long enough?" She hides herself in the leaves, not noticing someone watching her from a few branches above...

* * *

The bell rings, classes over as Chris rushes out the entrance. Danny runs after him. "Hey, Chris! Wait for me!"

Mr. Stewart watches them run from his window, chuckling as he sips his coffee.

"Hi I'm Danny. Nice to meet you," Danny meets Amy and Tails for the first time.

"Hi there. I'm Amy. This is my friend Tails."

"Hi," Tails waves to him.

"Hey," Danny returns the wave.

"Uh, where's Sonic?" Chris looks around the garage. "Or Sophia for that matter?"

"He left already...but she didn't go to school today?" Tails asks, giving a small frown.

"No," Chris and Danny shake their heads.

"I haven't seen her at all since she left this morning," Amy gives a worried frown. "What could she be doing at this hour?"

"No one's heard from her today either," Tails shakes his head. "I'll look into it. I can track her signature because of her roots. Xenians have a different heat signature from people like Chris. And it's about time I head out too!"

* * *

They proceed to fly out on the X Tornado to look for the red emerald. "Let's take off." The plane flies past the trees.

Sonic leads on as he stops in front of a sign that leads to the factory, supposedly. "That way?" He looks up to see the X Tornado.

"Alright!" Danny cheers in excitement. "Yeah, this is the coolest thing ever!"

"Okay, cool it, will ya, Danny?" Chris turns to him. Amy sees something on the ground, pointing.

"Look! There's Sonic!"

He waves to them, rushing on ahead. The X Tornado flies after him, the sign falling off. Rouge reveals herself from the bushes. "Ha, they fell for it." She flies off, a pink blur speeding off after her. She sets off to find the Chaos Emerald herself. She gasps in awe as she finds the old factory. She flies down in front of the keep out sign. It was old and dilapidated, alright. "That's it. Now, to see if I can find another emerald."

"No, Rouge."

She turns around in surprise to see Sophia standing there. "Attempting to grab another jewel, I see."

"Ah, your majesty," Rouge curtsies respectfully. "You know me so well."

"I respect your fascination with jewelry, but must you take a Chaos Emerald?" Sophia places a hand on her hip. "Is my jewelry not enough for you?"

"Trust me, princess, I always appreciate your fine jewels, but a Chaos Emerald?" Rouge chuckles. "This is me, darling. I'm your friend, you know I love jewels."

"Well...you have kept my jewels safe back at home...I only trust that you do the same with the Chaos Emerald if you locate it," Sophia turns to leave, but Rouge holds out a hand.

"Oh come on. One more for old times' sake?" Rouge offers her. "You're here after all."

"Alright...if you insist," Sophia sighs a little. "But we must hurry. My friends are possibly worried about where I have gone off to."

They fly to the window, Rouge looking around the building. They examine their surroundings as they walk on the catwalk. Rouge sees a glint from a light, both of them flying down to it. The bat picks up a shiny object.

"Well, what's this?" Suddenly, bright lights flicker, revealing the two. They stand up to see soldiers pointing their guns at them.

"My, my, trying to trap me?" Rouge places her hands on her hips.

"Surely you know that you could not possibly attempt to trap us," Sophia stares at them.

"Don't make a move," a female soldier walks up to them.

"Whatever you like," Rouge grins as she holds up her hands.

"May I ask why you have trapped us?" Sophia demands, but she doesn't get an answer as the female holds up handcuffs. Sophia gasps in shock.

"You know, you're pretty tough for an old lady," Rouge mocks, the woman blushing in embarrassment as the other soldiers laugh. She glares at them.

"What are you clowns laughing at? Commander!"

"Huh?" The commander clears his throat, the woman not amused.

"I'm not going anywhere," Rouge shrugs carelessly. "Though, let my friend go. She's innocent. Matter of fact, I kinda like being in the spotlight."

"Rouge," Sophia sweats at the back of her head. "I can handle myself, and I will testify that I did not plan to steal anything."

"Forget the cuffs," the commander walks up to them. "What's your names?"

"I'm Rouge. That's Rouge the Bat," Rouge says confidently.

"My name is Princess Sophia," Sophia places a hand on her chest.

"Hey, I've seen you two somewhere before...that's right, you're the one that snuck into the National Museum and stole that diamond, aren't ya? And you've been on the news, haven't you, princess?" He recalls their meetings.

"Who, me?" Rouge asks innocently.

"Yes...that is me," Sophia raises an eyebrow.

"We set up a trap to catch Sonic and Sophia, and who do we wind up with but a jewel thief? Funny how things work out that way."

"Sonic?!" Sophia asks in shock. "And myself?!"

Rouge just smirks.

* * *

In the sunset, Sonic speeds by as he looks around, seeing no factory. The X Tornado flies above Sonic, the two boys looking exhausted.

"Man, I'm starving."

"Me too," Chris agrees. "Tails, any sign of Sophia?"

"No, the heat signature isn't there anymore," Tails shakes his head. "It's so strange. I would've gotten a signal by now, but nothing. Not even a phone call or anything."

* * *

Rouge and Sophia sit in the White House, the female and commander sitting behind them. The bat opens an eye. "Boy, I could really go for a cup of coffee."

"What?!" The female asks in disbelief. "Listen missy, this isn't a country club, you're in deep trouble."

"Yeah yeah, I know, so I've heard," Rouge dismisses it. "But all I wants a cup of coffee. Don't be such a nag."

"Rouge," Sophia whispers to her in warning.

"A what?! A nag, huh?" The female looks embarrassed.

"Hey. Get her a coffee, Topaz. Anything for you, your highness?" The commander looks down at the girl.

"Just tea with lemon would suffice..." Sophia murmurs, glad that she wasn't really in trouble. But she still wanted to know why she was still there.

"Hmph," Topaz walks off stubbornly to the machines. "She doesn't deserve it if you ask me."

"My, my. Topaz, eh? Isn't that the name of a gem?" Rouge murmurs to herself.

"I would refrain from insulting her further. I believe she holds a grudge against you, Rouge," Sophia whispers to her.

"I know, but why are _they_ interested in _you_? You didn't do anything...yet," Rouge gives a little smirk, Sophia giving her an annoyed look.

"If I knew, I would surely tell you. I have done nothing of the sort and I-" The door opens as the president walks into the room. Topaz turns around and gasps, overfilling the cup of coffee.

"Ow!" She drops the cup of coffee. The president sits down in front of the two.

"Case of the jitters, Topaz?"

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. President, sir," she stammers as she proceeds to clean it up.

"So, you're Rouge and Princess Sophia," one of the advisors says matter-of-factly.

"Hi!" Rouge waves to them.

"Hello," Sophia bows her head. "It is an honor to meet you."

"The feeling is mutual," he chuckles at her. "Well Rouge and Sophia, I imagine you must be wondering why we've brought you here today," he starts.

"Uh-huh," Rouge murmurs to herself.

"No," Sophia crosses her arms. "Mr. President, if this is about the jewel from the museum, I had nothing to do with it. I was not even present, I was at home."

"Listen Rouge, your highness, we'd like to make a deal," the other advisor states.

"A deal, huh?" Rouge looks almost uninterested.

"We are willing to offer you complete immunity from your crimes. That is, of course, if you decide to join our team. And princess, we will ignore the fact that you know the perpetrator if you can give us some information about Sonic and help us with Eggman," the president offers.

"Join your team? As what?" Rouge asks, Sophia surprised.

"Eggman? That's what this is about?" She demands in shock.

"Rouge will work as an undercover agent for the president. We would offer Sophia a position that is if it weren't for her busy time with maintaining her cover and pursuing Eggman."

"How much of myself do you know..." Sophia murmurs in embarrassment, sweating sheepishly.

"Wow. Imagine me a real live secret agent. Tell me, why would you want a naughty little jewel thief like me on your team?" Rouge wonders.

"Yes, I would like to know that as well." Sophia turns to the president.

"That is none of your business, young lady. Do we have a deal?"

"Hmm..." Rouge gives a little smirk to herself. Who knows? Working as an agent, I just might get closer to the Chaos Emerald. Sophia glances at Rouge, shaking her head as she knew what the thief bat was thinking. "Mr. Prez, you got yourself a deal."

"Congratulations, agent," the president stands up. "Welcome abroad," he offers his hand, but she just chuckles, holding out a hand. She gasps as a thought came to her mind. Recoiling her hand, she places them on her hips.

"Does this mean I can't keep my diamond?"

"Rouge!" Sophia exclaims to her.

"What?" Rouge asks her innocently.

"Uh..." The president didn't know how he felt about letting her keep a stolen diamond from the museum. "Alright, well, what do you think?"

"Well, the case is still considered unsolved...as long as she promises not to talk," the advisor mutters.

"There you have it," the president agrees, Rouge humming happily to herself.

"Now, there is still the matter of Eggman, Mr. President," the other advisor reminds him. The president stares at Sophia, who darts her eyes around.

"I...will tell you everything you need to know. But not now. Over time...perhaps a time when I was supposed to be at home at this point in time," she explains, the president's eyes widening as he looks at his watch.

"Oh...right! We'll arrange a plane to escort you home, your highness. We'll set up a meeting soon. Have a safe trip home," the president and Sophia shake hands. "Rouge and Topaz can escort you."

"Ah, too bad we didn't get to hang out more," Rouge says with a small sigh.

"We shall meet again, Rouge. I know you will visit me again," Sophia smiles at her, contemplating what just happened...

* * *

Sonic picks up the sign that was dropped. He had arrived back as the way he had gone before didn't lead to the factory. He looks around, trying to decide the right path... "I'll have to take my chances." He speeds the other way, the X Tornado following him.

That night, they are escorting Sophia home. Topaz places a gold bracelet with red jewels on Rouge's wrist.

"What's this thing?" Rouge asks curiously.

"That is a bomb," the commander answers to her confusion.

"A bomb?"

"I believe that a bomb is unnecessary," Sophia frowns at the bracelet.

"If we push this remote control here, it's bye-bye batty. See, we don't exactly trust ya, so you'd be a good little girl and maybe we won't have to use it."

"You would resort to blowing her up?!" Sophia exclaims in anger.

"Huh!" Rouge scoffs at him.

"Just think of it as a bracelet," Topaz tells her as she's putting on his helmet.

"A bracelet that explodes," Rouge deadpans.

"It's supposed to be functional, not fashionable," Topaz recites.

"Looks like something an old lady would wear," Rouge comments, Topaz gasping. "Why don't you try it on?"

"What does that mean?!" Topaz growls at her.

"Just what you think it does, Grandma," Rouge teases.

"Ladies, please," the commander warns them.

"Surely you must trust Rouge," they all look at Sophia. "She is a good friend of mine. I trust her with my jewels back home. I can assure you, she knows to do the right thing."

"Tch. How'd you get to know _her_?" The commander jerks a thumb at Sophia, who sweatdrops.

"Erm..."

"Oh, that's easy. I stole one of her tiaras," Rouge places her hands behind her back.

"And you didn't arrest her?!" Topaz and the commander ask in shock.

"I may be a princess, but I am not cruel. I let her go free because I know she will do the right thing. Yes, she may take things to get them, but she does have an appreciation for fine jewelry. And I assigned her to protect my jewels after we met. I know she can do it. You just need to believe that she will." Sophia opens the door as the plane is flying over Chris' mansion. "We shall see each other soon, Rouge."

"See ya," Rouge smirks slightly and Sophia jumps out of the plane. Topaz and the solider shout in surprise, running to the door. They look to see Sophia flying down to the mansion.

"Ain't she something," the commander snorts as they quickly approach their destination.

"Approaching drop point, commander. Straight ahead," the pilot reports from up front.

"Roger. Get ready."

They all jump off, using their parachutes to land.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic and the others have finally arrived at the warehouse.

"Huh..." Tails murmurs to himself.

"What is this place? It gives me the creeps," Amy comments before turning to Sonic and Tails. "Well now what? There's nothing here."

"Something seems strange here, Sonic. Who would have moved that sign?" Tails wonders.

"Beats me...but I know someone's been here. And we all know who," Sonic holds up a single pink hair.

"That's Sophia's hair!" Amy exclaims in surprise.

"She was here?" Tails asks in surprise. "But how? She couldn't possibly know where this place is because she wasn't at school...it's not like her communication device is working, so she didn't get it from us...and she can't sense the Chaos Emeralds..."

"So then why was she here if she wasn't looking for the emerald...?" Sonic murmurs to himself, wondering just what Sophia was up to.

Chris and Danny have fallen asleep, exhausted and hungry.

* * *

The military forces are hiding within the bushes of Eggman's base, wondering how they can get inside without being detected. Eggman being...Eggman, it would be safe to assume he would have high security measures. Not only that, there didn't seem to be any doors. The commander growls slightly as he looks through his binoculars. "I don't see an entrance anywhere. Come on, where is it?"

"Oh," Rouge sighs impatiently, "Do I have to do everything?" She snatches a rope from him and flies to the base.

"Oh yeah?" He pulls out the switch that activates the bracelet bomb. Topaz holds out a hand to stop him.

"Hold on."

"Huh?" He asks in perplexment, having no idea what's going on.

"Follow me," she sneaks closer to the structure, Rouge reaching the door from the roof. She locks it on and throws it down with a wink and a smile. She jerks a thumb to the roof, Topaz giving her a thumbs up.

* * *

Rouge leads the way, the other soldiers behind her. "This way," she whispers, the commander stopping her from moving.

"Hold on. Where are you going?" He asks suspiciously.

"Don't be so jumpy," she retorts. "You want me to help you out or don't you?"

"No funny stuff?" He asks, Rouge grabbing her arm back.

"I'm on your team now," she shrugs carelessly.

"Alright, just checking," he says warily, pushing a button and showing a blueprint from his device. "Okay, let's move in."

They follow the blueprint, going many floors. Eggman is asleep, unsuspecting of the intruders. "We don't have much farther. Now if we could just find the power output sector."

Topaz glances at Rouge. "Any idea where that might be?"

"I guess I must've left my map at home," Rouge jokes with another shrug. Topaz looks at her watch.

"Well it's almost dawn. What do you think we should do, commander?"

"We don't have much time. Let's keep looking," the commander suggests, everyone except Rouge running down the path. She glances at the hallway in front of her and gasps, giving a suspicious look. She sensed something...

"Commander?"

They stop in their tracks, looking at the bat. "Mind if I have myself a little look around?"

"Are you kidding? How do I know I can trust you?" He asks in disbelief.

"You can. I'll be right back. Like Sophia said, you can trust me," she reminds them.

"Yeah well, she might not even be a real princess, so how do I know what she says is true?" The commander huffs.

"She's the real deal," Rouge places her hands on her hips.

"I'll go with her just in case," Topaz offers, standing next to Rouge.

"Ugh, whatever," Rouge just dismisses her.

"Alright then," the commander hands her the button for the bomb. "Remember, don't do anything reckless."

"Yes sir," Topaz salutes.

"Aye aye!" Rouge exclaims with a salute, Topaz growling in annoyance.

Rouge and Topaz peek around the corner, seeing a door. Rouge flies up to it, smirking. "This could get messy, especially for an old gal like you." Two slices later, the door is open, Rouge having used her boots to slice it. Rouge looks around, discovering the cyan Chaos Emerald. "My, my."

She flies to it, eyes dazzling. "Well hello. It's beautiful." A door opens inside the room, a red light in the shadows...

While Rouge is drawn to the emerald, Topaz senses that something didn't sit right. "I have the strangest feeling we're being watched." Suddenly, she gets captured by a robot. Rouge turns around to see a claw coming for her, but she jumps over it. She flies above at the attacker to see an E-70 Noizi. Topaz tries to break free from the claw, to no avail.

"Please, help me, Rouge!" She begs. She struggles to breath as the robot's claw tightens around her. "Please help me!"

"Hang in, girl." Rouge flies down to attack, but Noizi pulls out a bullhorn from itself. Rouge jumps in the air and spins around on her vertical axis at such speed that she creates an illusion of a tornado around herself. Noizi activates its speakers to release a very loud alarm. Topaz and Rouge cover their ears in pain. The soldiers from outside can hear it as well.

"What is that?!"

Eggman wakes up due to the alarm, falling onto the ground. He places a hand on his head, annoyed. "It must be...intruders!"

Rouge herself is especially weakened, as she is a bat, and her ears are more sensitive. "That sound, it hurts my ears!"

Noizi turns up the volume, weakening Rouge even more. She screams in pain at the noise, kneeling. "I can't take it!" Topaz shouts over the noise. "Help me, please!"

"That scream is coming from Noizi!" Eggman realizes. "Someone's trying to make off with my Chaos Emerald, and we can't have that now, can we? Go get them Sneezer!" Eggmna pushes a button, covering his ears from the noise. "Ah, blast that infernal noise!"

Rouge grunts, further annoyed. "I'm going insane!" She gasps as she sees three more robots approaching the entrance. They fire lasers and she jumps up, running away from their attacks. Topaz has to cover herself from the debris.

"Rouge!" She shouts, gasping when the attacks have revealed the generator room. "The power generator!"

Rouge jumps off the wall, doing another attempt at her screw kick. Like before, Noizi turns up the volume, stopping her from attacking. Rouge stands up as she hears Topaz yelling, irritated.

"I've had enough of this."

Guardbot fires and she backflips until she lands behind Sneezer. The bullets hit the robot, making its weapon system firing at Guardbot. One of the missiles destroys the glass case containing the Chaos Emerald. Rouge looks back in shock.

"Oh no! I've lost the Chaos Emerald!" Noizi comes up and emits more loud noise. She shouts in agony, gritting her teeth. "Alright, you're fooling with the wrong girl!" She looks at her bracelet and gets an idea, breaking the bomb off her wrist. She grabs it, running from the bullets. She jumps in the air and throws the bracelet into Noizi's bullhorn. The sound cuts off, Noizi examining his horn. Rouge lands safely, looking at Topaz.

"Push that button!"

Topaz realizes her plan, getting the button and pushing it. The robot's connection to the speakers is destroyed, causing it to drop Topaz.

Eggman is rushing towards the scene.

Rouge does her screw kick a third time, delivering the finishing blow. She picks up Topaz. "Hang on tight." She flies off with Topaz, flying past Eggman. "Move it!"

"Excuse me...eh? Who's that?" He looks towards the robot, and is unfortunately caught in the blast of Noizi's explosion and destruction. Rouge and Topaz manage to get away just in time, the soldiers gasping in shock.

"Rouge, I don't know how to thank you," Topaz says, surprised by Rouge's actions.

"I do. Lose some weight."

Topaz growls at her.

Eggman coughs, completely covered in soot. He even lost a tooth. "Help me...mommy..."

The sun begins to rise. Mr. Stewart walks up to a sleeping Chris and Danny. "Uh, Chris? Danny?" He shakes them slightly and they wake up. Everyone stares at them.

"Uh, we're sorry," they say nervously.

"Now Chris, I get the feeling you and Danny didn't get enough sleep last night. It's okay to have adventures, just make sure to get bed on time," he whispers.

"Huh? But how did you know, sir?"

"Just a wild guess," Mr. Stewart answers, Sophia raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks, Mr. Stewart," the two boys laugh along with Mr. Stewart.

"By the way...Sophia, I marked you excused for your absence yesterday. I imagine your emergency was really important," he whispers, Sophia looking at him in shock.

"Erm...alright..." She murmurs slowly. A lot had been on her mind. The president, Rouge, and Sonic...she stays silent in her thoughts as Mr. Stewart began teaching. _No one really confronted me last night about my whereabouts except for..._

 _Sophia read a book as she sat on her bed, looking relaxed. She looked out the window, wondering what Rouge was doing right now. She hoped her friend would prove herself trustworthy._

 _"Sophia."_

 _"Hm?" She turned to her right to see Sonic leaning against the open door. "Oh. Hello Sonic. Is something wrong?"_

 _"You were at the warehouse, weren't you?" He asked her directly._

 _"Ah..." She sweated a little. "Yes...I apologize for making all of you worry. I just...had a feeling, I presume. I did not find the Chaos Emerald, I regret to say."_

 _"I know. We didn't find it either. Sophia...you gotta tell someone. You can't just go off like that. When I do it, it's normal, but you? It's just not your style. I won't ask what you were doing, but you had everyone worried."_

 _"Perhaps I was like you. Would you not trust me to do the right thing like you have always done?" She pressed, Sonic's mouth turning to a thin line in thought._

 _"You're not wrong, princess. Just...be careful, alright? I don't want anything bad happening to you."_

 _"I know," she smiled slightly at him. "Goodnight Sonic."_

 _"Night princess!" He sped off, the door closing behind him. Sophia sighed to herself._

"Perhaps I should meet with the president soon...before it is too late," Sophia murmurs to herself as she looks at a contact card for the president.


	12. Beating Eggman Part 1

**Angel: First off, I would like to apologize for the week-long hiatus. Well, over a week now. Last week was my birthday on Thursday, I had to work Tuesday, and I had to work this weekend. Not only that, I.** **..got** **sick yesterday and I couldn't really type because it just felt uncomfortable to do so. And I went bowling on Saturday and I didn't get home until 11. I had gotten off work at 7:30. They asked me to stay longer but I was like hell no. I did that on Sunday, though. So, if there's another hiatus in the future, it's because stuff keeps coming up like work. Speaking of hiatus, I'll be on hiatus in June, but not right away. It'll be for three weeks, but I'll bring this up again because if I don't people will start asking questions XD**

GreenD109: You know, I've found it a little strange that a royal princess assigning a master thief to watch over her jewelry, but it probably because it's the last thing people would expect right?

 **Angel: That's exactly why I wrote it that way.**

 **Sophia: I do not expect my friends to understand...which is why I must not tell anyone why I am friends with Rouge. Especially Amy. They do not like each other.**

Bajy: Wow, I was not expecting this turn of events, great job here! Sophia meeting the president and all, and I didn't know that she knows Rouge either. I wonder what will happen now? I'll just have to wait and see next time! I have a feeling that things are going to be rocky in the next chapter. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: I have a feeling that things are going to be more...windy.**

 **Sophia: Oh dear.**

Crazycartoons5488: I have to wait to see Sophia X episode beating Eggman

 **Angel: Or any upcoming episode, really. I'm not working till Saturday though, so there's that.**

Guest: Wow that was something and now the battle of Dr. Eggman I know they'll win

 **Sophia: Why would we not?**

Light Seeker 001: This is good.

 **Angel: Aw, thanks. I try for you guys.**

Light Seeker 001: This particular chapter is pretty special to me because I actually own this episode on DVD.

 **Angel: Aw! I would buy them, but I have** **Youtube** **for that series.**

Guest: Cool story I can't wait to see the next one real soon for the Eggman battle

 **Angel: Again, sorry for the wait.**

Sonic is reading a book while lying on the roof, scenery of Station Square on the pages. He closes the book, placing it away. "I guess I've seen every place there is to see on this planet, except for the places I'd have to swim to," he notes.

The Next Show is ending. "Bye bye, my friends! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye bye!" Cream and Cheese wave to the host, Ella opening the door.

"I thought you two might like a little snack," she presents it on the table.

"Thank you Ella," Cream tells her as Cheese cheers happily. Suddenly, the TV changes to a live press conference.

"We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to go live to our SSTV correspondent Scarlett Garcia."

"The president's top aide is going to make a statement before taking questions from the press corps," she reports, standing behind the crowd.

"The president has decided to take action to stop Dr. Eggman."

Cream, Cheese, and Ella look in shock.

"What?" Cream murmurs in confusion.

"And we have Princess Sophia as our ally to help us," Jerome Wise, the aide, gestures to the side. Sophia gives a surprised look as she's pushed slightly to the podium.

"Sophia?!" Ella and Cream exclaim in shock.

"Oh my, she's at the White House!" Ella yells in excitement.

"Erm..." Sophia gives a nervous look, as she didn't know she was participating in the conference. "Um, the president and I are working as vigorous as we can to stop Eggman. There is no need to fear, we will take care of him."

She's suddenly bombarded with various questions from the press before being leaded away by Jerome. "She's not taking any more questions at the moment."

* * *

Eggman is watching the broadcast from his base. "Has the administration developed a concrete plan to stop Dr. Eggman?"

"Yes."

Eggman pauses the video. "Yeah? Well I hope they come up with a disaster management plan, because they're going to need it!" He laughs at the thought.

Knuckles uses his fists to climb up a mountain, passing several trees. He reaches the top and looks around, seeing the city in his sighs. "Alright, where's that emerald...?"

He promised Sophia he would do whatever he could to find it, and he wasn't gonna come back without one. He looks up and sees the X Tornado flying right past him. Knuckles runs down the mountain. Chris, Tails, Amy, and Frances are inside.

"Amy, there's my house down there!" Frances points down. Amy follows her gaze.

"Which one?"

"Do you see the one with the red roof?" Frances questions.

"Yeah! That's great, Frances."

"You should come for a visit sometime," Frances offers, Amy smiling.

"I will, thanks! Maybe I'll invite Sophia too! She'd love it," Amy giggles slightly. "I can't believe she knows the president."

"And that she's allying with him. That's so cool!" Frances comments happily. After what Sonic had told her, Sophia decided to tell her friends about her meeting with the president. The only thing she didn't mention was meeting Rouge, as she respected Rouge's privacy. Even if it had to do with attempting to steal a Chaos Emerald.

"Hey Chris, do you think we can fly over our school?" Frances calls out, Chris wearing a pair of high-tech goggles.

"Uh..." Chris looks embarrassed. "Well, I...maybe."

"Guys, this isn't a sightseeing trip," Tails reminds them. "We've gotta hurry and track down the next Chaos Emerald or Eggman will get it before we do!"

"I know Tails," Chris looks utterly embarrassed as he forgot the seriousness of the mission. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Tails reassures. "Hey Chris, where'd you get those new high-tech goggles? From your Grandpa?"

"Hmm?" Chris places an ear on them. "No, my teacher Mr. Stewart gave them to me. Like 'em?"

"Mm hmm," Tails nods in agreement. "They look pretty cool."

"Yeah, they're one of the best gifts I ever got." What Chris doesn't know is that the goggles contain a tracking device and a microphone, so that Mr. Stewart can hear them, also knowing where they're located. He uses his GPS from his car to track them.

"Amy, look! There's the school Chris and I go to!" Frances exclaims, Mr. Stewart's eyes widening. He looks up as the X Tornado flies right above his car and he follows after them.

* * *

"The power generators for Eggman's base are located under the tower, Mr. President," the Captain explains. Rouge, Sophia, Topaz, the president, the commander, and two government officials are attending this meeting. "This information came to us from Rouge and Topaz."

The president glances at the female duo. "Well Rouge, I'm glad my confidence in you wasn't misplaced."

"This spy stuff is right up my alley," she comments.

"Well I am happy that you succeeded in receiving this information, Rouge. And that you are doing well in your spy missions," Sophia smiles at her.

"Aw thanks darling!" Rouge exclaims with a wink.

"We're all very grateful. Now, let's review our attack plan," the president starts off.

"Right," The commander stands up.

"You're taking all the credit I see," Topaz points out to Rouge.

"I _did_ do all the work," Rouge reminds her, Topaz groaning. Sophia stands up as she holds a folder in her hands. The Captain places little pieces on the map.

"It'll be a two-pronged assault from both sea and air," the captain starts off.

"Yes, but what if Eggman's robots counter-attack?" The president wonders.

"I can assure you that they will. I hope you have the artillery to deal with them," Sophia turns to the captain.

"These forces are merely a diversion. Eggman will deploy his robots against this frontal assault. Meanwhile, a Special Forces team will approach the island from the opposite side and sneak into the base from the rear. Once they break into the generator room, they'll cut off Eggman's power supply."

"They'll be backed up by a team from the intelligence agency including Rouge and some other agents," a government official continues.

"Good."

"How come _she_ gets top billing?" Topaz whispers to the commander.

"You know how it works, Topaz. There's a star on every show. We're just big players."

"Uh, now onto the subject of Sonic," the president points out, Sophia turning to him in attention.

"We're ready to capture him and force him to work with us."

"Force him?!" Sophia exclaims in disbelief. "Absolutely not! We must do this peacefully."

"Well...now, you see, I...I sent someone to try a more diplomatic approach as Sophia would want," the president explains.

"Oh dear..." Sophia sweats a little as she knew that they wouldn't be able to get the front door, much less even talk to Sonic.

"Who sir?"

* * *

Jerome Wise, along with two other agents, are standing at the front door of Chris' mansion. Ella answers the door.

"Good day, sir," she greets, gasping as she recognizes him from the news. "You're...the president's aide! Sophia was on the news with you!"

"Is Sonic at home?" He questions, her eyes widening. "Oh!" She had no idea how she knew Sonic, as Sophia had said that she didn't tell them he was staying there. Sonic himself is still on the roof of the mansion.

"I don't know. Who's he?" Ella denies, crossing her arms.

"I'd like you to let Sonic know that I didn't come here to capture him. I simply came at the request of the president, to ask for his cooperation. You should also tell Sonic that if he does agree to work with us, he'll be rewarded. The president gave his pledge that Sonic and his friends will be offered citizenship and they'll be paid for their services," Jerome offers, noting that she's lying.

"That's all very nice, but I don't think I know no Sonic," Ella picks her ear.

"We know you know Sonic," he goes through his notebook, pausing for a second. "Ella."

Ella gasps in shock. "But how do you know my name? Did...did someone tell you?"

"If by that someone you mean Princess Sophia, who we know stays here, no. She has not disclosed anything. We know all about you, this house, and your visitors," Jerome answers.

"I already told you, I don't know nothing, so why don't you put an egg in your shoe and beat it!" She shoos him away.

"I can cause lots of problems for you, lady," Jerome threatens. "Get Sonic!"

Ella just slams the door shut. He growls, trying to force it open before falling onto the ground. Ella opens the door to throw a bucket of water at him. She huffs before slamming the door. The agents look in shock before refraining themselves.

"Grr, what kind of security is this?! They're supposed to jump and now I smell like floor wax!" Jerome shouts from outside.

"Who was it?" Mr. Tanaka descends down the stairs.

"Just because he's the president's big shot assistant, he thinks he can threaten me! Well I just showed him he's all wet!" Ella huffs as she walks away.

* * *

"Yes, I see." The incident is being reported back to the president. "Thank you." He hangs up, turning to the others. "He couldn't even get in the door to see him. Sophia, why didn't you warn us?"

"I had the same hope that Sonic would come, Mr. President. Do not presume to know that I know everything about him," Sophia huffs, crossing her arms.

"Who knew hedgehogs were so headstrong?" One of the chairmen asks.

"Perhaps we could get Sophia to speak to him," the president glances at the pink-haired girl.

"Erm...no, I do not think that will work..." She sweats a little, knowing Sonic's attitude. If she asked herself, he would just say no.

The car leaves, Sonic still resting on the roof.

"It looks like we'll have to stop Eggman ourselves, Mr. President," the government official suggests.

"I suppose we'll have to count Sonic out," the president gives a dismayed look.

"You don't need him in the game." He looks up at Rouge, who stands up. "Not when you've got me and Sophia going a bat for you," she winks at him, the president giving a happy smile.

"You're right, Rouge!"

She gives a sly smirk. _I'm not going to let anything stop me from getting my hands on_ _a Chaos Emerald this time._

Sophia glances at Rouge, seeing her smirk. She rolls her eyes to herself, giving a knowing smile.

* * *

Mr. Stewart continues to track down the X Tornado, noticing them flying to a particular field. "I wonder where they could be heading to now." He takes off into the highway.

The green Chaos Emerald reacts to something. "The Chaos Emerald's picking up something!" Tails reports as he looks down.

"That's great!" Chris leans over.

"See on the locator screen?"

"Southeast!" Chris smiles.

"Chaos Emerald, here we come!" Tails cheers, turning to the right. While Mr. Stewart follows, he notices them turning around.

"Hmm, they turned again." He sharply turns around and the X Tornado lands in a dense corn field.

"The stopes say there's a Chaos Emerald in this field!" Chris exclaims. "We beat Eggman to it! Open up so we can start looking!"

"We can look from here," Tails suggests to Chris' confusion. "Wait and see." Tails presses a red button, pulling the lever and lifting up the engines. Frances and Amy are lifted up in their seats.

"What's this?!" Frances exclaims in confusion, Amy equally shocked. The engines separate and the X Tornado is suddenly standing on two feet!

"Wow!" Frances yells, looking at all the corn.

"Wow Tails, what did you do?" Amy wonders. Tails chuckles, rubbing his nose.

"I transformed it into an all-purpose robot called the X Cyclone. What do you guys say we take it for a little stroll?" Tails explains, Chris nodding in excitement. "Now let's find that Chaos Emerald!" The X Cyclone starts to walk through the field.

Mr. Stewart continues driving, noticing that the blip has stopped moving. "A Chaos Emerald, eh?" He pulls out a small communication device. "This is Chalkboard Charlie calling homeroom. Come in homeroom. Over."

The X Cyclone stands in the middle of the field, the Chaos Emerald continuing to glow. "Looks like there's a Chaos Emerald right under our feet!" Chris notes as they've all exited the plane to investigate.

"Mm hmm," Tails nods.

"But we didn't bring a shovel," Amy points out.

"That's okay, because we got the X Cyclone to dig for us!" Frances tells her, Tails giving a look of embarrassment. "Isn't that right, Tails?"

He just sweats as everyone is staring at him now. "Hey yeah! You said it was an all-purpose robot!" Chris recalls, Tails sagging.

"I...didn't include a digging function," he reveals, the three of them shouting in disbelief.

"It's not all purpose then, is it?" Amy asks.

"Not exactly," Tails murmurs.

"Eh heh, guys, I bet the farmhouse we saw has a shovel we could borrow," Chris suggests, running over as fast as he can.

"I'll go with you," Frances races after him, feeling awkward.

* * *

"This may well be our only opportunity, Mr. President," the government official explains after they've gotten the info from Mr. Stewart. "If Eggman leaves to chase after that Chaos Emerald, we can attack the base while he's gone, which will improve the odds for our success."

"And we'll have Eggman on the run," the other official says. The president says nothing, thinking to himself. He didn't want to take the risk, as Eggman is ruthless and dangerous, not to mention observant.

"Mr. President?" They all stare at him, waiting for an answer.

"Alright then. Let's get this job done."

"I must warn you all..." They turn to Sophia. "Eggman will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He is despicable, and incredibly dangerous. All I ask is that you be careful, especially Rouge."

"Don't worry darling, I'll come back with some beautiful jewels for you," Rouge winks at her. Sophia just shakes her head.

"Thank you, Sophia," the commander tells her. "Let's go!"

* * *

They prepare to fly, Knuckles watching them from not too far away. "I wonder what's up now..." He sees Sophia walking into the area, shouting in surprise. "Princess?! What's she doing there? Is she working for the president?"

Sophia waves to the soldiers before flying off to go catch up with Tails and the others. Knuckles stares after her, worrying about her safety. If the princess got involved in any sort of trouble, what would be his purpose? Sophia was like a guide to him. But then again, she might get defensive if he simply asked about her business and possibly scold him for doing so. So he wasn't going to press on the matter. Not until the time was right. The ships sail towards Eggman's base, the intelligence team already in place.

"Now folks, let's see how a single application of B Ted's stain remover handles this gooey grease stain. Wow, look at that!"

"That's rad," Decoe comments in awe.

"Let's call and order some," Bocoe suggests. Eggman just stares at the screen.

"I wish that stock got rid of infomercials too," Eggman complains, tapping his foot against the panel.

"Just think, you'll save a fortune with just one bottle of-" The TV starts to go to static.

"A Chaos Emerald buried in a cornfield near Tingalin Villa," another voice interrupts. The satellite feed from the government agents is interfering with his signal.

"What kind of show is this?" Eggman leans closer to the TV, pressing his ear closer.

"Yes, near Tingalin Villa. A giant jet landed there and they're starting to dig right now. It's-"

"Call in the next 10 minutes and receive a bonus bottle with no extra cost!" Eggman turns the screen to the Selection Machine. He grins to himself as he's propelled slightly. "Bring the cards!"

"Here you are doctor," Bocoe holds out the tray and Eggman snatches them. "Now then," he flicks his wrist, looking at all of them. He places a thumb to his mouth in thought. "I'm not sure." He grins evilly as he presses the button, placing the deck inside. He pulls the lever to get E-35 Funfun, a large chicken-shaped robot with a giant fan in its chest.

"Oh, Funfun! Perfect!" The exit opens and Funfun takes off into the air, turning its legs and wings to fly better. Eggman follows it, one of the GUN agents watching this.

"There he goes. Get ready to mobilize."

The planes take off into the sky from the base. "Squadron A is away. Squadron B, get set for your run on the island." Knuckles is watching the preparation right outside the fence.

"They're attacking Eggman's base..."

* * *

Mr. Stewart is following the signal from his GPS, out in the country.

Chris, Frances, Amy, and Tails are all digging in one spot. "It must be deep," Tails looks at Chris.

"Just keep digging," Chris tells him before they all hear something...odd. "What's that?"

"Sounds like a jet," Frances notes before a large shadow flies above them. They gasp in shock, following the trail to Funfun, who has just landed. "Who's that?"

Eggman appears next to the robot, smiling. "Oh no, it's Dr. Eggman!" Chris says in panic.

"Do something!" Amy tells Tails, who nods. He jumps into the X Cyclone, stumbling to get in at first. Eggman just laughs at him.

"Have you found my Chaos Emerald yet?"

"We're not gonna give it to ya!" Tails replies in determination.

"That's right!" Amy retorts.

"Surely you must know who we are, Eggman." Everyone turns around to see Sophia appearing near the X Cyclone. "We will never give up!"

"Sophia!" Amy and Tails say in relief.

"Wow..." Frances murmurs in awe, as she hadn't seen Sophia fly before.

"Ah, the princess once again. Very well, I'll just take it then!" Eggman declares.

"Hey, I better find a phone and call Sonic!" Chris suggests.

"Tell him to hurry!" Amy says and Chris turns to his friend.

"Come on Frances!" He takes her hand and runs to the farmhouse.

"Go, get them, Funfun!"

"You stop 'em X Cyclone and Sophia!" Amy cheers on.

"Let's go!" Tails pulls a lever, lifting the X Cyclone in the air and flying towards Funfun. Sophia flies after them, but Funfun activates a fan, uprooting the corn with a very strong wind and messing up the flight pattern of the plane and Sophia.

"Whoaaaaa!" Amy is sent flying.

"Amy!" Tails and Sophia shout before they're sent flying too. The X Cyclone crashes onto the ground.

"You're blowing those brats away!" Eggman chuckles, pumping his fists in triumph. "Good work!"

Sophia hangs onto the ground as she squeezes her eyes shut. "Uh oh," Tails murmurs as the plane moves slightly. The wind goes all the way to Chris and Frances, who have to move to the ground to withstand it. It also blows away the farmhouse. Eggman chuckles at all of the destruction.

"This is the most 'fun fun' I've had in a long time!"

The X Tornado continues to get pushed away by the current. "The control stick is jammed up!" Tails is unable to do anything to fight back and neither is Sophia as she struggles to not be blown away. Chris shields Frances, the wind blowing away his goggles.

* * *

Mr. Stewart is still traveling down the road. "That cornfield must be around here somewhere...huh?" He sees the signal leading him away from the cornfield. He stops the car and looks around, seeing nothing. He groans as he looks back at his GPS.

"They're heading the other way! Alright," He sharply turns around and goes down in the other direction.

The GUN planes and ships are approaching Eggman's base, locking onto their target. The missiles are fired from the planes, the ships launching their rockets. They all hit Eggman's base.

"What's happening?" Bocoe starts to panic.

"It's an attack, you bolt brain!" Decoe retorts, pointing outside. "Those fighter planes are firing it up and there are battleships too!"

"We will show them. Let us launch a counter-attack!" Bocoe declares, the two firing several robots, including E-11 Beacon and E-14 Sneezer. Three missiles are fired back at the ships, missed. One plane is down as Beacon comes around and rams into a ship.

"They're putting up quite a fight." As expected, the on-going battle provides a distraction for Rouge, Topaz, and the special forces team. "Now let's knock out the power." Topaz nods as Rouge pulls up her mask to cover her mouth. She's dressed like a spy instead of her usual outfit. She climbs up the rocks, Topaz and the others following.

Back at the White House, a camera is pointed at the president. He's preparing a speech for the people about the ongoing assault. "Ahem. My fellow civilians, I mean my fellow citizens." He reads off a paper. "Today our millinary-no, our militaries are-"

"We go live in 15 seconds, Mr. President," the cameraman informs him. He readjusts his tie, clearing his throat. The news broadcast starts to air, Scarlett Garcia outside the White House gates.

"We interrupt our regular broadcast to bring you this live emergency address from the president."

"My fellow citizens, today our military forces launched an all-out assault against the headquarters of Dr. Eggman. Despite repeated warnings, Dr. Eggman has continued to threaten the peace and well-being of our nation." Cream and Cheese are currently watching the news.

"We have to tell Sonic about this!" Cream gets up and ruffs off, Cheese jumping to the ground. He stumbles to the ground before following after Cream.

"This conflict is unfortunate, but we cannot allow Dr. Eggman to achieve his goal of world domination. We must stop him now before it is too late."

The planes and ships continue to attack, Beacon flying through the planes at lightning speed. The on-going warfare continues out in the open sea. A bomb goes off from the inside of the base, Rouge having placed it there. She jumps inside the hole, gesturing for the others to go inside. They infiltrate the base, unnoticed.

* * *

Back at the base, Knuckles has managed to sneak in one of the missiles of a fighter plane. He waits there for a while, as he was curious about how they would even attack Eggman's base. One of the planes takes off, following the others as more have been sent.

Sonic bursts into the room. "Hey Tails, let's go-huh?" Cream and Sonic are confused to see that the X Tornado is gone.

"How could he leave without you Sonic?" Cream wonders. Chuck descends down the stairs with a tea cup in his hand.

"Hi there Sonic," he greets casually. "Tails went flying with Amy and Chris and his friend Frances. I'm not sure where. They left quite a while ago, so I don't think they'll be gone too much longer."

"What about Sophia?" Sonic asks in shock.

"She had a meeting with the president and a friend of hers. She should've been back by now. And if not, she probably caught up to Tails already, so it's safe to say she'll be back with them."

Sonic growls in frustration, clenching his fists as he wouldn't be able to get there by flight. "Lousy time for a joyride!"

* * *

Mr. Stewart picks up Chris' goggles that were flown away by Funfun. "These are the goggles I gave Chris. I hope he's okay." He walks back to his car.

Chris, Frances, and Amy are still being pressed hard against the wind. "Ugh, when's the wind gonna slow down?" He looks at Amy, who steadies her feet by planting stakes in front of her. "Amy!"

"Don't worry! I'm almost there!" She shouts to them, the X Cyclone seemingly recovering. Sophia keeps her grip on the ground, her feet dangling.

"I won't let you win, Eggman!" Tails shouts in determination.

"Oh ho ho ho ho!" Sophia rolls her eyes at Eggman's chortle. "That measly machine of yours is no match for my robot!"

"Oh yeah?" Tails challenges, Eggman just laughing him off.

"Let's compete to see whose robot rules. Knocking the wind out of your puny X Cyclone will be a breeze!" Eggman snaps his fingers, Funfun increasing to create a more powerful wind. Sophia struggles to move as she climbs forward to the X Cyclone, holding onto the leg. "It seems Tails is in way over his head!"

"He is not over his head! His determination is only fueled by your cruel actions!" Sophia yells over the wind.

Tails struggles to move, but the X Cyclone is sent flying, taking Tails and Sophia with it.

* * *

While driving, Mr. Stewart also feels the powerful wind, the leaves covering his windshield. "I can't see!" He comes to a stop, looking out the window. The wind pushes his car back. "It's like a tornado!"

He pulls out his phone and disguises his voice. "Is this the Thorndyke residence?"

"Yes that's right," Chuck answers, Sonic and Cream staring at him from the beanbags. "Sorry, what did you say? Speak up. They're in Tingalin Villa? Thanks a lot, I'll send someone after them right away." He hangs up.

"Who was that, Grandpa?" Cream asks softly.

"He wouldn't say who he was," Chuck places the receiver down. "Chris needs your help at Tingalin Villa. Sophia too."

"Right," Sonic stands up and nods. He rushes out the garage door and sets off to help them.

 _Can Sonic get to his friends fast enough to save them? Find out next time!_


	13. Beating Eggman Part 2

Guest: Cool story I can't wait to see the next one real soon for the Eggman battle.

 **Angel: It won't be the last battle.**

 **Sophia: Yes, it is only just beginning.**

Bajy: Great job! Looking forward to reading more soon! Sorry my review is short, I got some things I need to catch up on today, I promise the next review I type will be longer.

 **Angel: I'm not really worried about short reviews.**

Guest: Woah I wonder what'll happen next this is getting good.

 **Thank you!**

 _Last time, the president ordered an all-out attack on Dr. Eggman's island base._

 _"It'll be a two-pronged assault_ _from both sea and air," the captain said, pushing a small white boat on the map. Rouge the Bat, now working for the government, was put in charge of a Special Forces team to sabotage Eggman's base from inside._

 _Meanwhile, Chris and Tails discovered the location of the third Chaos Emerald, but their plan to unearth it was gone with the wind. Eggman laughed at them. Can our heroes hang on and capture the Chaos Emerald, or will Eggman and his windy robot blow them away?_

"My fellow citizens," the president announces to the people. "The assault against the headquarters of Dr. Eggman has begun. Our military forces will press on until Eggman is no longer a threat to the world. We will not fail. Dr. Eggman must be stopped now." The footage changes to the fighter planes.

"Whoa..." Danny murmurs as he is among the crowd. "This will be a heavy-duty fight."

A fighter plane flies towards Eggman's base as the ongoing warfare continues. More fighter planes and battleships emerge as the base defends itself against the military invasion. As one of the missile storage units open, Knuckles is holding onto the missile. The plane's pilot fires it, allowing Knuckles to transverse the air. He laughs in excitement as he flies past the base's missiles. Knuckles jumps off and lands on the fortress tower's walls. He starts to climb using his knuckles.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rouge and Topaz continue sneaking past, as their main objective here is to find the generator in the bottom of the base to set off the explosives.

"Oh!" Rouge stops in her tracks, stopping the others. "Hold it."

"Why did we stop?" Topaz asks in confusion.

"Because we're about to get a visit from Eggman's welcome wagon," she says simply, and she's right as they're ambushed by a E-12 Behemoth. "I'll take it!" Rouge flies towards the robot.

"Rouge!" Topaz calls out, not that she would admit that she was worried.

* * *

Mr. Stewart struggles to move his car due to the strong winds as it swerves back and forth. "Poor Chris, he's out here too! This is terrible."

Back at Tingalin Villa, the X Cyclone lands roughly on the ground after being lifted up in the air. Funfun steps closer, overwhelming them with its powerful motor fan blowing a vicious wind.

"We can't stay here!" Frances shouts over the noise.

"Hang on," Chris assures her.

"Frances, get down now!" Amy yells to her. Frances is lifted in the air, nearly getting blown away, but Amy catches her. "Stay down and don't try any more stunts!"

"Right!" Frances agrees, "Sorry!"

"I hope Tails and Sophia are alright!" Amy says to Chris. After being thrown into the air, Tails and Sophia were knocked unconscious. They start to wake up when they realize that Funfun is approaching them.

"Hey Tails, Sophia!" Chris tries to warn them. Funfun lifts his foot and proceeds to crush the X Cyclone under its foot.

"Heh heh heh...that's right, Funfun. Show that furry urchin and our royal highness who's in charge! Put your foot down!"

Tails and Sophia look in fright, Eggman grinning in delight. Sonic zooms past Mr. Stewart's car and he gasps. Tails and Sophia cry out for help, Sophia hugging Tails from behind to shield him.

"Ha ha! Ta ta, Tails and Sophia! It's crunch time." Sonic finally arrives on the scene, Chris, Frances, and Amy gasping. Sonic seems to be unaffected by the wind as he stands proudly in front of Eggman. "It can't be!"

Sonic just grins, chucking to himself. He jumps up and saves his friends from being crushed by tackling Funfun. Sophia looks up and smiles, Funfun being knocked to the ground. Since the motor fan is still operating, it's facing Eggman, attacking him with the wind instead.

"There he goes," Chris and the others look up as Eggman is unintendedly blown away.

"Stop it, Funfun! Shut down your blow hole!" He disappears into the sky, the fan shutting off. Tails and Sophia jump out of the X Cyclone safely.

"You saved us all!" Tails exclaims happily.

"Thank you, my friend," Sophia bows her head gratefully. "It seems that I am not yet adjusted to strong winds on Earth."

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic rubs his neck. "But Tails, Sophia, why'd you wind up way out here?"

"We found out the third Chaos Emerald is here," Tails shrugs sheepishly with a smile before it turns into realization. "Whoa, that's right, I almost forgot!" He immediately starts digging, the others laughing. They hear a thud and look up to see Funfun getting back up.

Tails shouts as he waves his arms in panic, the others looking in shock except for Sophia and Sonic. "Cool your jets, big guy. Just let us dig up what he came for and we'll all go away!"

Funfun doesn't seem to agree as it powers up the fan once more. "Guess I'll have to knock the wind out of ya!" Sonic jokes, Sophia sweating at his joke.

"Oh...oh dear."

"Sonic! Sophia!" Chris is standing near the X Cyclone's control panel. He presses a button and two rings are launched out of it. They catch it behind their backs.

"Got it!"

Sophia pulls out her sword, placing the ring through it from behind. They hold the rings in their hands before flying in Super Spin mode. They fly into Funfun, destroying it as they catapult out. Funfun falls to the ground and Tails uncovers a yellow Chaos Emerald!

"Oh wow!" He admires it in his hand.

"Why Tails, you shouldn't have." Tails gives a look of surprise, looking around. A red robot hand snatches the Chaos Emerald and Tails shouts in shock. Eggman is above them, having stolen the emerald. He flies off with it, disappearing.

"YOU SWINE!" Sophia shouts in anger, opening her wings.

"Let's go get it back," Sonic declares, Tails running after him.

"Yeah!"

"Right!" Frances jumps into the X Tornado.

"Frances," Chris calls out to her confusion.

"What?"

"Uh...I think...it might be better if you stay here," he suggests, sweating.

"How come, Chris?"

"It's gonna be dangerous," he argues.

"Chris, I assume you want to protect your friend from harm, but how fair would that be? You let Danny come along with us, so why should Frances be excluded from our adventures?" Sophia places her hands on her hips. "Is it because she is a female? Are you discriminant against females now?"

"What? N-No, it's not because of that!" Chris gives a nervous look. He knew what Sophia is capable of and he did not want to experience it for himself. That was saved for Eggman himself.

"Then why is it she cannot come? Do you have a real reason?" Sophia gives him an intense look.

"S-Sophia, please don't hurt me."

"Hey Chris," they turn around to Tails, Amy, Sophia, and Sonic.

"You're not staying behind, are ya?" Tails wonders.

"Alright, let's just go!" Chris shouts in defeat. Frances is smiling as the door closes. Sophia smiles too, suddenly out of interrogation mode. The X Cyclone turns into the X Tornado again. Sonic jumps up front.

"Let's go get him!" They take off, Sophia jumping up and flying next to them.

Mr. Stewart gets out of his car, looking up to see them leaving.

* * *

Rouge jumps up from Behemoth, landing on the other side. The robot attacks again and she jumps up. "Hurry, set the charge!"

Topaz plants an explosive, giving a thumbs up. "Okay!" Rouge winks, Topaz moving away. She presses a button and the ground below Behemoth collapses. Behemoth falls into the hole, Rouge and Topaz high fiving each other.

The situation is becoming worse for Decoe and Bocoe to try and stop the invasion. "Our situation is becoming dangerous. Those soldiers have us outnumbered!" They don't even realize Rouge and Topaz on one of the screens.

"We must formulate a new strategy quickly before they deactivate us!" They suddenly notice that something else is approaching the base. "Another enemy ship is approaching! This one must not get through!"

"Blast theeeeeem!" More missiles are fired from the base, Eggman shouting in surprise as the two robots targeted the Egg Mobile.

"Cease fire, it's me, you blockheads!" He sees the missiles fired by the military forces. "And the president thinks he's got me in his sights. Ha!" He dodges another missile. "Well...I hope you didn't rehearse a victory speech, because I'm back in command now. Ooo! Hey! Those are my missiles!"

He manages to sneak past the artillery as the battle is being broadcasted. "The attack on Eggman's base appears to be failing. Wait, what's that?" Danny looks in confusion. "A new aircraft is on the scene along with someone who appears to be flying on her own! Is that one of ours?"

Danny gasps as he realizes what it was. "The X Tornado!"

Some of them look at him in confusion. "Tornado?"

"Where did it come from?"

"There's something on the nose of the craft. It's a blue...it can't be. A blue hedgehog and the supposed princess!" The screen splits to show Sonic and Sophia.

"Sonic and Sophia!" Danny realizes.

"Who are they?"

"Yeah, what's their names again?"

"Their names are Sonic and Sophia!" Albert, Danny, and Elmer Johnson say in unison. "Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia!"

* * *

Sonic chuckles as they approach the base. Rouge, Topaz, and the team approach a door.

"There!"

Before they can get inside, another Behemoth ambushes them from behind, knocking down a wall. They gasp in shock. "There's another one?"

"Don't sweat it, sweetie. I'll handle this robot. You lead the team to the generator room and set the charges," Rouge orders her partner, who nods.

"Alright guys, follow me!" Rouge and Topaz go in the opposite direction. Rouge flies to a hiding place, distracting the robot. Several Guardbots appear from the ground, blocking the special forces team from advancing. Topaz gasps sharply. Rouge ducks from a swing.

"Missed me, slow bot!" Rouge gets caught by a claw, getting angry quickly and destroying it with one kick. She turns to the guardbots, who fire at the team. They have to duck down to avoid getting hit. Suddenly, Knuckles appears from the ground. "Knuckles!"

He jumps from the wall and jumps forward, destroying the bots. He smirks as the last one goes down. "Wow, thank you." Topaz approaches him from behind. "You're one of Sophia and Sonic's friends, aren't you?"

"We're not friends!" Knuckles denies. "At least, not me and Sonic!"

"But you do know them, don't you?" Topaz wonders as Rouge hides herself from Knuckles.

"Maybe...by the way, what are you and your crew trying to do here anyway? And what is Sophia doing meeting at your base?" Knuckles interrogates, Rouge hiding her wings.

"We came here to destroy Eggman's base," Rouge calls out, stepping over to him. Knuckles didn't seem to recognize her. "In fact, we're on our way to sabotage the generator room right now. And I don't have to tell you anything about her because it's none of your business."

"Hmph. There's no way you can do it. That room will be impossible to get into," Knuckles crosses his arms.

"Really?" Rouge just shrugs with a narrowed eyebrow.

"We have to try," Topaz adds, Knuckles looking at her.

"You'll fail..." He slowly smiles, clenching his fists. "Unless you have me along. I can't wait to see the look on Sonic's face when he finds out that I helped defeat Dr. Eggman while he missed out on the glory. That'll mess with his ego. And Sophia will be so grateful, she'll make me a knight!"

"Sounds like you've got an inferiority complex," Rouge teases, Knuckles' eyes widening.

"Huh? I have a what?" He asks in confusion.

"Oh, nothing," she waves it off. "Never mind, Knuckles."

* * *

"THAT WAS ME!" Eggman shouts to his two robots for their lack of eyesight. "You tin cans nearly wiped out the evilest genius in the universe! Bah!" He turns his attention to the X Tornado and Sophia.

"Sorry doctor," they apologize nervously. Eggman zooms in on Sonic and Sophia.

"I'll wipe those smirks off their faces! This time I'm not holding back." He fires a flurry of missiles from the base at Sonic and Sophia.

"What's that?!" Chris asks in panic.

"Hang on tight, Chris," Tails warns him.

"Uh oh. Look out."

"This time the doctor means business!" Decoe and Bocoe look on in fear as Eggman is strapped into his seat. A lever appears in front of him and he chuckles to himself. Decoe and Bocoe give a look of panic as Eggman shoots numerous missiles at Sonic, Sophia, and their friends. However, Tails' expert pilot skills evade the missiles. Sophia twirls elegantly past a missile, kicking one up in the air. She melts one with her heat vision. Frances screams in fear.

Eggman laughs as he twirls around, being erratic now. Tails spins the plane around as he misses them.

"We're gonna craaaaash!" Chris yells from his seat.

"Relax. We're fine. And besides, we've got Sophia to protect us!" Tails winks at Sophia.

"Ha ha ha haaaaaa!" Eggman shouts during his shooting.

"They're done for!" A man says in the crowd.

"No, they're gonna make it through okay!" Danny says in determination. He refused to believe missiles would bring them down. After all, he has seen the X Tornado.

"There's more coming!" Amy reports as she sees more missiles approaching from behind.

"Well, watch this!" Tails tells her, turning the plane around and firing lasers to shoot the missiles down. Sophia flings several pink chaos energy spears at them and all of the missiles are destroyed.

"Yay!" Frances cheers, Chris cringing. Sonic laughs in delight from the nose.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yes, it was quite excellent," Sophia smiles from the side of the plane.

"Go Sonic and Sophia!" Danny cheers, everyone else joining in. Tails fires a circle on the wall from the plane.

"Hey Sonic, Sophia! Will that work?"

"Perfect," Sonic agrees.

"Indeed," Sophia winks and Sonic jumps off, Sophia flying towards the markings. They crash through, getting inside. "Now let us retrieve that emerald."

They start running through the hall and crash through a door. They come to a stop in shock.

"That's close enough. It was a fluke that you pulled it this far but now your lucky streaks are over!" A door opens and it reveals a new robot. They gasp in shock as it's as tall as the base. Eggman flies up to it, getting into where the head is. "Ready, hedgehog and princess?"

"You bet, Dr. E!"

"As Sonic would say, bring it on," Sophia narrows her eyes. The robot swings at them, but they jump out of the way, Sonic with a sly grin on his face as they fly past the debris.

* * *

Meanwhile, the explosives have been planted in the generator room by the special forces team. "The demolition charges are all set, ma'am," a soldier salutes at Topaz.

"Good work. Well, looks like we're ready, Rouge," Topaz turns but doesn't see her. "Hey, where did Rouge go?"

Knuckles walks up to her, pointing up. "I saw her go that way."

Topaz looks up at the ceiling. "What in the world is she doing there?"

Rouge places a hand to her chest, looking to her side. "Eggman must be keeping the Chaos Emerald someplace else now."

"Hey Rouge!" Topaz calls out from below.

"Yeah?"

"Get down here, we've gotta go!" Topaz tells her.

"Go on, I'll catch up," Rouge says, wanting to find the emerald while they leave.

"We need you!" Topaz presses.

"There's something I've gotta take care of first!"

Decoe and Bocoe see them from the generator room. "They appear to be working on opposite side, but are any of them working for us? You should lock them all in until we can figure out who is who."

"Good idea," Bocoe presses a button.

"Oh!" Rouge looks up as she's locked in from her space. "Uh oh, not good."

Topaz has managed to climb up to her. "Hey, what are you up to, Rouge?"

"They locked us in, but not for long?" She flies up to the door, trying to kick it open to no avail. "I can't kick through."

"Leave it to me!" Knuckles yells and punches the door, but nothing happens. He gives a look of shock. "I didn't even make a dent." He continues punching the walls, but like with Rouge, nothing happens. He's only made small dents. Knuckles gives a look of aggravation.

They don't have much time as the explosion devices are going off in 9 minutes. Topaz gives a nervous look at her watch. "Is there time to defuse the charge?"

The soldier shakes his head in dismay, making them gasp. Topaz falls to the ground in agony. "Well...that's it."

"We're not giving up yet!" Knuckles tells her.

"He's right. Together, we have a fighting chance." Both of them turn to the door. "Ready?" Knuckles and Rouge use their skills to attack the door.

* * *

Sonic and Sophia leap, punching the robot, only to be kicked in the process. Sonic yells as he flies across the room, getting hit by the ceiling. Eggman kicks him into the wall and he laughs.

"SONIC!" Sophia shouts, attacking the robot with a yell. E-18 Guerra Hard dodges all of her attempts.

"He's crushed!" Eggman brags to try and get to her emotionally. "And now it's your turn."

"NEVER!"

Sonic opens an eye. "Not yet!" He jumps towards the robot.

"The pressure's on now, Sonic." Guerra Hard punches Sonic, pushing him into the wall. Sophia yells as she jumps forward, but Guerra Hard slaps her away with its arm.

"I've gotten out of tighter squeezes!" He brags, cringing.

"That's true, but this time you finally met your match. Guerra Hard's the ultimate combat robot because it's got the ultimate power supply. Two Chaos Emeralds!"

Sonic peeks his head out from the wall. "So that's it."

"How dare you," Sophia growls as she looks up.

"I've been looking forward to this, Sonic!" Suddenly his phone rings and he picks up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Sorry to bother you, Doctor, but we have a problem. A group of intruders is locked in the generator room. We are unable to determine whose side they are on."

"Huh?" He turns on the security feed. "Knuckles?! Those are our enemies, you dumb bot!"

"Then we will eliminate them."

"What are they doing in the generator room anyway?" Eggman demands, Sophia standing up and hearing the conversation. She glances at Sonic and he nods at her. Sophia nods back and goes off to the generator room to help.

"I am not certain but they did mention something about demolition charges."

"THEY WHAT?!" Eggman exclaims in anger, Sophia snickering as she heard it.

* * *

Knuckles continues punching the wall as Rouge keeps kicking, making a decent hole inside the wall. As the device is reaching 4 minutes, Topaz looks at her watch.

"We're running out of time."

Sonic glances at Eggman. "This will be a cinch." He presses against the wall, pushing himself away from it. He slips out of his hold, Eggman growling in frustration.

"Get Sonic!" Sonic speeds towards the robot. "Run all you want, Guerra Hard will still pulverize you!" The hedgehog just laughs, skidding to a slight stop before jumping, Guerra Head aiming to kick him. "Get him!" Sonic lands on the leg of Guerra Hard, losing his balance slightly. He steadies himself and runs up the leg, jumping in the air with a yell.

"Stop him!"

Sonic smashes through the robot, holding the two Chaos Emeralds in his hands. "Yeah!"

"No, bring that back!" Eggman shouts at him. The yellow and cyan emeralds start to glow, surrounding Sonic in its color. He uses the power of the emeralds to fly towards Guerra Hard. He pierces through it, Eggman shouting in panic. Sonic speeds through it multiple times before he crashes through the door, gone. Eggman gets off his robot and escapes just before the robot is destroyed. Sonic flies out of there before coming back around and smashing through the base. He goes in and out, smashing left and right.

The ceiling starts to crumble as the devices are at 2 and a half minutes. "There's not that much time to get out of here!"

"We're still locked in!" Rouge reminds her.

"Don't worry, I'll punch us out!" Knuckles yells and prepares to punch the door, but the door falls in front of him. "What?"

He looks to see Sophia coming out of the smoke, putting her sword away. "Princess!"

"I am sorry for the delay, my friends," she smiles slightly. "I believe you wish to leave?"

"Oh am I glad to see you darling," Rouge says in relief.

"Oh yeah...why were at the base?" Knuckles eyes Sophia. "Are you working for the president? The government?"

"Knuckles, it is not like that. I-"

"Get down!" Rouge pushes Knuckles out of the way as Sonic speeds by, smashing through the ceiling.

"What a showoff," Knuckles scoffs, turning to Rouge. "Get off. I wanna fight too!"

"Don't give me orders!" Rouge tells him sharply. "I'm in charge of this operation! You follow _my_ lead!"

"Yeah? Well following you is what got us trapped to start with!" He argues, Sophia leading the other soldiers out.

"You're cute when you're-"

"REFRAIN FROM YOUR ARGUING AND EXIT THE ROOM BEFORE WE ARE CAUGHT IN AN IMPLOSION!" Sophia shouts at them, their eyes widening. They've never heard Sophia yell. Ever.

She leads them out of the room, just as the bombs go off in the generator room. It creates a large, bright explosion. Knuckles, Rouge, Sophia, and Topaz look back, ducking down. The entire building is destroyed, dust blowing past the four. The whole crowd cheers, but Danny is worried.

"Where are Sonic and Sophia?"

"Yeah, do you think they made it out of there okay?" Elmer asks Albert.

"That fireball's huge," Cream, Chuck, and Cheese are watching the explosion too. "I hope Sonic and Sophia weren't still in there."

"I bet we'll see, any second," Cream says with hope in her voice. "Right Cheese?"

"Chao!"

The X Tornado flies away from the smoke, Sonic and Sophia emerging from it. Each of them are holding a Chaos Emerald. Sonic lands on the nose of the plane, Sophia flying down. They show the emeralds to their friends.

"Sonic! Sophia!" All four of them cheer happily.

"Way to go!" Danny cheers as the crowd sees them.

"Yay!"

"Whoo hoo!"

"Yeah!"

They cheer on, acknowledging the two friends...

As heroes.


	14. That's What Friends Are For

**Angel: Hi everyone. So, news time. On the 20** **th** **, I will be leaving on a trip to Haiti and I'll be gone for a week or two. I'm not taking my laptop with me, as this is a family trip and it will be treated as such. When I return, I will be working on a new story for TMNT! Not sure if you guys know or not, because I forgot to address it, but there is a poll out on my profile right now for TMNT movies about which one I should do. For those of you who have read my TMNT stories, you are allowed to review your vote if you don't have an account. I'll probably work on whichever story wins when I come back, but if there's not enough votes, then I'll extend the poll for who knows who long.**

Ichabod: That's right, I'm back once more, and ja better believe I'm better than ever! That Eggman might be hardboiled, but you guys make him crack up! Heck, Doctor Kintobor shouldn't have tried to eat a rotten egg for lunch to begin with...if he didn't, he never would've spilled that soda...and then Eggman would never exist!

 **Sophia: Fate works in strange ways...if Eggman was not around, Sonic would not be Sonic and I would not be me. And there would be no reason to stay around in Station Square for as long as we have.**

Bajy: Great job here! I love it! Epic and awesome! I think the episode 'That's What Friends Are For' is coming up next, it's also another favorite episode of mine. You did a good job on this chapter! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Working on this episode just brought back the memories for me. It's been so long since I've watched it, and I still remember what happened.**

Guest: That was so cool I can't wait to see the next one it's my favorite including the safari and ocean diving adventure

 **Angel: I know what you're talking about, but I don't remember the episode names right now.**

GreenD109: Nice chapter, not only they beaten Eggman, they got two emeralds in the process. But I'm confused as to why would Knuckles have an inferiority complex?

 **Angel: I think it's because of how strong he perceives** **himself to be and because of Sonic. I don't know myself.**

Guest: Wow cool story and I wonder what will happen next

 **Angel: Wonder no more!**

At the White House, a newspaper has been posted about the status of Eggman's base. 'Eggman Base Destroyed! Citizens Cheer Great Victory!' "This is great news, Mr. President, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Now you're sure to be re-elected," Jerome Wise, the president's aide, looks away from his paper.

"I don't know about that," the president says uncertainly, Jerome giving a confused look. "I'm not the real hero of this story. Look closer."

"Huh?" Jerome looks at the other paper to see Sonic and Sophia on the front page. He looks at the other paper, starting to panic when the president is nowhere to be seen. "SONIC AND SOPHIA!" He angrily throws the papers away, turning on the TV to Sonic and Sophia on the news. Jerome yells in agony. "If we don't act fast, sir, they'll elect Sonic and Sophia as co-presidents!"

"Huh? I'll have to find myself a real job," the president places a hand on his face. Jerome growls and approaches him, slamming his hands on the desk.

"We got to do something right away!"

"Now now, let's not overreact about this, just stay calm," the president tries to assure him, but it doesn't work. Jerome paces around.

"Ahh, think, think! There must be something we can do. Ah, that's it, I know!" He slams his fist against his palm.

"Hm?" The president raises an eyebrow.

"It's a brilliant idea! We'll host a black-tie charity ball in celebration of our recent victory!" Jerome cheers in delight.

"Yes, but what does a victory celebration do to solve our Sonic and Sophia problem?" The president wonders.

"We're going to make Sonic and Sophia the guests of honor! We'll invite the media, get in a couple of photo ops, that kind of thing." He could just imagine it now. "It'll be in all the papers, all over the cable news talk shows. The president, Sonic, and Sophia, the dynamic trio battling together against the forces of oppression. Once the voters see that you, Sophia, and Sonic are buddies, your approval rating will go through the roof! There's no way you can lose, your re-election will be a sure thing! I'll have the staff get started, we'll make sure all the television reporters get personal invitations to the free buffet tent." Jerome storms off, the president giving a worried look. He sighs and sags his head at Jerome's antics. Sometimes the aide could go too far.

* * *

At Chris' house, Sonic speeds off to go on a run. Chris steps outside, holding something. "Hey Sonic, a letter came for you and Sophia!" Sonic jumps over the gate without a single word, gone.

Chris examines the letter further and gasps. "It's from the president!"

Chuck sits down as the others are gathered around him, Sophia holding the letter as she stands in front of them.

"You are cordially invited to a black-tie charity ball."

"Hm. Sounds interesting," Chuck comments.

"It's addressed to Sonic too, but it says right there you can bring as many friends as you two want," Chris explains.

"Well then, in that case, I say we dust off our best party duds and make it a date," Chuck declares.

"Yeah!" Everyone else cheers.

"I bet they'll serve lots of yummy food there," Amy thinks in bliss. "I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Ahhh..."

"Me too," Tails sweats sheepishly.

"If they do not have my sweets, then it will not be a fun event for me," Sophia crosses her arms with a huff. Just then, Sonic pushes the door open, having returned.

"I'm back."

"Hey Sonic!" Chris rushes up to him. "Guess what? You won't believe it! The president's giving a party and you're invited!"

"I am?" Sonic asks.

"Mhmm. And all of us get to go too! It'll be fun!" Chris exclaims.

"When is this party?" Sonic wonders.

"On Thursday," Chris answers.

"Oh dear," Sophia frowns. "Thursday you say?"

"Can't make it," Sonic waves it off.

"Ah! Why can't ya?!" Chris asks in disbelief.

"Sophia and I promised Helen we'd hang out," Sonic explains, Sophia nodding.

"Yes, and as a princess, I must take my promises seriously."

"Helen? You mean the girl in my class?" Chris asks, wondering how the two even know her. Well, Sophia knew her from school, but she doesn't often have the chance to talk to Helen that often as Danny and Frances. And as for Sonic, he had no idea how they knew each other.

"Yeah, that's the one. She's a friend of ours," Sonic replies.

"I didn't know that," Chris says in confusion.

"We met her over at the lake."

 _Two blurs passed by the lake, on a run. They turned their heads to the left and skid to a stop, seeing Helen's wheelchair stuck in the mud. "Oh," Sonic and Sophia rushed over to her._

 _"Hi there," Sonic greeted as he helped her._

 _"Hello," Sophia waved._

 _"Thank you. Oh! You're Sonic, aren't you? And Sophia from school," she guessed._

 _"You've heard of me?" Sonic asked in confusion._

 _"Of course," she answered, placing a hand on herself._

 _"That's pretty cool. What's your name?"_

 _"Oh. Sonic, this is Helen from school. Helen, this is my friend Sonic the Hedgehog," Sophia introduced them._

 _"Pleasure to meet ya!_ _A friend of Sophia's is a friend of mine!"_

 _Later, they stood at the lake, looking out to the view. "I come out here a lot. I love to look at that island," Helen explained her reason for being there. Sonic and Sophia leaned against the wheelchair._

 _"That one over there?" There was a lone island in their view._

 _"Mmhm. My father says it's filled with the most beautiful flowers. All different kinds. He always promises he'll take me there, but he...he's always busy," Helen gave a look of lament, hanging her head._

 _"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll take you there one of these days," Sonic tried to assure her._

 _"Yes, he seems like a man who keeps his promises to the very end," Sophia nodded._

 _"I don't know. My dad doesn't seem to ever have enough time for me. I'd go myself, but..." She didn't finish her sentence, as the answer was clear to Sonic and Sophia. The two friends glanced at each other before turning to Helen._

 _"You really wanna_ _see that island, Helen?" Sonic asked her seriously._

 _"Of course_ _I do!"_

 _"Then we're gonna_ _take ya," Sonic promised. She gasped as they held hands, touched by their promise._

 _"Yes...we will. As a princess, I vow to let you see those flowers. I would give up my title for it!" Sophia gave a serious look._

 _"Sophia!" Helen giggled. "No need to risk that! But thank you. And when we see each other at school, I'll never forget your promise."_

 _Sophia smiled, the two girls_ _pinky promising._

"We promised," Sonic repeats to Chris. "Oh, we got a lot of work to do," Sonic speeds off with Sophia, Chris staring at them in surprise. They appear near Chuck and Amy. "Hey Chuck, I need some life jackets and a boat."

"Check over in the storage room," they speed out the door, but Sophia comes back, a sheepish look on her face.

"Well...maybe I shall stop by later on in the event because of my partnership with the president," she offers. "Goodbye!" She follows after Sonic.

Chris blinks slowly, surprised that the two would turn down an invitation from the president, the highest ranked man in Station Square.

* * *

Two puffs of smoke go off in the sky above the White House, the party having already started. Jerome looks over on the festivities. "Okay, now if everything goes according to plan, Sonic and Princess Sophia should be arriving any minute, then we'll have them meet the big guy and watch them go crazy."

"They're here!" Someone announces.

"Ha ha, it's time!" He rushes out the door. The press are already outside taking pictures of the incoming limo. A red shoe steps out before revealing herself as Amy in a red gown that has long white sleeves. Her red shoes are heels and the dress opens up at the left leg. They all gasp at Tails, Amy, Chuck, Chris, Cream, and Cheese. All of them are dressed for the occasion, Jerome pushing the reporters and photographers away. He has a big grin on his face.

"Here's our guests of honor!" His grin turns into confusion as he sees no Sophia or Sonic. "Hey, where are Princess Sophia and Sonic?"

"Not coming," Chuck reveals dismissively. "But Sophia said she'd stop by."

"Whaaaaa?" Jerome shouts in shock.

"To the buffet!" Chuck declares, the others running after him happily.

"Yeah, well, if Sonic and Sophia aren't showing up to this clambake, I'm getting out of here," the press start to leave.

"The station better pay for my parking."

"Aaaaah!" Jerome steps in front of them, stopping them from moving any further. "Please don't go yet! Sonic and Sophia will be here any minute, I promise! Why don't you hang out at the buffet table awhile? Please!" He turns to three guards. "Hey, don't stand there! Go and find Sophia and Sonic and bring 'em over here pronto!"

"Yes sir!" They run off to go find them.

* * *

Ella is vacuuming the first floor, before someone barges in. "Oh!"

"This is official government business. We need Sonic and Sophia immediately!" The first guard demands.

"Who you think you are, barging into this house?!" She places a hand on her hip. "You Mr. Bigshot important to knock, huh? Well too bad Sophia and Sonic aren't here!"

He raises an eyebrow. "You'd better not be hiding them, ma'am."

"Don't tell me what not to do, Big Shot! Now get out! I got my cleaning," she waves them off. The guard growls, clenching his fist.

"That's it! Alright, we're searching the whole place!" He shouts in anger.

"Tanakaaaa!" Ella calls out, Mr. Tanaka opening the doors behind her. He steps up to him.

"Don't get in our way, buddy."

"Stand back, Ella. This time it is my turn to clean out the house!" Tanaka yells as he lunges forward, kicking the guards out of the house. They run off in fear.

* * *

The president gives a worried look at the table as Jerome is on the phone.

"What do you mean, they're not home?!"

"Next time I take your advice, don't let me," the president replies.

"I'm gonna get Sonic and Sophia here if it's the last thing I do!" He shouts back. "Connect me to defense. Mr. Secretary, sir, we have an emergency. We need to fully mobilize all troops. Get me Princess Sophia and Sonic! They're ruining my party!"

* * *

The military planes take off to go look for them, a satellite being used to track them. The location closes in on a random part of the city. "Request has been entered, sir. All systems go. Beginning search."

"This won't be easy. Our targets move at 700 miles per hour. Stay alert." A few seconds later, a pink and blue blur is captured on screen.

"Targets spotted."

"Yeah, where?"

"S 13 district."

The planes take off to follow the signal. "Targets are moving north at approximately 400 miles per hour," a pilot reports.

"Just don't lose sight of them!"

"We lost sight of them." The sergeant falls down slightly at the news.

"Well, you better find them in a hurry!" He shouts, the planes passing right by Sonic, Sophia, and Helen. They all look up at the sky. Sophia is wearing her dress meant for the party. She's meant to resemble a ballerina as she wears a pink gown with a glittery top, a purple poofy skirt, and a pink tiara. Her curly hair is pulled to the right, with a bow on the opposite side. Her shoes aren't seen, but they're heels to match her top. The three look up at the sky.

"Sure is noisy up there. You both stay here. I'll go get the boat, okay?" Sonic speeds off, Sophia moving her skirt away.

"Are you sure you don't wanna change, Sophia?" Helen asks her. "You can just run off and go get your clothes so you don't mess up your beautiful dress."

"I am perfectly fine," Sophia shakes her head with a small smile. "Even if it got messy, I am quite capable of cleaning it with my supplies," she holds up her purse. "A first aid kit, a stain cleaner, fabric, and more."

"Wow! You're prepared for any situation," Helen looks inside the purse in surprise.

* * *

"Now then, freshly squeezed juice, anyone?" Jerome offers to the press. "Hey! Running low on hors oeuvres! Ah, they better find that hedgehog and princess fast."

* * *

Sonic speeds back to the Thorndyke mansion, not noticing a van watching from outside the gates. "I think I just spotted one of them." The cameras zoom in on an infrared image of Sonic and Ella talking. "It's Sonic. We've located only Sonic up at the Thorndyke residence. No sign of Sophia."

The planes fly above the mansion. "Down there!" Sonic can be seen with a boat. "Okay, you know what to do."

"Alright," the passenger aims a tranquilizer gun and Sonic turns to the plane, giving an annoyed grunt. He fires and Sonic jumps up, kicking it towards the plane. The man shouts in surprise as the smoke pellet goes off. Sonic gets away.

"We almost had him, sir, now he's traveling north on the freeway," the surveillance agent gives a dismayed look. Sonic speeds on the freeway, looking behind him to see planes and police cars.

"This is getting on my nerves!" He jumps off the freeway.

"Might as well grab some lunch. We'll never catch him anyway," one of the cops shrugs. The planes still go after him.

"What do you mean, he's off the freeway? What's that? The lake?!" The sergeant exclaims.

Helen and Sophia look on at the lake, waiting patiently for their friend. He reappears next to Sophia, making her skirt fly slightly. "I'm back."

Helen and Sophia giggle at him. "You ready?"

"Mmhmm."

* * *

At the White House, the sun is starting to set as the press are getting impatient. "When are they gonna be here?!"

"Are they coming or aren't they?!"

"Now fellas, I assure you, Sophia and Sonic are on the way, just be patient," Jerome tells them, though he was starting to become nervous and frustrated on the inside. "How about a little salami?"

* * *

Sonic is rowing the boat, Sophia and Helen sitting across from him. "Just a little bit farther," he reassures.

"I'm so excited!" She exclaims in glee, hands clasped. Sophia and Helen are wearing life jackets over their clothes. "I've dreamed of seeing this island for so long, Sophia and Sonic!" Her excitement turns into dismay. "I wish my father could've come with me. If only he didn't have to work so hard, we could be together more." She thinks of her father, who works at a grocery store.

 _"Listen Doug, you've been working a lot of hours lately. I could hire someone part-time, to make it easier," the manager offered._

 _"No need to, sir. I don't mind the hard work. Plus_ _I need the hours."_

 _"Alright then, they're yours."_

 _"You can count on me, sir," Doug winked at him._

"Almost there," Sonic looks back at the approaching island before gasping.

"Sonic? Whatever is the matter?" Sophia asks in confusion.

"That," Sonic points up at the sky. Sophia gasps in shock to see the military planes. Sonic growls in annoyance and frustration.

"Who are they?" Helen asks in perplexment. They have to cover themselves from the wind of the planes. As the get closer, Sonic shouts as he holds out a hand. If they got any closer, the boat might tip over. One of the planes fires a grappling hook.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Sophia demands as she looks up. The boat starts to be pulled towards the plane.

"Alright, let's pull that baby ashore." They continue to pull, Sonic turning to Helen and Sophia.

"Girls, are you okay?"

"Mmhm," Helen nods. "We're fine."

"Good!" He pulls the hook off, putting on the handlebar of Helen's wheelchair. "Hang on tight, okay?" Sonic takes Sophia's hand, taking her along with them.

"Whoaaa," Helen says in surprise as they approach a cliff. Sonic undoes the hook, making them fly across. They land, but the chair tilts down. "Ah!"

"Well, we almost made it."

"Whoa!" They all shout as they fall backwards. Sophia plants her feet against the cliff, pushing them back up and placing them safely back on the cliff.

"Oh my," Sophia wipes the sweat off her forehead. "Remind me to never attempt that again."

"Thanks, Sophia," Sonic smiles at her, turning to a shaking Helen. "Don't cry, Helen, you're alright now."

"Yes, we are perfectly safe," Sophia places her hands on Helen's shoulders from behind. But Helen's not crying, she's laughing. Sonic and Sophia give a confused look, the princess moving away slightly.

"Sorry, it's just that, well, I feel so alive! I never thought somebody like me could have such an adventure."

Sophia smiles while Sonic gives her a wink. "When Sonic and I are both around, there is never a dull moment, is there?"

Sonic turns to the planes, which continue to advance. "These guys just don't give up, do they?"

"Why are they after us?" Sophia looks angry. "I sincerely hope I did not do anything to offend even the president to make him send his planes."

"Helen, are you up for another adventure?" Sonic offers, to which Helen smiles at.

"Of course!"

"Alright!" Sonic and Sophia speed off into the forest.

"The targets appear to have left the forest, commander."

"Good, we'll be waiting on the other side. Quick, send a squadron out there now!"

"Roger."

* * *

Jerome laughs nervously as he holds the salami, Chris turning around. "This is boring. Wonder what Sonic and Sophia are doing?"

* * *

The moon is out as it is officially night time. And as predicted, the military planes were still looking for the two speedy companions. The plane lands in front of the other soldiers, the hatch opening up. Soldiers are deployed with flying objects.

"I really do love my mom and dad," Helen speaks as they've stopped to take a break, "They're so good to me. That's why they work so hard, so that I can have everything I need. They make sure I have the best doctors, the best medicine, even this wheelchair must've cost 'em a lot of money. There's only one thing I want more than anything, though," she hangs her head. "And that's to spend more time with them and have more fun," she looks up with a smile. "But I had lots of fun today, Sonic and Sophia! I've never been so excited in my whole life!"

"Life with Sonic has certainly been entertaining," Sophia gives a small smile. "And I know how you feel, Helen. My parents are often away as well. But if you just tell them the truth, surely they will understand."

"Maybe I will...thank you," Helen murmurs. Sonic looks away for a second before turning to the girls.

"I have a feeling we're all in for a little more excitement."

They give a confused look. "Wait a minute..." Sophia cups a hand around her ear before frowning. "Yet again? This is surely changing my mind about stopping by for a visit from now on." Sonic and Sophia see the lights from the flying devices approaching.

"I'm ready if you both are!" Helen exclaims in preparation.

"Okay," Sonic and Sophia turn to her.

"Go!"

They speed off into the forest, the military chasing after them.

"Think we can beat them?" Helen asks in excitement.

"Piece of cake! Now hold on tight!" Sonic speeds faster and Sophia throws her shoes off, picking up her skirt and running faster. One soldier shouts as he crashes straight into a tree, defeated. The other three continue pursuing the trio. Helen shouts slightly in surprise as Sonic makes a sharp left. As one of the soldiers tries to turn, he goes too fast and crashes. Sonic, Helen, and Sophia end up on a path once they emerge from the flurry of trees.

"Ha! Thought you'd catch us, did ya?" Sonic asks smugly.

"Sonic, up ahead!" Helen warns as they approach a rock wall. Sonic skids to a stop sharply, luckily not getting harmed in the process. They all look up at the distance between the top and the bottom. Sonic turns around in annoyance as three more pilots approach.

"Here they come!"

"No need to worry, dear friend," Sophia curtsies slightly as Sonic backs up. "I will meet you at the top." Her wings appear from her back.

"Why can't you just fly us up there?" Helen asks in confusion.

"Believe me when I say, you shall see. You wanted adventure, did you not?" Sophia winks as she jumps, flying to the top.

"Ready?" Helen asks Sonic.

"Here goes!" He speeds up and runs up the wall, speeding out of sight. The soldiers yell in surprise, crashing into the wall. The trio look down at the damage. Sonic and Sophia look up at Helen before they all laugh.

"I see why you didn't want to fly us now!" Helen laughs, "Thanks for letting me have that thrill, Sophia!"

"I am a princess, and as such, I aim to please," Sophia bows before they all gasp in shock as they've found the meadow of flowers. They seemed endless as they were so many...Helen smiles at the sight.

"Dad was right, Sonic and Sophia. They're the prettiest flowers anywhere!" It's an adoring sight to them all as the land seems very large. Some of the petals float away, but to them, it made the experience all more meaningful.

"I'll pick some for ya, Helen," Sonic offers, bending down.

"Don't!" Helen interrupts, Sonic confused. "Leave them just as they are. I want to come back someday with my mother and father."

"I get it. That way it'll be just as beautiful," Sonic says in understanding.

"Sophia..." The princess turns to Helen. "Maybe you could bring your parents here with me when they come back!"

Sophia smiles at the sight. "Deal. I would want them to see these flowers too...you know, back at the castle, we have a field just like this one..."

"Oh that sounds wonderful!" Helen smiles too at the thought.

Suddenly, two grappling hooks latch on behind them, Sonic and Sophia looking back in surprise. They look down to see the soldiers climbing up.

"These guys just don't quit!" Sonic exclaims in disbelief.

"All of this for a mere party?" Sophia narrows her eyes in annoyance. "How rude and persistent is the man who sent them."

"We can't let them up here!" Helen insists. "If we do, they'll ruin all the flowers!"

"Not if we can help it!" Sonic turns to her.

"Excuse me!" They look to see Sonic and Sophia near the forest, away from the meadow of flowers. "Over here!"

"There they are!" They jump down from the ropes. Sonic and Sophia speed away as they use the flying devices to pursue the three.

"Those guys are faster than I thought!" Sonic exclaims, shouting in surprise before he skids to a stop. Sophia gasps and helps steady the wheelchair as they're trapped by a body of water below. "Bummer." He shouts again as he sees the soldiers pointing their hooks at them. Sonic growls at them and Sophia looks equally conflicted as the distance seems too far to fly them. They turn around to see a helicopter approaching from behind. Sonic turns to them, annoyed more now than ever.

"Alright Sonic and Sophia, let's go. You're wanted by the president, and don't pull any funny stuff."

"I'll go, but you gotta catch us," Sonic replies smugly.

"How dare you barge up here and demand us to go with you," Sophia narrows her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.

"Alright, you asked for it!" The helicopter readies its defenses, Sonic and Sophia backing up. "Fire!" They all fire at the same time, Sonic moving out of the way. Sophia jumps up, looking down as all of the grappling hooks get tangled into a knot. Sonic encircles Helen, grabbing her bridal style and running up the ropes to the helicopter. Sophia, while the soldiers are distracted, grabs the wheelchair.

"Hey!" The pilot tries to grab Sonic, but falls out of the helicopter.

"Call me!" Sonic calls out as the pilot falls into the water.

"Can you fly this thing?" Helen wonders.

"Well, I usually leave the flying to Tails, but I'll sure try," Sonic answers.

"No need," they turn to Sophia holding up Helen's wheelchair. "Tails has taught me his ways. Move aside, please."

"Okay!" Sonic gives her a thumbs up and moves out of the way. Sophia gets to work and detaches the hooks so they can get away.

"Hey, you almost forgot something, Sophia!" Sonic presses a button from the stick and grabs something from the trees. Something locks on and Sonic reveals Sophia's thrown away shoes. Sophia just chuckles and moves the plane safely. Helen looks down and smiles.

"Oh! Sonic, Sophia, the flowers!"

The sight looked even more wonderful from above, looking like almost like a white cloud. Helen looks in awe as Sophia flies away.

"Well, I guess our adventure's over, Sonic and Sophia," Helen says, looking out the window.

"It would seem that way, yes," Sophia murmurs.

"Guess so," Sonic looks at her as he's standing between the two girls. "Did you have fun?"

"Sure did!" Helen smiles at him.

"It's getting late. We should take you home," Sonic offers.

"But Sophia, Sonic, aren't you supposed to go see the president?" Helen wonders curiously.

"After what he put us through?" Sophia scoffs at the thought. "I may attend political meetings with the man, but I am afraid that after today, I am in no mood to meet with him."

"Sophia's got a point. That guy can wait," Sonic replies in annoyance.

"But I feel awful if you didn't get to see him because of me," Helen says in guilt. "Please go see him. I'll even go with you."

"Since you put it that way," Sonic smiles slightly. "Sophia?"

"As much as I do not want to...since you asked," Sophia grins at Helen. "We shall go. But I will not like it."

Sonic and Helen laugh at her attitude.

* * *

"What's that? They did? The what? The chopper? What now?" Jerome looks away from the phone as he hears the incoming chopper, shouting in surprise to see Sophia, Sonic, and Helen. All of their friends gasp in shock, Jerome looking in glee. "It's Sonic and Sophia! They came after all! They're here! They're really here!"

The president approaches them, offering his hands. "Great to finally meet you, Sonic. And how wonderful it is to see you again, Sophia."

"Yes, but in the future, please refrain from using force," Sophia deadpans, "There was no need for the planes, soldiers, and grappling hooks."

"Ha ha. It won't happen again," The president chuckles nervously, since he couldn't really control what his aide does.

They shake hands with him. "Now, hold that right there!" Jerome stops them. "Hurry, hurry! Reporters, photographers, this is the moment you've been waiting for!" He shouts in panic as they're too tired from the long wait and have fallen asleep. "NOOOOOO!" Jerome falls to the ground, everyone else laughing. Helen looks especially happy.

* * *

"So there we were, in the middle of all these beautiful flowers. All of a sudden, we look down and saw the men climbing toward us!" Helen is telling the story of her exciting adventure with Sonic and Sophia. "Before I knew it was happening, Sonic, Sophia, and I were roaring into the forest and the men were following us on these strange flying bicycles, but we were way ahead of them! And then we came to a cliff, looking way down over the ocean! And this helicopter came so they could take Sophia and Sonic to the president and they shot off this rope with a claw in the end, but Sonic grabbed me and-oh, Mama?" Helen offers her plate. "Could I-"

"Alright," Her mother interrupts, taking the plate. "I don't think I've ever seen you eat like this."

"So anyway-"

"Now now, hold on, honey," her father interrupts. "I'm gonna get a refill too. With a story as fascinating as this, I'm gonna need my energy," he laughs as he walks away.

"Hurry back, Dad, and I'll tell you about the helicopter!" She calls out. "Sonic grabbed me out of my wheelchair and he carried me all the way up the rope!"

"Alright, alright," her father chuckles as he steps into the kitchen. "Our little girl's had quite the adventure."

Her mother has tears in her eyes with a small smile. "Do you hear? She's so changed. She sounds so...so happy. I just want...to be there for her. Spend more time with her." She starts to cry.

"Yeah, I've been working too many hours lately," Doug agrees. "I haven't spent enough time with the family. Let's plan a day trip to that island Helen loved so much, what do you say?"

"Oh," she chuckles happily at the thought.

"Mom, Dad, what's taking you so long?" Helen calls out.

"We're coming, honey!" Doug says.

"Sorry dear. Your father and I were having an important discussion," they decide not to go into too much detail.

"Hurry, I'm coming to the most exciting part! So anyway, we got into the helicopter-"

"Helicopter? I've never been in one."

"And I'll bet you flew it all the way to the president," Doug says in amusement.

"No fair Dad, you're ruining my story!"

Little did she know that Sonic and Sophia are resting in a tree not too far from Helen's home. They both have a smile on their face, glad that they were able to fulfill Helen's wish and that she got what she wanted after all.


	15. Skirmish in the Sky

**Angel: Hey guys. This will be the last time I update this story...or anything really ^^' Need to continue my other stories soon...anyway, I'll be leaving Thursday, so there will be no update until I come back which isn't until July 3rd. I'll be too busy to write anything for the next few days, so I won't have the time to write the next chapter...I hope you guys are having fun with your summer!**

Bajy: Love it! Brilliantly executed! Looking forward to reading more soon! Sorry for the short review, preoccupied right now with things.

 **Angel: *shakes head* You don't really need to apologize. I don't concern myself with short reviews because that's just petty. However, if it's really long, then I will have to be concerned.**

Guest: Wow that was amazing and I'm glad they helped Helen and be there for her as a friend would do I can't wait to see the next one have a great trip and I vote for the turtles forever movie.

 **Angel: It's Sophia, of course she would be there for Helen.**

 **Sophia: I would rather stick by for a friend than to be railroaded into attending a simple party for this Mr. Wise. *huffs* How rude of him to coerce us.**

 **Angel: But I will remember that vote! I'm ending that poll when I come back anyway.**

SwanGirl24: Are you adding Silver and Blaze to this story?

 **Angel: As much as I would like for Sophia to meet them...they weren't created when this show was aired. Sonic X was created in 2003, so therefore, Silver and Blaze don't exist at that point in the show's universe. And I'm not planning on having Sophia meet them unless I write Sonic 06 or anything else that has them as characters, which is out of the question. To me, if they don't exist in the show (or any games before it aired, for that matter), then there's no point.**

SwanGirl24: Are you keeping Shadow alive? Please do, he's my favorite character.

 **Angel: Umm, I'm not that far ahead yet, so I don't know...?**

Jake: Wow that was so cool I can't wait to see more of this and I vote the turtles forever movie I wanna see how the 2003 react seeing the 1987

 **Angel: I hope you mean Amy, because the movie is online for everyone to watch.**

Sam: Wow cool story I can't wait to see the next chapter and I'm glad they took Helen to the island to see the flowers.

 **Sophia: Of course. I may not speak to her at school often, but I would wish for her to have her wishes come true.**

SwanGirl24: Maybe you should give Sophia a fan club. I bet that would be funny.

 **Angel: Okay, now this I can actually do.**

"Hey Sonic, I got you a cell phone!" Chris exclaims one day. "You too Sophia!" He holds out a yellow and pink cell phone. "This is gonna make things a lot easier."

"Oh really?" Sonic holds it up, seeming to be uninterested.

"Chris, I already obtain several communication devices," Sophia shakes her head. She holds up the phone in confusion, staring at it. She didn't really know what a cell phone looked like since she never had one. Not that she would use it.

"Yeah, I know, but don't you see? Now we'll be able to reach each other right away, even when you're out on a run. We can talk anywhere now! No sweat!" Chris answers happily. He had to make sure that when something is happening, he would be able to contact them. "Now, make sure you leave it on!" He winks and Sonic frowns a little, Sophia sweating.

"Oh dear."

"Hey Chris, it's time to get going!" Tails calls out, getting Sonic's attention.

"We've been waiting outside for you," Amy steps up with crossed arms.

"Oops," Chris looks embarrassed. "I forgot."

"Where are you guys going?" Sonic asks curiously.

"Now that we can go out in public, we're heading to Station Square to go shopping!" Amy explains. "We spent weeks hunting down Chaos Emeralds, but now it's time to do some bargain hunting! So I'm gonna shop till I drop!" She crosses her arms with an annoyed look. "There's no point waiting for you to take me because I don't even know where you are most of the time!"

"Must you need to know?" Sophia murmurs to herself and Amy sees Sonic's new cell phone.

"Oh," She speeds over to him in the blink of an eye. "We can stay connected all the time!"

"I regret my question," Sophia deadpans to Chris.

"No thanks," Sonic throws the phone into Amy's hands to her confusion before he speeds off for a run.

"Wait, Sonic, what about your cell phone?" Chris calls out and Sonic rushes back to answer.

"I'll leave a message for me!" He runs off again, leaving Amy and Chris shocked.

"I guess he wants to be left alone," Tails shrugs with a sheepish smile.

"But why can't he be left alone with me?!" Amy exclaims in lament.

"I am afraid that Sonic has the best idea when it comes to this...cell phone," Sophia hands hers back to Chris. "Thank you, Chris, but I do not need it. But I shall go shopping with you."

* * *

Ella drives a yellow car down the highway to Station Square in a green dress and jewelry. Chris looks down at Sonic's long forgotten cell phone.

"I don't understand why Sonic doesn't want me calling him."

"Unfortunately, Sonic is the kind of guy who needs lots of privacy," Amy holds her cup in her hands as they all sit in the back, Cream and Cheese with them. Chris looks back at them from the passenger seat.

"But what do we do if there's an emergency? Without a phone, we don't have a way to reach him," Chris argues in worry.

"Don't worry, Chris," Tails reassures, "No matter where Sonic is, he has a way of showing up when he has to."

"Sonic has never let anyone down and he will not start today," Sophia shakes her head.

"Are you sure?" He asks them.

"Count on it!" The four exclaim, giving a thumbs up.

"Chao chao!" Cheese yells in agreement and Chris smiles at them, now only less worried. They arrive at the shopping center of Station Square, tons of people already there looking for something themselves. Ella helps Cream pick out a dress, Cheese jumping on top of the shirts. Amy tries on many outfits in front of Sophia. She tries on a green dress with a yellow bow and brown boots, a navy dress with a blue tie and a yellow belt, and a lavender suit with a maroon hat, looking like a detective. She and Sophia catch people looking at them and they speed away, acting like nothing happened. Amy looks embarrassed, pulling down her hat. Sophia just shakes her head.

"That is so cool!" Chris looks at a robot panda toy. "This figure has kung fu kick action!"

Tails is looking at something else, worried. "Hey Chris, look." Everyone around them is staring at the two. It felt a little creepy.

"You think they want this toy?" Chris whispers to his friend.

"They're staring at me," Tails corrects. He's suddenly pulled away by a little boy.

"I want this one! Can we buy it, Mommy?" He turns to a wide-eyed Tails. The mother takes the boy away.

"Oh! I'm very sorry!" She runs off to the crowd. "That thing's the real deal! I wonder who taught it to talk, a dog trainer?"

The woman turns to her own little boy. "Go up to it and make it say something."

Chris glances at them before tending to Tails. "Sorry Tails, are you okay?"

Tails looks up, laughing nervously.

* * *

Amy is looking down, sweating anxiously. "Chris?"

"Yeah?" Chris asks her quietly. They're in the food court, but they're not eating because of everyone else staring at them.

"This is...very weird," she comments, feeling uncomfortable. Sophia covers one side of her face with her hand, looking away from them awkwardly. Cream backs away into Ella, hugging Cheese.

"I'm scared..."

"Chao chao," Cheese seems to agree.

"How come everybody keeps staring?!" Tails asks the awaiting question.

"You're all big-time celebrities. Ever since you helped knock out Eggman's base," Ella explains to them.

"But we didn't go after Dr. Eggman to become famous," Amy remarks before closing her eyes with a smile. "Of course, if they asked me to appear on TV or magazine covers, I won't turn 'em down."

"You were not the one constantly having meetings with the president," Sophia murmurs as she sees a group of boys holding up signs that say her name and wearing shirts with her faces on them. The alien princess groans, hitting her head against the table.

"Sorry," Chris whispers. "Guess it'll take a while for people to get used to you guys here."

"I'm not so sure they'll ever get used to having us here," Tails comments with a small sigh.

"Say cheese," Someone takes a picture of them, shocking Amy, Sophia, and Tails.

"Look over here!" A woman takes a picture and they have to shield their eyes from the camera lights.

"No more photographs!" Ella shouts to the outside window with an annoyed growl. She glances at everyone inside and they look away nervously. Chris groans and stands up.

"Let's try someplace else," he murmurs.

* * *

They try the VIP room in a restaurant. "Right this way," the usher leads them inside and Amy turns around to see ALL the customers staring at them from behind the velvet rope. Amy sticks out her tongue at them, mocking them.

"Amy," Sophia gives her a look and she runs after her. The beautiful chandeliers light up the room as they walk inside. And as expected, everyone is staring at them.

"Oh my! They allow pets in here?" A southern lady asks.

"Instead of escorting those beasts into our dining room and creating a scene, they should check them into the coat room with the rest of the furs," Her friend whispers and Sophia twitches her ear, glaring at them.

"And here I thought you would have manners like a _proper_ lady," Sophia seethes and the woman huffs, holding up her head up high. Sophia smiles and sits down with Chris and Amy.

"I'll be right back with your menus," the waiter leaves them.

"This is a private club, so we won't get hassled," Chris explains to them before two ladies approach.

"I saw how brave your friends were on TV. May I ask for their proferring?"

"How adorable!" One pets Cheese, squealing. "What a cutie!" All of the ladies gather around them, commenting and asking many questions.

"Alright, get your hands off of me! I just wanna have some lunch!" Amy exclaims as they start touching them.

"Yeah, this is supposed to be a fancy restaurant, not a wrestling ring! Sophia, this is your territory, can't you fend them off?" Chris calls out.

"Me against all of these lovely ladies?" Sophia questions as they keep touching her hair. "I believe not."

"Ugh, I wanna go back home, Chris!" Tails yells as Ella looks frightened, holding Cream close.

"Me too!" Cream sounds like she's about to cry. A lady holds up one of Amy's quills, another tugging at Sophia's bangs.

"Are these your natural color?"

Amy chuckles at the question before it falters. "WILL YOU PLEASE GO AWAY?!"

"Ladies, this is highly unpolite!" Sophia moves a hand away. "Please refrain yourselves and think about your manners!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the remains of Eggman's base, there are construction workers excavating whatever was left of the base. "Okay you guys, we're ready to raise it up!"

"The Bauer room was there," the boss points forward and one of the workers behind him moves away to deal with it. "Huh?" He sees something unusual. "That doesn't appear on the plans." He bends down to examine it, as it looked to be on the floor. Suddenly, something starts to awaken as the ground starts to shake. The ground opens up and sinks the base, the construction workers running away in fear. They all look in shock as something comes to life. The Egg Fort, a battleship, rises out from the ground. It's purple and yellow, with a few other colors here and there.

"That thing is huge!" One of the jets starts to move to form the wings. They could only stare as Eggman's symbol is shown on the top.

"When will you half wits realize that it's useless to try and trip me up because I'm always ten steps ahead of you!" Eggman exclaims, "I was expecting your president to order an attack and so I built this flying fortress! Now I can escape any further attacks and make a counter attack any time and anywhere."

Bocoe glances at Decoe. "Dr. Eggman certainly is a strategic genius."

"I only wish some of his strategies worked occasionally," Bocoe comments.

"That's enough from you two," Eggman warns, pointing at them. "Cut the chatter and get the ship ready. We got work to do."

"He certainly is thin-skinned," Decoe remarks.

"That is the only place where he is thin," Bocoe replies back.

"Let's get moving!" Eggman yells, tired of the gossip about him. "Set the ship's course for Station Square!"

The battleship takes off, leaving the construction workers in its dust. "He's more dangerous than ever now," the boss murmurs in worry.

"Are you sure?" The mayor asks, having been alerted of Eggman's return. "Headed in this direction? Uh, can you send the air force to intercept this?"

"Sir, look!" A government official shouts, looking out the window. The mayor joins him and gives a flabbergasted look at the incoming ship.

* * *

"Oh," Amy sighs in stress, "What a waste. Our shopping spree was a flop!"

"I'm sure things will get a lot easier once people get used to seeing you around," Chris tries to reassure her. He suddenly gets a nervous look, gasping.

"What's wrong, Chris?" Tails wonders and Chris stands up, pointing outside.

"Look!" They all look outside to see Eggman's ship. All of the citizens down below give a worried look, as the ship is bigger than the street!

"It's Eggman, isn't it?" Chris asks in worry.

"That's him," Tails confirms, Sophia narrowing her eyes.

Eggman chuckles as he looks over Station Square. "You losers are about to learn that you can never defeat me! I'm like a rubber ball. Every time you try to slap me down, I just keep bouncing back. Since your government attacked me, and destroyed my base, I'm going to destroy your city, and rebuild my headquarters right here." A panel opens up from the bottom and numerous E-42 Torole are launched. The citizens run away in panic as they drop onto the street, knocking down several buildings. Amy, Chris, Tails, Sophia, Cream, Cheese, and Ella run out into the street.

"Ugh, there's nowhere to go. The whole city will be wrecked if this demolition derby keeps up!" Tails exclaims as they run.

"I sure wish Sonic had kept that cell phone," Chris says, Tails pointing up ahead.

"Hey! Maybe we can get out of here!" They see the car they arrived in, but a wrecking ball destroys it. Several of the Toroles corner them, raising a wrecking ball. Sophia jumps up and speeds into one, destroying it.

"Quick, move it! Hurry!" Tails calls out as a blue blur pierces through another. Sonic and Sophia pierce through all of them and Eggman growls at this. They run up the building and the crowd gasps before they see them.

"It's Sonic!" Chris exclaims as their friends look on happily.

"See? Didn't I tell you that he'd show up just in time?" Tails asks him and he nods.

"Let's play, Sonic and Sophia, for keeps!" Eggman declares.

"Fine with us, Eggman. Take your best shot." Sophia holds up her hand, waving the robot forward with her finger in a mocking way. Sonic just stands there with that big smirk on his face.

"Steady, ready, fire!" Eggman slams down the button and multiple rockets fire in their direction. Sophia and Sonic descend down to the ground, speeding past the Toroles. The missiles hit the robots instead of their initial targets.

"I have head of a sonic boom," Decoe shrugs, "But this is ridiculous."

Sonic and Sophia destroy more Toroles before running up the skyscraper again. They jump off as an attempt to reach Eggman, but Sonic is too far away, trying to speed over there in exhaustion. He pants and falls back down.

Sophia gasps and flies down to him, but a missile rocket comes out of nowhere and damages one of her wings. "Oh DEAAAAAAR!" She shouts as she falls.

"Oh no! He can't reach Eggman's ship and Sophia can't fly him with that damaged wing!" Amy says in worry as the others look on.

Tails turns to Chris. "We need the X Tornado to help them, but it's back home."

"We'll never get it in time," Chris says in lament, but suddenly a silver car approaches them, honking. They turn in confusion to see Sam Speed.

"You need a lift?" He offers and they all smile.

"Uncle Sam!" Chris exclaims in surprise.

* * *

Sam drives them back in a overwhelming speed. "I'll get you guys home in a flash! Buckle up for safety!" He makes a sharp left.

Sonic and Sophia get attacked by several E-43 Falcons. They run around the town to get them off their back and hide in an alley. Sonic chuckles to himself as he peeks around the corner. He turns to his friend.

"Are you okay, Sophia?" He sees her damaged wing.

"I shall survive," she looks up at the sky. "But I am afraid that my natural flying will not be enough to reach the ship with my wing damaged this badly. Whenever one of my wings is damaged, it can affect my natural flying ability. I cannot fly that far up."

"That's just great," Sonic murmurs.

They turn around in surprise when the Falcons appear right behind them. The robots fire at them and they jump around to avoid the lasers before running off. Eggman laughs at their attempts to run away from them.

"My Falcon robots all come with special speed seeking detectors! Sophia and Sonic are running to their doom!"

Sonic looks up with a grin before he jumps onto a Falcon. Sophia, seeing his plan, leaps into the air, landing gracefully on a Falcon. They all fly towards the ship and Eggman looks in confusion when he sees the two friends on the ships. He growls in frustration.

"They can't be!"

Decoe approaches him with a plan. "You can blow Sophia and Sonic out of the sky. If you order those Falcons to self-destruct."

"Excellent idea!" Eggman presses a button and the Falcons start to blink. They detonate, knocking Sophia and Sonic off. Sophia catches him and she flies up to the Egg Fort without her wings, Sonic barely holding onto it. They start slipping from the ship, making a loud scrapping sound. Everyone present tries to block their ears from this.

"Sonic and Sophia are pains in the ears! Stop it! Cut it out!" They struggle to hold on, but lose their grip and fall from the Egg Fort, landing on the roof of a building. "Finish 'em off!" Eggman deploys several E-33 Buballs. Several try to attack the two, but miss as they jump up. They flee while the Buballs chase in pursuit.

* * *

At Sam's car, all of them are mentally cringing at Sam's speed. "Hey, do you think...you can slow down a bit?" Chris offers.

"Are you kidding? Huh?" Suddenly, several Buballs surround the car and prepare to attack. One of them hits the tire and Sam has to stop the car. They all give fearful looks until Mr. Stewart appears out of nowhere and holds up a mirror. The Buball fires the laser but Mr. Stewart uses the mirror to reflect it towards another Buball, destroying it. The other Buballs attack, but with the mirror, they end up destroying each other.

"Hey thanks Mr. Stewart!" Chris exclaims with a smile.

"No problem," he waves it off. "Are you all okay?"

"Hey, I know you," Sam approaches him.

"Yes, we met at a party at Chris' house. I'm his and Sophia's teacher, Mr. Stewart," he replies, recognizing him.

"Yeah, now I remember. I'd forget things fast, but I remember 'em even faster," Sam comments, hands on his hips.

"And I believe you're Chris' uncle, Mister...?"

"Mister's what they call my dad," Sam holds up a finger. "Just call me Sam!"

"Hey!" They turn to Amy in confusion. "Aren't you forgetting we have to get something?"

"The X Tornado!" Tails reminds them, as Sonic and Sophia still couldn't get onto Eggman's ship. Not without help, anyway.

"Yeah, that's right," Sam pushes Mr. Stewart towards the car. "Let's go!"

"But where are we going?" Mr. Stewart asks in confusion.

"Get in!" Sam pushes him inside and gets in, Ella and Cream getting squished by the lack of room. "Hang on, gang!" He takes off, passing a school bus, but the Buballs follow them.

"Sam, speed it up!" Chris exclaims.

"I can't reach my mirror!" Mr. Stewart says and they prepare to fire.

"Ah," Chris shields himself, "They're gonna fire!"

Out of nowhere, a large juggernaut flies by and knocks the Buballs away, destroying them. The driver is revealed to be Mr. Tanaka, who's smiling down at them.

"Alright!" Chris cheers.

"You brought the X Tornado!" Tails exclaims as the others smile.

Sophia and Sonic run on rooftops of buildings when they spot the X Tornado take off into the air. "The X Tornado!" Sonic exclaims in relief.

"Finally," Sophia sighs in relief, looking back at their attackers. They jump in the air and a ring is launched at them. The two catch them in their hands and enter super spin mode. They destroy the Buballs around them before making their step on the X Tornado which flies past the Egg Fort.

"Get them now!" Eggman declares angrily, "Blast away!"

The cannons from the Egg Fort attack, but they don't hit the X Tornado at all. The mayor can see them from his building.

"It's Sonic and Princess Sophia!"

The cannon attacks the building he's inside in and Chris gives a worried look. "We can't fight Eggman here, those buildings will get wrecked!"

"Chris is right," Tails tells Sophia and Sonic. "We have to get Eggman away from the city somehow."

"Right!" Sonic exclaims.

"Leave this one to us," Sophia bows slightly and the X Tornado flies right in front of Eggman's cockpit, avoiding the missiles. Eggman growls at them. Sonic pokes fun at him by smacking his rear end towards him, Sophia blowing a raspberry. Chris and Tails laugh at them. The plane flies away.

"I've had it with that hog and royal suck up. That's the last time they'll diss me. Move it! Turn the ship around and go after Sonic and Sophia!" Eggman yells in anger.

Bocoe and Decoe look tired and annoyed. "What chance does he have against Sophia and Sonic?" Decoe asks.

"I estimate his chance of defeating Sonic and Sophia at zero," Bocoe shrugs.

The Egg Fort turns around and flies after the X Tornado, leaving behind a charred mayor and destroyed building.

"Could somebody please call housekeeping?" He murmurs as he looks after the ship.

Sonic, Sophia, Chris, and Tails look behind them as they're now away from the city. "It worked," Sonic says with a grin. The Egg Fort is following them dangerously close behind. The ship's cannons fire again, but the X Tornado continues to avoid the attacks.

"Charge up the blaster cannon!" Eggman orders his robots and an energy blast is formed from one of the cannons. "FIRE!" The energy blast is fired and seemingly strikes the X Tornado, leaving a torrent of water to cover the fate of the X Tornado.

"Victory!" Eggman cheers, but sees that the X Tornado has survived the blast. Sparks are flying from the plane's dashboard.

"The energy circuit got fried! We're in trouble!" Tails yells in panic.

"What's wrong?" Chris peeks out from his seat.

"In a few seconds, we'll lose power and then we're gonna be sitting ducks!" Tails informs him.

"Ah! Oh no!" Amy replies in worry.

Eggman sees their predicament from inside the ship. "I won't miss Sonic and Sophia this time! Get ready for another blast!"

Decoe and Bocoe scramble around the ship to get the preparations ready. "I could use an oil change," Decoe complains as they stop.

"He takes care of other robots but who takes care of us?" Bocoe says, Eggman appearing out of nowhere and scaring the bolts out of them.

"Get moving!"

"So the X Tornado can only fly at full speed for a few more seconds?" Sonic asks Tails.

"Yeah, if we're lucky."

"Huh," Sonic grins as he gets an idea. "Okay then. Then you should fly full speed at the bridge!"

Chris and Tails look at him in worry, Sophia turning to him in confusion.

"But that's crazy!" Chris warns him.

"I have to agree with Chris," Sophia glances at Sonic.

"Trust me, this is our only chance!" The X Tornado turns around.

"Is the blaster cannon powered up yet?" Eggman asks inside the Egg Fort.

"Almost, doctor," Decoe answers, Bocoe's eyes widening.

"Huh? It appears that we have company."

Eggman looks in confusion to see the X Tornado appearing right in front of them. "What is this?"

Sonic and Sophia stand outside the plane, holding out their hands. Four rings appear from the plane, landing in their hands. This empowers them in a mystified aura.

"Hang on! Here we go!" Tails jets off the X Tornado at high speed towards the Egg Fort.

"Blow them away!" Eggman yells, pointing forward.

"The cannon is still recharging!" Decoe informs him to Eggman's bewilderment. The aura around Sonic and Sophia brightens and they jump in the air, going into super spin mode once more. The two charge towards the Egg Fort. The cannons try to shoot them down, but they simply miss the two. They tear right through the cockpit of the Egg Fort, causing it to glow in a yellow light.

"We have lost our controls, doctor," Bocoe tells his boss.

"We must abandon ship at once," Decoe shrugs in dismay.

"Curse you, hedgehog and little girl! I'll get you!" Eggman shouts as the ship explodes and falls into the ocean below. Sonic and Sophia get back to the X Tornado with the others, watching as the ship sinks. The military's naval fleet arrives and the X Tornado lands on one of the ships.

"Great job, Sonic and Sophia!" Chris cheers for them, Amy jumping at Sonic to hug him.

"My hero!"

"Well, we've stopped Eggman again, but I'll bet he'll be back," Tails looks to where the ship sunk.

"Looks like we're gonna be fighting against Eggman for a long time. He'll never surrender," Chris says.

"You're right," Tails replies as Sophia, Amy, and Sonic look on. "Eggman's got plenty of tricks up his sleeve. This battle's only beginning." They watch the splash made by the ship's impact subsides.

"...When did it ever stop?" Sophia looks up at Tails in determination.

A government official watches the conversation via his binoculars. "He just might win."


	16. Depths of Danger

**Angel: Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter ^^ Sorry for the long wait, I just finished writing this.**

Guest: Wow that was amazing and I can't believe it Sophia can fly without her wings cool and I hope her wing will be better anyway have a great trip and I can't wait to see the next chapter soon also I vote for the turtles forever movie

 **Angel: Wasn't that already established that she can fly either way?**

 **Sophia: Thank you, I am quite alright.**

 **Angel: I gotta end that poll since I published that story yesterday.**

Ichabod: Eggman? Win? Pffftt...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! Not in THIS life! He's gotta be cracked, but he's good as poached! He might as well scramble before he gets his butt kicked sunny-side up, over-easy!

 **Angel: Now I want an omelet tomorrow morning...**

 **Sophia: Please...refrain from the egg jokes. They are insufferable...**

Bajy: Great job here! ...Sorry for the short review...very late tonight...bed time...nig-zzz...

 **Sophia: Is...is she alright?**

 **Angel: Yeah, she'll be fine. But seriously, stop apologizing for short reviews!**

Katie: Wow I really love this story also for the next summer story I vote for the turtles forever that's my favorite movie And quick question Angel do you like the Pokémon show indigo league season

 **Angel: It's already been posted as of yesterday, so go check it out if you want to. As for the question, I do like Pokémon, but I don't usually watch it. My favorite season would be the X and Y season.**

Guest: We understand Angel we'll be really patient when you have enough time when you return from your trip and get caught up on other things so we'll be waiting for this.

 **Angel: Aw, thank you! Right now I'm just trying to get another job so I can earn money...**

Pictures of Eggman, Sonic, and Sophia appear from the previous incident, two news voices commenting on them. "Dr. Eggman went head-to-head with Sonic and Sophia."

"And the hedgehog and princess hammered him big time!"

There's a view of the naval armada and then the Earth from outer space.

"Did he survive?"

"Did he escape?"

"Where is Dr. Eggman?"

"Where _is_ Dr. Eggman?" The president demands to his crew and Sophia. "I need to know if he survived the attack on his ship!"

"We're searching the area near the crash site to see if there's any sign of him," his assistant reports, holding a paper. Sophia looks up from her chair, sipping her tea.

"Eggman is very deceptive, Mr. President. He has most certainly already planning of another attack," she informs him. "Wherever he is hiding, he will most likely do anything to deceive the search teams you have deployed."

"We don't know that! If we don't track down that madman soon, he's going to strike back! Find him!" The president refutes, pointing at the door.

"Right," the assistant turns around and leaves the office, the president having an uncertain look on his face. He sighs and looks to the window, wondering if Eggman really was alive. And if he was, what was he doing?

* * *

Unfortunately for him, Sophia's warning is correct as Dr. Eggman is hiding in a seabed located underwater inside the damaged Egg Fort, which is lying by some rocks. Decoe whines as he sweats.

"Oh..."

Eggman chuckles, Bocoe doing the same thing Decoe's doing. Eggman is holding onto the two, trying not to make a single sound.

"Doctor," Decoe starts, but Eggman holds onto his neck.

"Quiet. Don't make a sound. There's a search team up there, listening for us. If they hear us, we are done for," He warns them.

"Sorry," Decoe says, hearing a naval submarine pass by them. It doesn't sense them nor does it notice the Egg Fort. They look up at the ceiling before sighing in relief. Eggman tosses them out of his grip.

"Now go outside and get this ship patched up, you lead heads!" He demands.

"Outside? In the water?" Decoe asks skeptically.

"But we will short-circuit," Bocoe points out.

"Not to mention rust."

* * *

In the Thorndyke Mansion's dining room, everyone except Sonic and Sophia are having lunch. Sophia walks into the room, waving to them.

"I have returned, my friends," she greets and they smile at her.

"Ah, Sophia, here is your lunch," Ella gestures to her seat and she sits down, taking the proper fork and digging in.

"How was the meeting with the president?" Chris wonders and Sophia wipes her mouth with a napkin.

"He is very worried that Eggman did not survive the recent assault," Sophia shakes her head. "He has sent his finest troops to look for him all across Station Square."

"Do you think they'll find him?" Tails blinks at her.

"Well...fate can be changed, but being predictable is another thing," Sophia takes another bite of her food.

"Are you ready for dessert?" Ella offers, hands on her hips.

"Yeah!" Everyone agrees, Cheese doing it cheerfully. Chuck suddenly walks into the room.

"I'm glad you're here, I have good news!"

Everyone turns to him in confusion. "What kind of good news, Chuck?" Tails wonders, as Mr. Tanaka has a flat tile of paperwork on his tray. "I'm going to hand out some official documents issued by the government that you'll need to hang onto."

"Documents?" Tails blinks in confusion.

"Yes, to verify your identity," Chuck explains as Amy stares at a passport and social security card.

"But what for?" She wonders.

"They'll help you prove who you are when you travel around. And for Tails, we have special licenses that allow him to fly any kind of aircraft he can build to any destination on the planet," Chuck glances at Tails, who's holding 7 seven documents.

"All these just to fly?!" He asks in perplexment.

"He never needed them before," Chris points out, as Tails has flown above Station Square with no problem at all.

"This is their way, Tails," Sophia gestures to her passport. "They need to take precaution."

"Sophia's right, that's the price," Chuck elaborates, "Tails and the others will have to pay for being made residents of this place. From now on, they're going to have to follow the same rules and regulations as the rest of us."

Mr. Tanaka just nods in agreement. Amy opens up her passport and takes a glance at it. "Uh..." She turns it around and sees her profile picture, which shows an angry look while using her hammer.

"I look terrible!" She yells, Sophia backing away slightly.

"Really?" Mr. Tanaka asks, him and Chris looking at it.

"You do?"

"Let me see," Cream leans in, Amy slowly getting mad.

"Why did they have to use _this_ picture? I look like a lunatic!" Amy complains, Mr. Tanaka trying to reassure her.

"Now, now, Ms. Amy, I wouldn't say it makes you look like a lunatic, exactly."

"You are far from one," Sophia places a hand on Amy's shoulder, but that doesn't seem to help things.

"It makes me look like an insane, off-the-wall, out-of-control manic! I HATE IT!" Everyone around her is knocked back by her outburst except for Sophia, who sweats a little.

"Oh my..."

Just then, Sonic happens to walk in on the conversation. "Hey there, guys. What's all the excitement about in here?"

"Sonic, just in time! I've got your documents too. Here," Chuck hands him a passport. "Always keep this with you."

"Huh?" He doesn't understand why, but he takes it anyway. "What's this for?"

Chris walks up to him to explain, "It's a passport so you can go wherever you want whenever you want to."

"Pretty cool," Sonic smiles at it. "I do like to travel. Especially with the princess, she loves seeing all the sights. If I went everywhere I wanted to go on this whole planet, it'd take me..." Sonic chuckles at the thought of his speed, "About a day!"

Sophia giggles at him. "I am inclined to agree."

* * *

At the garage, Sonic and his friends prepare to take off on the X Tornado. Sonic just relaxes against one of the wings.

"Bye everybody!" Amy waves at Ella, Chuck, and Mr. Tanaka.

"We'll see you later," Cream tells them.

"Now you be careful up there. No funny stuff," Ella warns them. Chuck looks up at Chris, who sits behind Tails.

"Bye grandpa! I'll see ya!" He calls out. Chuck just nods at him.

"I'll be waiting." The trees move out of the way and the X Tornado starts up.

"X Tornado, take off!" He pulls the levers and the plane takes off, Sophia flying behind them. The wings open up and they're off as Ella and Mr. Tanaka wave at them. Chuck turns to the butler.

"Tanaka, go keep an eye on Chris, but make sure he doesn't see you."

"Yes sir," Mr. Tanaka nods. "I will be invisible." He chuckles at the thought.

* * *

Up in the X Tornado, Sonic is cruising outside the plane. Sophia is flying above the plane, shaking her head at Sonic. Cream tilts her head at Amy from behind.

"Oh Amy, are we going to go somewhere that's sunny?" She wonders and Amy nods in confirmation, looking at a travel guide.

"Uh huh! Look," she shows Cream the pages. "The Grand Blue Sapphire Sea. This travel guide says it's one of the most beautiful places of the whole planet." She sighs to herself, blushing faintly. "I bet the sunsets are very romantic."

"Hey Amy," Chris' voice interrupts her day dreaming. "Do you read me?"

"Huh?" She gives a confused look, looking at Chris, who points down.

"Check out the scenery down there. It's really pretty awesome!"

"I'm not looking," she waves it off, annoyed. "I only care about one thing...and that's getting to the sea ASAP!" She giggles to herself.

"But I'm trying to tell you, we're flying over the Grand Blue Sapphire Sea right now!" He elaborates and she hears tapping. Sophia points down, prompting Amy and Cream to look out the window. They gasp in awe as they see the beautiful sights of the ocean below.

"Wow! The water looks amazing!" Amy comments, both her and Cream's eyes shining.

"It's so beautiful..." Cream murmurs as Cheese peeks out.

"Yeah!" Amy cheers, pumping her fists. "I wanna go swim! And go waterskiing too!"

"Let's all go sailing!" Cream suggests, to which Cheese agrees to happily.

"Yeah! I can't wait!" Chris seems delighted by that idea as well.

"Hey, Chris," Tails interrupts the excitement. He looks troubled. Chris leans in behind him.

"What's wrong?"

"Check out the Chaos Emerald," Tails is referring to the green one as it glows brightly.

"Could it be another emerald?" Chris asks the awaited question and the X Tornado starts shaking.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sonic demands, Sophia flying down slightly to see the glowing emerald.

"The same thing happened when we were flying over Diamond Stadium. And that means..."

"Since we're flying over water, there must be a Chaos Emerald underwater," Cream finishes for him.

"You're right, Cream," Amy turns to her.

"Then we have to go find it," Chris says in determination, Sonic saying nothing.

"Hang on. I see a landing spot. I'm gonna take us down," Tails reports, only for the shaking to stop. "Huh?" He looks down to see Sophia holding onto the back of the ship. She winks at him and he beams. "Thanks princess!"

"Hold on, everyone," she warns as she pushes the X Tornado. After she lands it, they arrive at a coastal town. Sonic gives a breath of relief, stretching his arms.

"Nice place here." And just like before, several civilians are staring at them as they walk down the street. "Let's try to keep a low profile, okay guys?"

"Hey, isn't that Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia?" A passer-by wonders, recognizing them from the news.

"Yes, it is him," a blonde woman confirms.

"I wonder what they're doing here."

"There they are!"

"Let's get their autographs!"

Sonic and Sophia turn in surprise to see a large crowd rampaging towards them! "Uh, stampede!" Chris calls out nervously.

"We better get out of here quick!" Sonic tells them and they all run away. The gang seemingly outrun them when they're stopped at a beach, huffing and puffing from their sprint. Sonic is nowhere to be seen.

"We can't escape crowds no matter where we go," Chris pants in lament.

"Being famous isn't any fun. I wish we could just blend in with the crowd, but that seems impossible," Amy complains, remembering the time they went to the mall and all they did was get away from people.

"We all stick out too much," Cream points out.

"It was a lot easier when we had to hide out at your house," Tails says to Chris.

"Indeed," Sophia brushes dirt off her skirt. "I experience this at school ever since we stopped Eggman at his base."

"Well, at least we lost that crowd for a little while," Chris murmurs, "People at school are always crowding around Sophia's locker!"

"Yeah, why don't we all go for a swim while we have a chance?" Amy suggests with a smile. Cream looks around, finally noticing the elephant on the beach.

"Hey, didn't Sonic run here with us? Where did he go?"

"Maybe he decided to go look for that Chaos Emerald by himself," Chris suggests, Sophia shaking her head.

"Doubtful. Sonic, along with the other inhabitants of our world, cannot breathe underwater without help. And given his fear of water, I believe that he is not in the ocean," she elaborates and it seems she's right when Chris goes to look for him.

"Sonic! Where are you? Hey! Sonic!"

Sophia appears next to him, looking around. Chris suddenly gives a sad look, as Sonic never seems to want any help. "I wish he didn't always have to do things on his own."

"Chris," Sophia is looking at something, or rather, someone.

"You talking about me?" Chris looks up at Sonic's voice, finding him relaxing behind a rock.

"So there you are. I thought you'd be looking for the Chaos Emerald, not taking it easy. Sophia, how did you know?"

"Have you forgotten one of my powers?" Sophia blinks slowly, revealing red eyes. "I possess x-ray vision." Her eyes turn back to normal.

Sonic looks out onto the ocean, admiring the view. "Yeah, it makes hide-and-seek too easy," Sonic jokes, Sophia dumping sand onto his head. "Hey!" He looks up at her and she giggles, holding a bucket.

"It's hard to believe you're still a princess," Chris chuckles as she throws the bucket away.

"That Chaos Emerald's out there somewhere, but I can't find it unless I get to the bottom and stay there for a while," Sonic points out, Sophia nodding.

"Like I said before, he would need to possess something that could aid him with breathing. I would look for it myself, but I am still human," Sophia explains, Sonic glancing at her.

"You had no problem breathing in the atmosphere," he retorts, crossing his arms.

"Yes, because I indeed possess that ability. However, perhaps if you cease your whining like a little child, we could have a solution to our similar problems," Sophia crosses her arms and he pouts. Chris looks to the water.

"So the big problem is how to get you both an air-supply down there, right? Leave it to me!" Chris smiles with a thumbs up, Sophia turning to him in confusion. On the inside, though, he did find the two friends' little fight entertaining. It was kind of a shame that he had to interrupt it.

Amy and Cream have changed into their bathing suits, and are now swimming in the sea. Tails and Cheese rest by some rocks, wearing sunglasses over their eyes. A crab passes by them.

"Our problem's solved!" Chris hands Sophia and Sonic one end of two hoses. "Now you can get to the emerald. Both Sophia and Sonic don't look happy with the hose idea, as the ends are in their mouths.

"I hope you're sticking the other end of this things in a milkshake," Sonic says, his voice muffled by the hose.

"If you plan to, I would prefer a cookies and cream one," Sophia crosses her arms.

"No, it's an air hose!" Chris explains, Sophia looking disappointed at the fact that she's not getting a milkshake. "I'll keep these ends up here so you can breathe. Just make sure you don't lose the hose or you'll be in trouble."

"Yeah, and how is air...okay, we'll give it a shot," Sonic eventually agrees, both of them turning to the ocean.

"Good luck, you guys!" Chris calls out as they jump into the water. The two walk along the seabed while breathing through the hose. Back at the surface, the hose holders drop into the water, causing them to be stuck behind some sea rocks that prevent Sophia and Sonic from moving forward. Sophia walks back to them, trying to pull on Sonic's while he tries to pull it out. A crab takes notice of this and lunges at Sonic, cutting the hose with its pinchers. It lunges at Sophia, who narrows her eyes and slaps the crab away when he gets close enough. Sonic struggles for air and the crab pinches his rear end. Sophia grabs Sonic and swims up to the surface. When they reach it, Sonic shouts in pain as the crab is still pinching him. He yells again and there's a zap being heard before a cooked crab falls into a hand, having been hit with Sophia's laser eyes. Sophia examines the crab and smirks.

"Ella would be happy to cook crab for dinner, you little twit."

* * *

Chris comes back...with a large bell. "Here, this'll work. You can bring air with you. It's a diving bell, see?" He's sweating because it's heavy, but Sophia and Sonic are sweating because of the thought of carrying a bell with them underwater.

"A diving...bell?" Sophia asks in utter confusion.

"This is the most dingling thing I've ever heard of!" Sonic comments.

"I have to agree..."

They return underwater, both of them carrying the bell over their bodies. Sonic sweats from the heat inside.

"It's hot in here, but it sure beats breathing through a hose. Only I can't see where in the water I'm going. I'm just glad you have x-ray vision, princess. I wish this thing had a window."

"Sonic, be careful!" Sophia warns before he trips over a sea rock and the large bell traps them inside.

"Oh great, we're stuck! This diving bell is useless! I can't even ring it to get help!"

"Pardon me," Sophia tells him before yelling, punching the bell off them and out into the surface. They swim back up to shore.

* * *

"Any more bright ideas?" Sonic deadpans to Chris, his face planted into the rock.

"We can't give up yet. There's gotta be some way to reach that emerald," Chris tries to assure him, Sophia's hands on her hips.

"Yes, but...no more bells."

"Agreed," Sonic and Chris say in unison.

Chris strolls through the town with Sonic and the others. "If we're gonna search underwater, the best way to go is to rent some scuba gear. You always need to use professional equipment or else diving can be really dangerous."

Sonic and Sophia frown at this, as that idea wasn't suggested before. If it was, they could've gone to the town all along instead of faulty hoses and bells...and also crabs. Can't forget about the crabs. They arrive at the diving shop to purchase the needed equipment.

"We'll need six air tanks, plus flippers, and a pair of goggles for me," Chris looks at his wallet. "I should have enough money with me to pay for all the diving equipment and the boat," he looks up at the blonde man. "How much will that all cost, sir?"

"Forget it, you don't owe me a dime," he explains to Chris' confusion. "The government sent a notice to all shop owners that it'll cover your bills as part of its 'Sonic and Sophia' budget. Is there anything else I can get for you guys?"

"Uh..." Chris is dumbfounded, as Sophia didn't tell him about this budget, nor did they have to deal with this notice in the past.

"It might help if you told me what you're diving for," he gives Chris a little smile.

"Uh...we're going to see...erm...uh," He sees a ship model on the counter and gets an idea. "Wow, this awesome ship model is exactly like the one in that painting, right?"

The manager gasps at his deduction, taking attention away from the subject. "Oh yeah, they're the same. You see, this ship was lost at sea a long time ago and there's a legend it sank near here with a huge load of gold. Folks here think the legend is true."

Chris stares at the painting in shock. They leave with the equipment. "Thanks!" Chris tells the manager. "Let's get the boat, guys. Sophia, why didn't you tell me about the 'Sonic and Sophia' budget?"

"What budget?" Sophia gives a look of confusion.

"Take care!" The diving shop manager calls out. "And have fun! I hope they find what they're looking for."

* * *

"Don't worry, Sonic and Sophia," Amy tells him as they prepare to dive. "We'll be with you in case you get into trouble."

"That's right," Chris agrees with her.

"Us? Trouble?" Sophia chuckles, her hands on her hips. "Do you not know us?"

"But we know you'll do great down there," Tails assures them.

"Remember to take long deep breaths and you'll be okay," Chris reminds them.

"Right," the two nod.

"Then let's go," Chris puts on his mask, falling into the water.

"You all set, Sophia and Sonic?" Amy asks them.

"Yep, let's dive," Sonic answers, although he was sweating on the inside. The five dive into the water to follow Chris. Amy and Tails hold onto Sonic, Cream and Sophia trailing behind them.

* * *

At another part of the ocean, the Egg Fort surfaces, becoming active once more. "Alright, you two, get to work!"

"Underwater repairs are the worst," Decoe complains, him and Bocoe already starting to rust.

"My circuits get soaked."

The news has already gotten wind of Sonic and Sophia being in the area. "Now it's time for the SSTV Sonic and Sophia news update. After defeating Dr. Eggman, Sonic, Sophia and their friends are taking a much deserved holiday."

"Holiday?!" Eggman shouts in anger, Decoe and Bocoe looking upset as well. "They get a holiday?!"

"But Sophia and Sonic are goof offs! We work harder than they do!" Bocoe exclaims, enraged.

"We have never had a day off since we were activated!" Decoe protests. "This is unfair!"

"Robots need vacations too!"

Eggman growls, seething in anger. "I'll make Sonic and the princess pay..."

* * *

Underwater, the group are using the cyan emerald to guide them to the Chaos Emerald. "The Chaos Emerald's getting brighter, we must be getting closer," Tails deduces.

"Hey look!" Chris discovers something up ahead and they come to a stop. "Whoa!" In front of them is the mentioned sunken ship that the diving shop manager mentioned. "That must be the ship the guy in the diving shop told me about."

"It looks like that's where we'll find the Chaos Emerald too," Tails says, as the emerald is still glowing.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out," Sonic suggests and they continue further.

* * *

Above the sea, Bokkun is flying over to deliver a message to Sonic and his friends. He laughs when he sees the boat. "Gotcha!" He doesn't see anyone there apart from Cheese, who is sleeping on the boat. "Aw, it's only that squirt, Cheese. Sonic and the princess are not on the boat, but they're supposed to be. Uh! Where could they be?"

Dr. Eggman is relaxing on the Egg Fort, wearing a bathing suit as his robots tend to him. "Heh heh. While I'm waiting to catch Sonic and Sophia, I'll catch a few rays too." He hears laughing and looks up to see Bokkun returning from the boat.

"Love the bathing suit, doc! Did you get that in prison?"

"Well, Bokkun. I bet Sophia and Sonic were feeling really blue after you gave them that message for me, weren't they?"

"Well," Bokkun pulls out the TV that he was supposed to give to the two speedy friends. "Having a nice vacation, Sonic and your royal highness? I hope you are. I hope you forget your sunscreen and get burnt!"

"Wait," Eggman notices something off. "This message was supposed to self-destruct after you played it for Sonic and Sophia! Unless you never played it for them. You _did_ play it for them, Bokkun, didn't you?"

"I tried to, doc, but nobody was on the boat except for that little Cheese ball," Bokkun explains, disappointed. "I'm pretty sure all the others went diving."

"And now here's a little souvenir to remember your vacation, bye!" Dr. Eggman on the TV laughs, the three giving nervous looks.

"You fool, get that thing away from me!" Dr. Eggman demands.

"It is too late," Decoe says before there's a small explosion on the deck. It leaves the three in soot, disgracing Dr. Eggman.

"You won't wreck my plans against Sonic and Sophia! _I'll_ wreck you! Prepare to submerge! I'll bury them at sea!"

* * *

The gang have discovered a treasure chest, which is filled with gold. "So the legend was true!" Chris exclaims in awe.

"It's amazing," Cream comments.

"Think about how much jewelry you can make with all this gold!" Amy says in glee. Sophia gives herself a little smile, as she knew a certain bat friend who would love it.

"This is growing at full prices now! I bet the new Chaos Emerald is buried somewhere under all this gold. We'll have to dig through the treasure to find it," Tails explains.

"Right, but that could take us forever!" Chris looks at the pile of gold, but a claw emerges from the jewels. "What's that?"

It's another crab...holding the Chaos Emerald. "Oh, no way!" Sonic exclaims in disbelief.

"He's got the Chaos Emerald!" Chris exclaims.

"I wonder how he found it," Sophia murmurs, looking up at the sea. "Well, at least I cooked his friend."

"You think he'll give it to us?" Tails wonders, and the crab doesn't seem to budge, snapping his pinchers at Sophia.

"Hold it right there!" Sonic holds onto him, giving a no-nonsense look. "We need that Chaos Emerald. Drop it or I'll let my friend cook you like she did with yours." Sophia's eyes turn red to show that she's not bluffing. The crab gives a scared look before throwing it and it lands in Amy's hands.

"This vacation turned out to be very rewarding," Amy comments.

"We're one step closer to going home!" Cream cheers.

"Your vacation is over, Sonic and Sophia!" They look up to see the Egg Fort, Eggman laughing evilly. "They're going to wish they never saw the sea! Clurken, put the sting on them!" A large robot several times larger than them appears. It resembles a jellyfish.

"You guys get back to the boat. Sophia and I can handle Eggman and this robot ourselves," Sonic warns them.

"Alright, but be careful, you guys. Come on, guys," They swim away, Clurken trying to attack the two, but they jump away.

"Ha!" Sonic tries to run, but he can't since he's underwater. Clurken prepares its tentacles, attacking the rocks and sending the two flying. "Running underwater is really a drag. It's impossible to move fast here."

"Ha ha! They should've known that water makes the perfect speed trap!" Eggman chuckles, Sophia thinking to herself as she hides. Clurken firing missiles at the ground and sending Sonic flying again. "Ha ha! This time he's all washed up!"

Chris pulls Cream back onto the boat, turning to the others. "Is everybody okay?"

"Of course we are!" Tails answers and a honk is heard.

"Ahoy, ahoy," Another boat approaches them, "Master Chris, I came to rescue you!" It's Mr. Tanaka, having followed them this entire time.

"Mr. Tanaka?!" Chris asks in shock. He stops in front of them.

"We do not have much time. All of you, get aboard quickly."

"Hold on, what are you doing here?" Chris asks in confusion.

"I promised your grandfather I'd keep you out of trouble, and so I followed you all here. I saw you needed help and came faster than you can say 'dinner is served,' " he explains, Chris having a dumbfounded look.

Clurken thrusts a tentacle at Sonic, which he narrowly dodges. He grabs a hold of the tentacle, which swings him around. He throws Sonic up into the air and to the surface, where he pulls off his mask.

"Wait...where's Sophia?" He looks down at the ocean. "Princess! Princess!"

Clurken emerges from the water, launching its tentacles at Sonic once more. It grabs Sonic, throwing him up into the air. "Hey, get your tentacles off of me! Hey! Cut it out!"

"Put him down!" Chris shouts as the others see his predicament. "And where's Sophia?"

As if an answer, there's a pink glow from the water, catching everyone's attention. "Huh?" Eggman looks down in the water before Sophia bursts out of the water, but not in her diving gear. She...has a tail?

"What?!" Tails exclaims in shock. "Sophia...can turn into a mermaid?!"

Sophia has her ends in curly ringlets, part of it green. Two pearls are in her bangs. She has double pearl bracelets around her right wrist and pink tail. Her top is a seashell bra. Sophia holds up her hands, the two pearls glowing from her hair. They fire a powerful blast to Clurken, but the attack doesn't destroy it.

Chris sees something approaching from his left, which is Sam Speed riding a jetski. "Uncle Sam to the rescue!"

"Uncle Sam!" Chris exclaims in surprise.

"I heard you might be in a jam, so I sped right over." He sees Sonic and grabs a handle. "Grab this and you can ski your way free!" He throws it to Sonic, who catches it and is dragged away from Clurken. He turns to the robot as he prepares another attack. Sophia presses her hand against a locket, bubbling the missiles and destroying them inside the trap.

"Come on, you can do better than that, Eggman!" He taunts as Sam drives around the robot.

"Hey Sonic! Sophia!" They look up to see Tails flying over. "A ring! Here, catch!" He throws two of them over and they catch them. The rings start to glow in their hands and they enter super spin mode, shocking Sam. They turn to Clurken and pierce right through him, destroying it right there in the sea.

"Alright!" Chris cheers for them and they stop spinning. Sam gives the two a thumbs up and they return it with a wink.

"Thanks Sam," Sonic tells him.

"Yes, thank you," Sophia bows her head.

* * *

"Whoa, I can't believe it!" They've returned to the diving shop to give back the gear, while also telling him what happened. "The legend of the sunken ship is true?!"

"Yeah, but Eggman's robot came after us and wrecked the wreck. Whatever's left of that ship and the treasure got buried on the sea bottom," Chris tells him.

"Ah, I see...but the ship really did exist. You saw it."

"Yeah," Chris nods in confirmation. The manager looks to the picture.

"I tried to find that ship for years. Thanks to you, I finally have proof that it was real." He smiles at it.

* * *

"Then the guy at the diving shop told me the most amazing story of all. Turns out his great-grandfather was the captain of that sunken ship we found," Chris remarks to Tails on Tanaka's boat.

"Whoa, cool!"

Amy, Cream, and Sophia look out onto the sunset. "Wow, I'm sure glad we came here," Cream says, Cheese agreeing.

"And now that Dr. Eggman is gone, we can enjoy our vacation," Amy says, turning to the princess. "By the way...how did you turn into a mermaid, Sophia? And why?"

Sophia gives a little smile. "I used chaos energy to channel my necklace into transforming me. The rest was history. But I did it because Sonic was in trouble and Eggman needed to be stopped. Like him, I cannot run underwater, so I deduced that turning into a mermaid was the best solution to gain more ground."

"Are you going to do it again?" Cream wonders and Sophia turns to her.

"Perhaps when it is needed, I will," she gives a little smile before holding up the cooked crab. "But for now, I believe it is time for some dinner to be prepared. This little one will make a fine meal."

"But...didn't you technically cook it against your beliefs?" Amy wonders, as Sophia didn't really kill animals.

"One thing my father taught me is that when needed, use your powers for the greater good. And this little nuisance," Sophia holds up the crab in the air. "Was a pest and there is nothing wrong with getting rid of it the best way possible." She walks away, humming to herself.

"But...you didn't answer the question," Amy is still confused.

Sonic looks out onto the ocean, thinking about Eggman again. Although he and Sophia destroyed Clurken, the Egg Fort escaped, which means Eggman is still at large.

"Dr. Eggman struck again today with a new robot, but was quickly defeated by Sonic the Hedgehog and her royal highness, Princess Sophia. Sonic and Sophia went on to continue their vacation and-"

The TV is turned off by Eggman, who is furious. "Rest while you can, Sophia and Sonic! You're going to need it."


	17. The Adventures of Knuckles, SophiaHawk

**Angel: Sorry for not updating Thursday, I was too busy that day to finish this chapter.**

Bajy: Great job here! Love it! I'm not into mermaids in my opinion but I love this chapter nonetheless! I'm glad I got to read this chapter in the morning this time instead of very late at night, I really need to stop staying up so late to read a story, it's only going to do more harm to me there...oops! Sorry, talking to myself. Looking forward to read more soon! I forgot what episode comes after this one though...:P

 **Angel: Well, I did that for Sophia because it would be beneficial for her to have the ability. Sorry for updating late sometimes, I update whether it's day or night.**

Dream lightning: Nice chapter please keep going getting good looking forward to shadow saga please keep posting

 **Angel: That's like 22 episodes away, I believe...but I will!**

Guest: That was really cool and the next one is Knuckles and Hawk episode and I wonder if Sophia's wings are healed after they were damaged

 **Angel: They are. And it took me a while to do this one...**

Emma: Wow I didn't know Sophia could turn into a mermaid that's so cool I can't wait to see what happens next

 **Sophia: Thank you, friend. *bows head***

Antoniocrosthwaite73: I don't want to rush you but I do wonder if Sophia has a super form and that she'll fight perfect Chaos and Biolizerd and if she'll go with Sonic when they meet Cosmo.

 **Angel: Umm...that'd be spoiling if I answer those. And no offense, but this is episode 17. There are only 9 episodes left for this season, so I** ' **d like to believe that you're patient enough to let me write the episodes.**

In an unknown city, everything seems peaceful. Well, to everyone but a certain red echidna. He stands on a boat as it moves. _Things were in pretty bad shape. We've been stranded in this weird world for what felt like forever and no matter how many times we beat Eggman, we still weren't any closer to getting back home. I was starting to lose hope...but all that changed about two months ago when we first met Hawk. We'd been traveling for a while through the south side of the continent, searching for a Chaos Emerald. We saw an old stone temple of some kind and we decided to check it out._

 _Knuckles and Sophia approached the temple, Knuckles feeling the walls from inside. Sophia was contacted by him because he felt obligated to give her a status report. He wanted her to be there in person and, not that he would admit it, he also wanted to see his friend. The echidna wanted to apologize for his behavior towards her when Eggman tricked him into fighting her and Sonic._

 _Everything was eerie and quiet until we heard a voice._

 _"Please! Somebody help!" A male voice echoed and they gasped, following after his cries of help. The walls were starting to close in on him and he struggled to push them back. The man started to sweat until something smashed through the ruins. Knuckles put down his fist as Sophia's hand stopped glowing. Knuckles smashed through another part of the temple and the man crawled through a hole, Knuckles and Sophia already outside. They turned to the stranger, who was kneeling over in relief._

 _We didn't know it then, but Hawk, the princess, and I were looking for the same thing._

Knuckles and Sophia walk through the town, startling the residents. _We heard from Hawk again a few weeks later. He told us he found what we were looking for. Naturally, we were suspicious and curious, so we decided to pay our new friend a visit._

Knuckles seems unfazed by all the looks as Sophia approaches a citizen. "Excuse me, sir, would you know how to get to a Jack's place from here?"

"Ah, I know you. You're that Sonic guy and the princess, aren't you?" He assumes, Knuckles growling in anger.

"You must be crazy! I don't look anything like Sonic! I'm Knuckles!" He yells.

"Knuckles," Sophia sends him a warning look. "It was an honest mistake. But yes, I am the princess."

"I didn't mean to offend ya, pal. We don't see many hedgehogs around here," the man shrugs. "Princess, let me take your photo!"

"I beg your pardon?" Sophia asks in confusion before her picture is taken with a bright flash.

"Hey!" Knuckles shouts, grabbing Sophia's hand and running down the path with her.

 _He led us through a half-dozen dirty alleys, right to Jack's place._ They walk inside to see a bunch of mean-looking men. This was nothing Knuckles could handle. He places an arm in front of Sophia.

"Stay behind me, princess," he warns her as he walks forward. Sophia glances around at the customers, not noticing two men in coats and hats. Knuckles stops in front of the bar-server.

"We're looking for a guy by the name of Hawk."

He just stares at them, having never seen anyone like them before.

"It's not polite to stare at the princess, pal!" Knuckles demands, Sophia looking down at him.

"Sorry," he waves his hands, "I don't see many folks like you around here."

"Never mind that. Have you seen Hawk or haven't you?" Knuckles dismisses, Sophia shaking her head.

"Knuckles. Calm yourself," she tells him. "Please."

"Nope. Name doesn't sound familiar," Sophia narrows her eyes at him as he doesn't sound truthful in his words. "Sorry, wish I could help ya."

"Sir," Sophia places her hands on the counter, eyeing him. "Do not lie in front of royalty. You know of him or you do not want to tell us where he is. I would suggest you speak before I let my friend get to you first."

"Hey," two men approach the two from behind. "The man told ya he hasn't seen your friend. Now you can either thank him and get out, or me and my friends here will show you the way out." They're known as the Bruiser Boys.

The server ducks behind the counter as they both turn around. "Well, maybe you and your friends are the ones who need to leave. Because no one threatens Princess Sophia!"

"Oh, is that so?" The leader places his fists on his hips. "Well, I'll show you, you dirty little-" He lunges towards Knuckles, who moves and trips him. The man goes flying behind the counter. The two turn to the others, who prepare to fend them off.

"I would not do that," a voice calls out and they turn to see a tall and plump man in the doorway, having witnessed the events. "I have a feeling they're tougher than they look." He walks inside and they immediately stop.

"Mr. Li Yan!" They bow to him as he stops in front of Sophia and Knuckles.

"What is your business?" He questions, Knuckles standing in front of Sophia.

"A man named Hawk has informed us we can find him here. We believe he has something we desire, Mr. Li Yan," Sophia tells him formally.

"You must be Princess Sophia and Knuckles. I've been expecting you. If you are looking for Hawk, you are talking to the right guy. Just follow me and I'll take you right to him."

Knuckles frowns at him, but decides to follow his word. It's not like they had a choice since no one else wants to give up where his location is.

"Then lead the way."

Li Yan walks out of the bar, Sophia and Knuckles following after him. The two mysterious men that were in the coats and hats stare after them. But in reality, their identities are Bocoe and Decoe.

"Knuckles and the princess," Bocoe says in recognition.

"I was not expecting to see them here. We must report this to Dr. Eggman."

* * *

Li Yan has lead them to a building and opens the door. They walk inside and walk down a flight of stairs before there's another door. Li Yan opens it, gesturing for them to go first.

"After you," Knuckles says, sensing something wrong. Li Yan chuckles, walking inside.

"Okay," he closes the door, shocking Knuckles and Sophia. A trapdoor activates underneath their feet, causing them to fall through a passage. Knuckles turns to his friend.

"Princess, hold onto my back!"

"Alright," She hugs his neck and he strikes the wall with his fists. He plants his feet so that they stop. Knuckles sees something below them and lets go, landing in a cell. A man is sitting there by himself in front of the gate.

"I'll share the cell with you, but don't think I'm gonna share my food. If you wanna eat, you have to wait till tomorrow, got it?" He calls out.

"That's no way to treat friends." Hawk turns around. "Is it?" He gasps when he sees the two.

"Knuckles, Princess Sophia, it's you! Oh, it's so good to see you!" He grabs their hands. "How did you get down here?"

"Well, let's just say we decided to drop in."

* * *

Decoe and Bocoe have returned back to the Egg Fort, having informed Eggman of Knuckles and Sophia's presence. "What was that nincompoop Knuckles and the princess doing in a dive like that?"

"They said they were looking for someone named Hawk. It all seemed very suspicious, doctor," Decoe reports.

"Interesting," Eggman smiles sinisterly. "Perhaps it's time to put out a little plan into action. It ought to be loads of fun. Now let's see," he presses the button for the Selection Machine, laughing. When it lands on the robot, he gets a little glint in his eye. "Excellent."

* * *

"And you're sure it was a Chaos Emerald you saw?" Knuckles asks, arms crossed. Sophia is sitting next to him, hands on her skirt.

"It was a big red stone, about this size," he makes his hand into a circle.

"It is a Chaos Emerald!" Knuckles says in recognition, imaging it now. _That's one more. If only we had them all, I could get back home again. Angel Island...paradise...just me, guarding the Master Emerald, without a care in the world. Hour after hour, day after day. Just watching and dreaming, but mostly dreaming._

 _Knuckles was laying on the platform where the Master Emerald laid next to him. A butterfly landed on the leaf he had in his mouth and he opened_ _his eyes._

 _I thought it would last forever..._

 _A thunderstorm was_ _happening as he stood near the emerald_. _Even when things got tough, I always knew they would eventually_ _be all right._

 _When the storm stopped, the sun shined brightly on the emerald, causing Knuckles to smile_. _And then, out of nowhere, it happened._

 _Chaos Control happened_ _from Eggman's old base. Knuckles just stared at the event as everything was engulfed in white. Tails and Amy watched with him as well as everything Knuckles knew it was gone._

"You mean the reason you wanna find those Chaos Emeralds is so you can go back home?" Hawk asks simply, Sophia turning to Knuckles.

"Best reason I can think of. Besides, I promised Sophia I'd watch over the Master Emerald. She's...my most trusted friend."

Sophia smiles at him before turning to Hawk. "But yes, to elaborate, we are searching for the emeralds to create Chaos Control once more. As a princess and protector of the emeralds, I already possess two of them back at my home."

"So that's it. I thought you wanted it for the same reason I did, for money," Hawk thinks to himself.

"Money?!" Sophia exclaims in disbelief. "The Chaos Emeralds may be powerful, but they are not for sale! I already possess many jewels!"

"It doesn't matter now, though. I assume they took the emerald when they put you here," Knuckles dismisses their conversation.

"Don't you worry, Sophia and Knuckles. I was smart enough to hide it before they came for me. I know they'd be looking for it, you see?" Hawk explains to their curiosity.

"Where is it?"

"Surely if one knew, the emerald will be in the wrong hands," Sophia says in worry.

"Ha ha ha ha! I hid it where nobody could find it! It's in a-" Knuckles covers Hawk's mouth suddenly, sensing something strange.

"This place really isn't so bad. It's kind of cozy once you get used to it, you know." Hawk blinks at him in confusion and Sophia gestures to a listening device. "Didn't think I'd like it when I got here, but I really think it's growing on me."

Every sound they're making is being recorded to Li Yan.

"Yes, the interior is really...interesting," Sophia cringes as she looks at the decaying walls.

"Yeah, come to think of it, this could be a lot worse, couldn't it?" Hawk asks nervously, catching on. Knuckles sneaks over to the speaker. "I mean, most places like this are the pits. As far as jail cells go, this one's first class all the way!"

"Yes, my friend, I would give my review as 4 stars," Sophia agrees in a fake nice tone.

Knuckles gestures for the two to go on. "Oh, and I'll tell you something else, the food's not half bad either! The baked beans they serve are pretty good," he covers part of his mouth with his hand. "Even though the other day they were as cold as ice and dry, but you didn't hear it from me!"

"Oh, Hawk, you humor me so!" Sophia waves a hand.

Li Yan is listening on them at this moment. "While we're on the subject, they could change the menu once in a while. I mean, baked beans day in and day out, you think they'd never heard of steak or fried chicken or even a cheeseburger with fries. Now wouldn't that be something?"

"Or perhaps even a lobster once in a while?" Sophia suggests.

Knuckles takes a deep breath. "IT SURE WOULD!" He shouts into the speaker, causing Li Yan to pass out due to the frequency.

The Bruiser Boys come to his aid. "You alright, sir?"

"What happened?" They help him up.

"Play games with me, will they?" He storms over to the cell, only to see the three are gone. A hole is in the wall.

Hawk, Sophia, and Knuckles run out of the building and Hawk waves a hand. "Taxi!" A rickshaw appears near the prison and they get in. "Well what are you waiting for? Start paddling!" The driver rides away, but Rouge the Bat flies behind them. Sophia hears her flapping wings and turns around, seeing nothing. The princess is, nevertheless, suspicious as she turns back to the road.

"Take a right up at this corner," Hawk orders the biker. Rouge flies near the rooftop buildings as she trails them. The peddler stops in front of an alley, where the three step out. Sophia pays him and turns to the others.

"My friends, I suspect that someone is following us."

"What do you mean?" Hawk asks her in confusion.

"I sensed someone up in the sky during our escort. I have a feeling it may be someone who wants the emerald."

"Relax, princess. No one's following us," Knuckles dismisses it.

"No one comes here, we'll be fine," Hawk reassures, but she doesn't feel relieved.

"Where are we?" Knuckles wonders.

"The old factory district," Hawk explains to their confusion, as buildings that should probably be condemned are still around. "Come on, let's go," he walks towards an entrance that reads Subway, Sophia and Knuckles following after him. In front of them is a flight of stairs, and as they're stepping down, Rouge lands at the tunnel. She grows intrigued before she's suddenly struck by the rickshaw driver.

Knuckles, Sophia, and Hawk finally arrive in the subway tunnels, descending down onto the tracks. "Over here!" He points to a plank that has doodles on it. "Yeah," He bends down and is able to excavate a bag. "There she is!" He lets the Chaos Emerald drop in his hand.

"That's a Chaos Emerald!"

Sophia gasps and he holds it out to them. "It's all yours. And thanks for getting me out, guys."

They suddenly hear laughter and turn to see Eggman in his Egg Mobile. "Well, if it isn't my little friends Knucklehead and her royal highness. Hand over that Chaos Emerald. I promise to keep it safe and sound."

"We all know that you will do no such thing," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"I'll give you something, but it won't be this emerald!" Knuckles threatens, dashing forward and punching the Egg Mobile, but it's a hologram as he fizzles quickly on contact. Sophia gives a look of shock and they hear his laughter, turning around.

"I'm a hologram!"

"Knuckles, Sophia, help me!" Hawk cries out as the rickshaw driver has caught his arm.

"It's you!" Knuckles shouts, thinking it's Eggman.

"Never judge by appearances, Knuckle brain. She may have seen like just a rickshaw driver to you, but she's so much more."

" 'She?' " Sophia asks in confusion.

"Say hello to E91!" The rickshaw driver reveals herself as a black and pink robot. "Also known as the lady ninja!"

"Ninja?" Knuckles wonders.

"Yes, and quite a lovely one at that. But don't let her loveliness dazzle you. You might get hurt!"

"A robot? Eggman!" Knuckles calls out, but Eggman is nowhere to be seen. He's in his Egg Fort somewhere up in the night sky.

"It's time, my beauty. Time for you to get me that Chaos Emerald!"

Lady Ninja pulls her chain, causing the bag with the emerald inside to fly in the air towards her. Knuckles gasps and kicks a trash can, which crashes into the robot's face. It throws the object off and Sophia uses her laser eyes to free Hawk's arm.

"Let's throw a bit more weight behind things." A weight hanging from a chain appears in Lady Ninja's hand and she swings at Knuckles. He jumps up in the air, dodging it as it hits the wall. He's still in the air as Lady Ninja flings her weapon at him. He dodges it once more, leaping away from the crumbling ceiling. He dodges another attack, turning to Hawk and Sophia.

"Quick, princess! Take Hawk and the emerald and run!"

Sophia grabs Hawk's hand and dashes towards the bag, but Lady Ninja stops them by hitting the weight against the wall. This causes the wall to fall on the emerald. They both gasp in shock, Sophia slowly lifting the rock.

"Let's go!" Knuckles tells them.

"Knuckles, the emerald! It's buried!" Hawk explains, Sophia lifting the rock a little more.

"Almost...there..." she murmurs, but Lady Ninja attacks once more, the weight flying towards her.

"Princess, no!" Knuckles pushes her out of the way.

Rouge wakes up from her assault. "Sneaking up on a girl. That's no way to treat a lady." She looks down the tunnel as she hears the fight. She tilts her head at the smoke. "I don't know what that is, but it's not good. What the-" She looks up to see the Egg Fort approaching. "I think that's my cue to get out of here." She flies away.

Lady Ninja destroys the walls, swinging the weight into the air. The three back away, not knowing how to deal with her. Knuckles then notices the cracking ceiling.

"Hawk, princess, we have to get away from that thing!"

"I know, but how?" Hawk wonders and Sophia looks up at the falling rocks.

"Up there, hurry!" She grabs Hawk and Knuckles, spinning into a ball and flying out the hole. The ground above collapses into the subway tunnel. The Egg Fort gets away during the commotion.

* * *

After Sophia got them out, they stayed the night at Hawk's house. Now, they're watching the news. "Now our top story this hour. Interesting developments in last night's building collapse. Eyewitnesses have reported spotting Dr. Eggman in the area around the time of the collapse. Officials have launched a full investigation."

"Guess there's not much we can do now. Except maybe hang around here for a while till the dust settles," he turns to Knuckles and Sophia. He has his hands on the punching bag while Sophia sits down on a pillow.

"I had that emerald in the palm of my hand," He angrily punches the bag hard enough for it to break. Hawk and Sophia gasp at him, shielding themselves from the smoke.

"Knock it off, Knuckles! That won't do any good."

When the smoke clears, Knuckles is on the ground, covered in soot. "I'm sorry, princess. I failed you. I don't deserve to be a guardian or a knight." Sophia runs over to him and helps him up.

"Knuckles, you have not failed me. I am proud of you," She smiles at him. "We have not failed yet." Knuckles smiles at her. Something hits his head and he gasps as he sees a pair of Shovel Claws. He picks them up in shock.

"Is this...the Shovel Claws! How'd they get here?"

"Those metal things? I dug 'em out of that old temple. You know, where you guys saved me."

 _At the temple, Hawk found himself in a room where the Shovel Claws laid on a podium._

"The Shovel Claws..." Knuckles smirks to himself as he gets an idea.

* * *

They've gone back to where the collapse site is, looking down the same hole they escaped in. "Stay here, your highness," Knuckles tells the princess.

"And why on Earth would I do that?" She asks in annoyance. "You requested me here for a status report, did you not? Since I possess x-ray vision, I am going with you," She slides down the hole, Knuckles jumping down instead of arguing.

"Careful down there," Hawk calls out. Knuckles pulls out his claws while Sophia's eyes turn red. She uses her x-ray vision to search for the emerald. Knuckles starts to dig, jumping down a hole. Sophia leaps down, turning her head. She stops in front of the echidna.

"There," She points and he continues digging. He hits something and holds the emerald in his hand. They both smile at their success and Sophia gets Knuckles to the top using her wings. However, Hawk is no longer there.

"Huh?" Sophia asks in confusion. "He was just here..."

"Hawk, where are you?"

Bokkun laughs as he arrives with a message. "Oh dear," Sophia frowns at him. "You again."

"Pay attention, Knuckles and your royal majesty. Special message from Dr. Eggman."

The TV turns on to show Eggman. "If you want to see your friend again, you best mosey on over to Newtown and make it snappy!" He laughs evilly. "And don't try anything funny. Bokkun's been studying the martial arts. He's getting...better."

"I know karate!" Bokkun declares, fire in his eyes. He goes in for the kick, but the two simply move out of the way. "Karate chop!" He continues practicing, Knuckles and Sophia staring at him in shock before it turns into annoyance.

* * *

Lady Ninja waits for them on top of a building. Hawk is tied to the edge of a crane. Knuckles and Sophia step out of the shadows.

"Knuckles, Sophia! It's you!" Hawk exclaims in relief. A hologram of Eggman in his Egg Mobile appears.

"Good evening. I trust you brought the Chaos Emerald with you?"

Knuckles holds it up.

"Now give it to the little lady!" He demands, the hologram disappearing. Knuckles throws the bag into the air, but Rouge tosses a card to knock it away from Lady Ninja's grasp. Sophia looks up to see her bat friend. Rouge and Lady Ninja dive for the emerald, Lady Ninja using a parachute to land safely. Sophia jumps off the building. Knuckles, using this distraction, leaps up and gets Hawk down.

"Knuckles!" Hawk shouts in surprise. Rouge catches the emerald, Lady Ninja following after her. Sophia speeds down the street.

"I want that Chaos Emerald!" Lady Ninja declares, seeing Sophia. She swings her weight at her, Sophia moving slightly to the right.

"How about I keep the emerald and you get lumps?" Rouge pulls out a gun and fires it at Lady Ninja's parachute, causing it to fall off. The robot fires a shuriken, cutting open the bag. "Nice shot."

"Quick, this way!" Knuckles points, Sophia speeding past them.

"Huh?" Both boys ask in confusion. Lady Ninja has another parachute ready and Sophia manages to speed up to the emerald, catching it. Lady Ninja flies towards her but Knuckles pushes her out of the way, crashing into a booth. Sophia walks up to Hawk, holding the emerald in triumph. Hawk sees Lady Ninja and gasps.

"Sophia, come on!" He runs off and Sophia speeds up to him, grabbing his hand and running. Lady Ninja launches a chain towards them. Knuckles tosses a plate which deflects the chain right back at the robot, striking her down. She crashes against a table, three citizens moving away. Rouge appears at the scene, seeing the crash.

"Ah, think maybe I'll pay another visit when things calm down a bit," She leaves the area.

Hawk and Sophia continue to run before Sophia appears at a dead end. Lady Ninja's shadow appears and Hawk gasps, turning around to see nothing. Sophia looks around before the emerald suddenly disappears from her hand. Lady Ninja appears out of the shadows.

"Thank you," She proceeds to run until Knuckles stops the robot in her tracks.

"You're not going anywhere. Now hand over that emerald before there's more trouble," he threatens, holding out a hand. Lady Ninja tucks the emerald away. Knuckles tries to punch her, but fails to get a hit. Lady Ninja backflips and fires several shuriken. Knuckles runs against the wall, dodging them. He kicks Lady Ninja in the face, knocking her to the ground. She fires static strings, Knuckles getting shocked.

"Knuckles!" Sophia cries out and he opens his eyes at her voice, remembering the Master Emerald and his sworn duty to protect it.

"Stop it, you're hurting him!" Hawk shouts and Knuckles screams in agony. Sophia sweeps her hand quickly, firing three Chaos spears at Lady Ninja. This short-circuits her, making her drop the emerald. Hawk picks it up and Knuckles gets free, launching an uppercut in the air and delivering the final blow. Lady Ninja disappears into the sky and Hawk holds out the emerald, smiling happily. Knuckles smiles back and places his hands on it, shaking hands with him. He holds out the emerald to the princess, who shakes his head.

"No. I am entrusting it to you for the time being. Once my friends and I have found the other emeralds, I will return for it."

Knuckles looks down at the emerald before smiling.

* * *

The next day, Knuckles is leaving the city. "Well, I know you both have to be on your way, but maybe you could come back sometime, to visit. Cuz I'm gonna miss ya, Knuckles and Sophia," Hawk looks sad to let them go. He wipes away his tears and Sophia stands up, turning to Knuckles.

"Well, Knuckles...you did it. You succeeded," she smiles at him, bowing. "I am very proud of you."

Knuckles smiles back. "Thank you, princess. So, going back to Chris' place?"

She nods and jumps off the boat. Sophia waves to both of them before she speeds off.

"Goodbye princess! Have a safe journey!" Hawk waves back. "I'll be awaiting your return!"

"So long!" Knuckles calls out to the pink streak she leaves behind. The boat starts to move and Knuckles smiles, giving a thumbs up. "Yes, I'll be back. See ya, Hawk!"

"So long, my friend!" Hawk runs up to the edge of the dock, waving. "Goodbye! Come back soon!"

Knuckles stands at the front, crossing his arms. He looks at the emerald in his hand before it starts to glow and he's suddenly engulfed by the rays. He finds himself surrounded by white. "Where am I?"

The Master Emerald appears next to him and he gasps.

"The servers are the seven Chaos..." He hears from a female voice, which doesn't sound like anyone he knows.

"The servers...are the seven Chaos. What does that mean?" Knuckles says to himself. The Master Emerald glows, reacting like the red emerald did. He gasps as he's never seen anything like it. The sky reappears, leaving him wanting to know more. He looks at the emerald.

"What was that all about?"


	18. The Dam Scam

**Angel: Normally, I don't update on Fridays...but since I just finished and Mom had to borrow my car, I figured what the heck.**

Antoniocrosthwaite73: It's okay. I'm just wondering. I wasn't asking. I didn't want spoiling anyway.

 **Angel: As long as you're patient, then it's fine. I don't like it when people try to get their favorite episodes out earlier to annoy me.**

Guest: Wow that was amazing I can't wait to see the dam scam episode it's my favorite since they are going to Africa

 **Angel: I'd like to go one day. But for now, I'd rather take one planned trip at a time.**

Bajy: Great job here! Love it! Excellent job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thank you!**

Challishanlon99: Is weather going to be chapter with Shadow? But if not I think you for letting me read the story.

 **Angel: *confused* What...? But it wasn't a problem. It's what the fans wanted, even though some of them aren't very patient.**

Ichabod: One does not simply Open Your Heart without knowing it's gonna be all right.

 **Angel: Be specific, people.**

Guest: Cool I can't wait to see the next one its my favorite

 **Angel: Huh, lots of favorites here.**

Crazycartoon5488: I wanna see chapter 18 The Dam Scam and chapter 19 Sonic's Scream Test

 **Angel: If I hear that one more time from ANYBODY about wanting to see a specific chapter in the future, I swear to god I will scream and then I can just not do this story for people. I don't like anyone telling me they wanna see a specific episode when you know that I wouldn't be done with it in a flash. So be patient like everyone else has and spare me to tell me stuff like that. SPARE ME!**

In Africa, animals are living their lives in the savannah. In the sky, Tails is flying over them. Sophia is flying next to the plane. Tails looks out the window in awe.

"This place is amazing! All the wildlife here really is wild. Let's land and take a closer look," he suggests, Sonic giving a nod with a smile. Chris screams as he looks up ahead.

"Tails, look at the radar! Mayday!" He points to the screen and Sophia gasps as she turns around to see the Egg Fort. The ship looms over their plane.

"We caught them by surprise. Quick, fire! NOW!" Eggman shouts, his robots saluting.

"Yes sir."

Missiles are fired at the plane, but Tails flies right past them. Sophia fires her laser eyes, destroying one. She spins around the X Tornado, firing at all of the missiles.

"Alright!" Chris cheers, Sonic and Tails cheering at her as well. Sonic stretches his legs, looking up at the ship with a small laugh.

"Time for some more fun!"

"What are you gonna do, Sonic?" Chris wonders. Sonic and Sophia hold up a ring.

"Ha, you'll see!" The rings glow in their hands and their auras turn blue. Sonic jumps up and Sophia flies over to the Egg Fort, spinning towards them. Decoe and Bocoe look scared for their metal lives.

"Quick, fire!" Eggman yells in panic, Decoe falling apart in fear.

"Too late!" Bocoe reports as the two burst into the ship, immediately speeding everywhere and greatly damaging it.

"Oh nooo!" Eggman shouts, Bocoe and Decoe hugging each other.

"We are going to crash!"

"Alright!" Chris exclaims in excitement, Tails flying over to the ship for Sonic to get on. There's suddenly an explosion right near him.

"Uh oh," Tails tries to get the plane through the debris, but a large piece from the ship shatters one of the wings. "The wing!"

"Look out!" Chris warns and they spiral towards the thick jungle. Sonic and Sophia are nowhere to be found.

* * *

Luckily for them, they landed safely and Tails is in the middle of repairing the damages. Chris just watches him, but he was feeling worried for Sonic and Sophia. Tails finishes, sliding away from the hatch.

"I fixed it!"

"But Tails, the wing is still broken," Chris points out.

"You're right. This machine can't fly," Tails jumps into the pilot's seat. "So we'll walk!" The controls turn on and the X Tornado stands on two legs.

"I forgot the X Tornado can walk," Chris says in realization, but as soon as it does, one of the legs falls off. The plane collapses on its side. Chris coughs from the smoke, having an embarrassed look on his face. "Still needs work."

Tails laughs sheepishly as he's upside down.

He resumes fixing the X Tornado as he uses a wrench to tighten the bolts.

"Can't I do something to help?" Chris wonders, wanting the process to be faster.

"No thanks," Tails turns to him. "I can handle this myself. The princess didn't name me her mechanic for nothing!"

"Oh," He looks around, noticing no animals have really been around this area. "It sure is quiet around her. "Uh," He pulls out his cell phone, but he has no signal. "I don't even have any phone service here." He walks over to a tree and sits down with a sigh. He lays down on the grass, looking up at the leaves. Looking up at the sun, he starts to feel tired as he yawns.

"You can take a nap if you want, Chris," Tails calls out to his confusion. "It's gonna take some time to do these repairs."

"Okay," Chris replies, sitting up.

"I'll wake you when I'm done."

"Oh, thanks," Chris scratches his right cheek. "You know, Tails, there's something about this place that's really different from home."

"Really?" Tails wonders.

"Yeah. Time seems to move slower here than in the city. Don't you feel it's different?" Chris explains.

"No, this place feels familiar in a certain way. It's like being back home," Tails says, feeling content. "Except there's no castle like Sophia's. It's got the best museum."

"You must really miss it there," Chris deduces.

"I missed it really bad at first, but now I also like Station Square. Someday I wanna start an engineering company there and build lots of machines," Tails reveals, continuing his work.

"That's cool!" Chris says in amazement. "When it comes to building machines, you're the best there is, Tails."

"Thanks. So what do you think you want to do when you're older?" Tails asks curiously.

"Well, I...I really wanna study zoology," He places a hand on his hair sheepishly. "I think. Grandpa and my dad want me to like building machines just like they do, but since I met you guys, I figured out I'm more interested in animals than machines. Uh," He realizes what he just said. "I don't mean that you guys are just animals, you know. Sophia's far from it!"

"Great! I'm done!" Tails exclaims, not even responding to that. It didn't seem to really bother him. "And this time I'm sure it really is fixed, Chris. Let's go and look for Sonic and Sophia!"

Chris stands up and nods. "Right. Does Sophia know what she wants to do?"

"Well," Tails thinks to himself. "Since she is a princess, she'll eventually take over as queen. I think she'll be a great one! She listens to me and everyone else. She knows what to do when her parents are away. And she throws a party once in a while to celebrate Sonic in his fight against Eggman!"

"I never knew her job could be so easy for her," Chris tilts his head. Tails looks up at the sky.

"I don't know how she does it. I never see her stressed out or anything."

The X Tornado walks off to go find their friends.

* * *

In a swamp, the Egg Fort has been damaged. Eggman coughs as he opens the side hatch. "Blast that hedgehog and royal pain! Huh?" He gets surrounded by crocodiles, one of them showing its jaw. Eggman recoils back in fear before something is launched from the top. It's a gorilla-like mech, controlled by Decoe and Bocoe. The gorilla robot hits its chest, to the robots' dismay.

"Oh! E65 is going ape!"

"Stop monkey around, we have a mission to complete," Bocoe hugs his seat. The robot roars.

"Time to go," The robot looks down at Eggman.

"Dr. Eggman, we will contact you when we find Sonic and Sophia."

"Ugh, don't fail me!" He calls out, still surrounded by the crocs.

"Yes doctor. Take off, E65." The rocket boosters power up and the robot gorilla lands in the trees.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic and Sophia are running through the plains. "Ha ha!" Sonic has his arms behind his quills. "I love it here cuz there's plenty of room to run around." He moves around like a plane, Sophia giggling at him.

They continue on as they're looking for their friends. "Tails and Chris must've landed the X Tornado somewhere around here."

"I only hope that they are safe," Sophia turns to him before her face is full of confusion. Sonic turns to his left to see a cheetah running right next to them.

"Well, you're pretty fast for a kitty cat." The cheetah grins at them, trying to keep up with their speed.

"So, you want a race, huh?" Sonic asks confidently and Sophia glances down at its legs. "Well, you are pretty speedy compared to all the other animals on this slow pokey planet, but on the raceway we're a real tiger," Sonic speeds over and carries the cheetah in his hands. They both go faster than the cheetah combined. The cheetah looks scared for his life, but Sonic just smirks and goes into super speed mode, Sophia doing the same.

* * *

At a construction site not too far away, some workers are drilling into the ground while others are creating more space. Tails and Chris have discovered the construction site.

"I wonder what they're building here," Tails murmurs as they stare at it.

"Isn't this a nature preserve?" Chris wonders, as it is Africa.

"Get it moving down there!" Two working men named Boris and Sergei are overlooking the whole construction.

"Honey, we have deadline to meet with!" The shorter man shouts.

"Boris," Sergei crosses his arms. "We need to get this done quick and get out of here."

Chris and Tails step up to them, having gotten out of the plane. "Uh, sir? Could you tell us what you're building?"

The two men turn to them in confusion. "How did you get here? This is restricted area. Is dangerous. Can't you see they're building a dam?"

"A dam?!" Chris exclaims in shock.

"What's a dam?" Tails wonders, as they don't have those where he's from.

"It's something you build when you wanna hold back the water from a river or lake," Chris explains.

"But Chris, I, uh..." Tails looks around as there doesn't seem to be any water anywhere nearby the area. "I don't see any water around here."

"Yeah. How come you're building a dam here, sir?" Chris questions and Tails looks around.

"You are being like that elephant over there. Too nosey." Tails spies the animals watching the construction sight, and they don't look too happy about it. "Is none of your business what we are doing."

Tails turns around to Sergei. "But if you guys thought about what will happen to the wildlife around here after you're done building this thing?"

"Who cares about wild lives? Ivan, come here and introduce yourself to these pests," Sergei demands, and a large construction worker cracks his knuckles, chuckling. "Now go get lost or I'll send Ivan here to find you. Let's go." They go away onto their business and Tails turns to the animals.

"Listen up, you losers! You're just a bunch of wimps! You deserve to lose your home!" All of the animals look sad and Chris looks down at him, confused yet worried.

"You okay?"

Tails doesn't answer, sagging as he realizes what he just did. "Sorry. It's just..."

" _Back in the world I came from..."_

 _Tails was being held by one of the local animals. "No! No, please don't! Leave it alone, you guys! Ah, no keep away!" One of them smashed Tails' invention, breaking it. He walked through the forest, crying a little as he looked at his destroyed gadget. He looked up and saw someone he never met before speeding to a stop._

 _Sonic the Hedgehog._

 _He looked around and Tails hid behind a bush, watching him as he sniffed around. Sonic sped off into the forest, leaving Tails in amazement._

" _Wow, that guy's cool! I wonder where he's going," He ran as fast as he can to catch up with the blue hedgehog. He didn't find him, but came across a beach and a red biplane parked on the sand. He climbed up to the pilot seat. "Wow, this plane looks pretty fast, but I bet I can make it even faster."_

 _He started to_ _tinker with it, even painting it blue like the hedgehog he said. A red shoe stepped onto the beach._

" _What do you think you're doing?"_

 _Tails turned around to see a smug Sonic. He jumped down, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, but when I see a machine, I can't help myself. I hope you don't mind, I changed the engine to make it faster."_

" _Hm," Sonic sounded intrigued. "I like what you did with the color too." Tails laughed happily._

" _Come and see what else I did."_

 _Sonic walked up to the plane. "So, you've been following me around all morning to check out my airplane?" Tails' eyes widened as he was caught. "Or is there something else you want?"_

" _Well," Tails turned to him, looking a little nervous. "You see...I like to build and repair stuff, so they all make fun of me. You looked cool, so I followed you and when I found your plane, I figured I fix it up and we could be friends! If you want to."_

" _Well, what's your name, pal?" Sonic asked, finding Tails' words genuine._

" _Miles Prower, uh, but my friends call me Tails," Tails scratched his chin slightly._

" _My name's Sonic. Nice job, Tails. I could use a mechanic, and a new friend."_

 _Tails looked shocked at him. "You mean it?"_

 _Sonic gave him a thumbs up. "You bet! I know Princess Sophia, and she'd love to have a mechanic too!"_

" _Ah!" Tails gasped in shock, as he had never met her. "You've met her?"_

" _Yeah! We can go there right now!"_

"Everybody picked on me," Tails tells Chris. "But after I met Sophia, she helped me see that my inventions are really useful. And after she saw what I could do for my home, she made me her royal mechanic. She didn't pick on me like everyone else."

 _If somebody doesn't stop these bullies, they'll wreck this place and I won't let that happen!_

He turns around sharply to the construction site. "You two take your bulldozers and get out!" He demands.

"This little furball is really starting to get on my nerves," Sergei comments, Boris growling.

"If you don't stop, those animals will lose their home! You better close this construction site now or I'll close it myself!" Tails threatens, a bulldozer moving behind him, threatening to crush him underneath it. He screams and runs to Chris.

"Uh oh." Tails hides behind the boy and Boris places his hands on his hips.

"Next time you bother with us, we dig hole and drop you in!" He walks away, Chris and Tails gasping.

"You know, Tails, we're gonna need some help to stop this dam from getting built," Chris states.

"But who? What would Sophia do...?"

Chris turns around to see the animals, showing that they want to help, all of them with a determined look on their faces.

"Okay!" Tails exclaims happily.

They've returned to Station Square with all of the animals, gathering a crowd. "Listen up, everybody! We have to work together!"

"We have to fight to protect the nature preserve and stop that dam!" Tails yells, the citizens immediately agreeing.

* * *

Before long, a large protest crowd has begun in front of the dam construction site. The construction workers have to hold them back.

"But we built this dam to generate power for your homes to run blenders and other electric devices," Sergei explains nervously, but that only makes them more upset. "Da, okay." They both turn to see Tails and Chris standing behind a gate, smiling at their success.

"So those two brought this mob here!" Boris says angrily.

"This is restricted area. You must all leave here at once!" Sergei tells the angry mob as the workers continue their progress. They don't budge and the two give nervous looks. Tails hugs Chris to celebrate.

* * *

They've driven off into the jungle and Sergei starts to unload gasoline cans from the back of the jeep. "Have no fear, Boris. The dam will be finished and we will be rich."

"But without water here, how can dam make power?" Boris wonders.

"Is dry now, but pouring this gas on plants and setting it on fire will cause a natural disaster. Then plants burn up, rainwater will have nowhere to flow. Soon, homeland will flood and people will beg us to finish dam. And we will make them to pay," Sergei explains his plan.

"Sergei, I am loving this plan."

Something moves behind them and they turn to see E65 pushing back trees. They scream in fear of the gorilla robot. "A monkey monster!"

"We have intruded its territory!" Boris kneels, starting to cry. "We are sorry!" Bocoe and Decoe notice the two men.

"They are not Sonic or Sophia."

"Neither of them bears a resemblance to a blue hedgehog or pink-haired princess."

"Like that," Bocoe points forward, "You see?" He can see Sonic and Sophia running in the distance.

"But that really is Sonic and Sophia!" Decoe exclaims.

"Move in, E65. Go catch Sophia and Sonic now," Bocoe orders and the monkey robot pumps its chest, startling the two.

"Pound on them, not us!" Decoe exclaims nervously.

"That's enoooough!" Bocoe shouts, hugging his chair. The monkey mech stops and charges at the two.

"Wanna challenge us, chimp?" Sonic asks and they run right underneath E65, causing the robot to trip and fall face-first into the ground. Sophia and Sonic speed right past Boris and Sergei, stopping at a tree.

"Yoo-hoo!" Sophia waves over. "Mangy ape!"

E65 charges at them again, the two jumping off a branch. The robot rips it off before disappearing into the jungle, becoming invisible, shocking Sergei and Boris.

"Sergei, please, let's forget the dam," Boris pleads, sweating a little.

"No way. Grab the gasoline cans," Sergei orders.

"Okay." The two of them run into the forest, each of them holding gasoline cans. Sophia and Sonic eventually stop running to look behind them.

"Ha," Sonic places his hands on his hips. "Lost it. That big ape moves more like a slug." Suddenly, E65 lands right behind them and delivers a punch to Sonic, sending him flying.

"Huh?!" Sophia turns around only for E65 to pick her up and spin her around, throwing her to the grass. She has a dizzy look on her face. Sonic groans, sitting up.

"That big slug just slugged me!" But it's no longer in front of them. Sonic sees Sophia and bends down to her. "Princess, are you okay?"

"Perhaps if I was not dizzy, I would say yes," Sophia holds her head and she sees that the robot isn't there. Using its invisibility, E65 turns visible and kicks them.

* * *

Sergei and Boris are about to pour the gasoline. "You will pour gas on trees. I like fire," Sergei states to a sweating Boris.

"Yes Sergei."

Eggman approaches them in his Egg Mobile. "I beg your pardon." They turn to him in confusion. "Did either of you gents see a blue hedgehog and a pink-haired brat run by here?"

They sigh wearily at all they've been through today. "Another crazy weirdo."

Eggman growls at the insult. "So I'm a crazy weirdo, am I? Well, I have news for you, Mr. Bigshot! I'm going to cut you down to size!" He presses a pink button, firing a green laser and cutting down the tops of some trees close to the two men. This frightens the two, making them run away.

"Forget dam!"

"We go home now!"

Eggman laughs as they run, "That's right, keep running. You're just like that lily-livered Sonic and Sophia. Ha! Speak of the daredevils," He floats away.

Sophia and Sonic are searching for E65. _Eggman built this robot with camouflage_ _ability. How can we defeat something we can't even see? She'd need an infrared scanner..._

E65 comes down out of nowhere, turning invisible once again. Sophia and Sonic get up from the grass, hearing laughter. They look up with a snarl to see Eggman approaching them.

"You've met your match!"

"Eggman!" Sonic realizes, both of them standing up.

"E65 strikes without warning!" He explains, E65 popping out of nowhere and punching them. He comes back once more for another punch delivered to Sophia and Sonic. Eggman laughs at his ongoing success. "E65 will make a monkey out of her royal highness and Sonic!"

"Where's that robot?" Sonic demands after all the beatings.

"Sonic, we may not have our sense of sight...but we do have other senses," Sophia hints with a wink. Sonic catches onto her plan.

"Yeah, you're right!" They both close their eyes. _We can't see that thing, so we'll have to hear it._ They could hear it moving around and Sophia opens her eyes, pointing forward. They dart off in one direction, straight into E65. Sophia uses her invisibility and jumps up behind the robot, swinging a powerful kick at him. E65 falls onto his back and they run off.

"Get back here, Sonic and Sophia, you cowards!" Eggman yells and Sophia turns around while running.

"No, come and get us, Eggman!" Sonic taunts.

"The only coward around here is you," Sophia points to him.

"Don't just lie there! Follow them!" Eggman orders E65 and he sits up. Sophia waves in a taunting way and speeds away.

Sergei and Boris are driving away in their jeep when the two friends catch up, running right past them. They both have shocked looks, wondering what they just saw and if they even imagined it. Eggman and E65 soon pass them as well.

"Let us alone!" Boris calls out. Sonic looks behind him before they go even faster.

"Now that everything's okay here, Chris and I are gonna go back home," Tails tells the happy animals at their succeeded goal.

"We're really glad that your preserve is safe again," Chris states and Tails turns to him.

"Let's go look for Sonic and Sophia now."

Chris nods in agreement. He sees something as at that moment, Sonic and Sophia come running into view. "Sophia! Sonic!" He calls out, Tails waving to them.

"Hey!"

Sophia and Sonic smile happily, coming to a stop. "What have you guys been up to today?"

"Have you explored the area?" Sophia wonders.

"We stopped these guys from building a huge dam and saved a nature preserve!" Chris reports, Sophia glancing at Tails.

"Oh?" She asks, intrigued. "Really?"

"Well, yeah..." Tails rubs his neck sheepishly. "Actually, it was-"

Chris gives a shocked sound. "There they are! Hurry!" Eggman shouts as they're still chasing after the two. Chris and Tails sweat, giving a look of shock that he's here.

"What do we do now?"

Sonic smiles at them. "We can take care of this!"

Sophia and Sonic run right into the construction area, E65 and Eggman right on their heels.

"Get them now!"

They come to a stop and E65 tries to camouflage, but it doesn't work all the way. It's stepped in front of a construction machine and some of him is still visible.

"Huh, I think we just spotted its weak spot," Sonic rubs his chin.

"It can be seen against all of these machines since it is one itself," Sophia murmurs, looking around.

"Oh no!" Eggman panics, "E65 camouflages itself when you see it next to plants and rocks, but not when it's up against metal!" Sonic and Sophia attack E65 and it becomes completely visible. "I must get rid of everything metal!" Eggman, wanting to defeat them, starts firing missiles and lasers at all of the machines in the site, destroying them. "Soon E65 will be able to turn invisible again!"

Sergei and Boris arrive on the scene in their jeep, witnessing Eggman destroying the site.

"There won't be a scrap of metal left here!"

"We got no dam, no equipment, no nothing," Sergei sags at their failure and a crane is completely blown to bits. Sonic and Sophia start attacking E65, not giving it a single chance to protect itself.

"Sophia and Sonic are whoomphing us big time!"

"We better get out of here quick!"

The gorilla robot falls on its back, the two robots evacuating. "This gorilla is a goner!" Bocoe exclaims nervously and he reaches out to them, but to no avail.

"Sonic! Princess!" Tails throws two rings and they catch them. They use them to power themselves up.

"Let's end this now!"

"Shall we?" Sophia turns to Sonic and he nods. Their auras appear and E65 stands up. They leap into the air.

"Bye bye!" Sonic says and they go into Super Spin mode, bursting through E65 and ultimately destroying it as there's a huge explosion.

"Go Sonic and Sophia!" Chris and Tails cheer, pumping their fists. Sophia takes Sonic and lands safely. They give Eggman a triumphant smirk.

"Okay, Sophia and Sonic! Now it's just you and me!" He points at them in a taunting way.

"Ready when you are, Eggman!" Sonic declares, Sophia raising a hand and waving Eggman forward.

"Ready!"

"Us as well," Sophia pulls out her sword and a few seconds later, Eggman is running away, his Egg Mobile destroyed.

"I'll be back!" He yells as he and his robots run like the boastful cowards they are. Sophia lowers her hand to Sonic and he gives her a low-five. They hear laughing and look to see Bokkun arriving. He lands in front of Sophia and Sonic.

"I have a message for you! Here!" He puts down his backpack and pulls out a mini TV. Sonic and Sophia glance at each other. "It's from Dr. Eggman, of course." He turns it on to show Eggman's scared face.

"You think you've defeated me, but I'm still in command here!" Sonic and Sophia frown at that, arms crossed. "And to prove it, I'm going to wear...have Bokkun here perform a little tap dance!"

"Erm...is this really necessary?" Sophia murmurs, sweating at the back of her head. Bokkun looks uncomfortable with it as well. He does it, but he doesn't like it.

"So embarrassing!" He cries as he takes his bag and flies off. They just stare at him, wondering what just happened.

* * *

Later that day, the police have arrived and they arrest Sergei and Boris. The construction site is also closed down.

"You stopped those creeps!" Sonic winks at the two, giving a thumbs up.

"Excellent work, boys," Sophia smiles at them.

"Yeah!" They both nod, Chris thinking to himself.

"But Eggman helped. If he hadn't made us crash, we never would have been here to save the animals."

"You're right!" Tails agrees, both of them laughing. The police van takes off, the cheetah glancing at his two rivals. Sonic laughs as they look at the sunset.

"I did not expect us being so close to Eggman like this," Sophia places a finger on her chin. "But fate works in strange ways, I suppose...Tails, I am very proud of what you did today."

"Huh? You are?" Tails looks up at her as she watches the sunset.

"Normally, you would turn the other way due to your past," Tails laughs nervously, as he did do that, "But with these animals," She turns around to the wildlife. "You stood up for them and saved their home from those vile men. I think you'll make an excellent mechanic one day with your big heart."

He smiles at her happily, looking back at the sunset.


	19. Sonic's Scream Test

Bajy: Love it! I dislike Sergei and Boris. Our heroes save the day once again! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thank you. And yeah, they were jerks.**

Guest: That was amazing

 **Angel: Thank yas *winks***

Ichabod: Specific? Whaddyou mean? It was a song reference! "Open your heart, it's gonna be alright!" It was in Sonic Adventure, by Crush 40! Good grief...

 **Angel: Well excuuuuse me if some people, i.e. me, don't know that! So just accept that and move on.**

Ichabod: Make no mistake, I'm gonna TRY to do something great somehow...I'll even settle for a measly cameo in the next chapter!

Kenny: A cameo? Boy, you MUST be desperate. Sure you wouldn't be okay with appearing in her next story?

Ichabod: With how long Sonic X is? Who KNOWS when that's gonna be?

 **Angel: Ehhh...well, there is TMNT 2018, but the poll's still going on right now. And after that, I wouldn't know what I would do after this story is over. Well, actually, I do, but that story I have on hiatus right now is gonna take just as long.**

A castle sits on the middle of a lake. There are a bunch of different rooms and faint laughter can be heard, which was, to be honest, a little unnerving. Sonic yawns out loud, looking bored out of his mind as he lays on one of the bricks.

"You looked fantastic in that last take, Lindsey, but I'd like to give it one more go, take it slower, and let those tears go this time." The director orders, "And Roger, please try to show some feeling this take." Lindsey looks over and waves to Tails, Amy, Chris, and Sophia. She's in an emerald green dress while wearing a wig. Chris' mother is shooting a new movie, having invited his friends as well.

"I think we should go with a 65 millimeter here."

Chris sees his mother and waves back. "Ella." They look to their right to see the maid in a wig and in a different outfit. "What happened to your hair?"

"Did Mom get you a part in the movie?" Chris wonders.

"That's right. They needed someone to play an extremely young and beautiful housekeeper, so they typecast me! How do I look?" She answers excitedly, showing herself off.

"Erm..." Sophia looks at her clothes, not knowing how to answer that.

"Alright, let's go! Places, please!" The director orders.

"But Brett, what will I do without you?" Lindsey asks, her face lighted up more for the look. "You can't leave me now!" Ella stands by her and 'Brett' starts to walk away. "I need you, Brett! Brett, don't go!" She falls to her knees, sobbing while covering her mouth. The director has a proud look on his face.

"And cut! Print it!"

"She sounds like she's really into that guy Brett," Amy states to Chris and they both laugh, as they know she's married. Lindsey steps up to them.

"Was I good?" She asks.

"Great," Chris replies.

"The castle looks very authentic along with the costumes," Sophia smiles as she eyes the castle.

"Oh, I thought you were bringing your friends," Lindsey looks around. "Where are they?"

"We're right here!" Tails exclaims and she notices them.

"My, you look like a real fox! It's amazing what the makeup department can do with a little hair and a pot of glue these days," She says in amazement and Tails glances at his two human friends.

"Didn't you tell her about us yet?" Tails wonders.

"I advised you it would be best to inform your parents because of Mr. Tanaka and Ella," Sophia warns him.

"I tried, but Mom's clueless sometimes," Chris shrugs sheepishly. "Hey, I haven't seen Cream and Cheese. Wonder where they went?"

"Don't ask me!" Tails shrugs, as he didn't know either.

"Rewind that!"

"Huh?" They turn to the camera screen to see the scene they just shot.

"Hold it!"

Two little heads are poking over a bush as Lindsey's character is crying: Cream and Cheese. "There, you see!" Chris and Sophia cringe at the screen as the crew and cast are confused. "I didn't call for animals in this shot!"

"Don't worry, DB, we can erase it digitally in post," one of the crew members explains.

"Good idea. Let's print it! Alright, let's move on to the next scene, people!"

Chris and Sophia let out a sigh of relief, as they've dodged a bullet.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic is exploring the interior of the castle, smiling. "Sophia would love this!" He walks further inside.

The filming crew are getting ready for the next scene. Chris and the others are sitting on a stairway nearby. "We'll be at camera range over here."

"Okay, rehearse it!" The writer orders. Lindsey runs down the courtyard sidewalk.

"Brett, please don't leave me! Come back! What would I do? Where should I go?" The camera suddenly hits something, which turns out to be a small statue of a talisman on a pedestal.

"Huh?" The cameraman asks in confusion. "I didn't notice this thing before? What is it, some kind of crazy sculpture? Guess I'll have to move it out of the way." He touches it and something starts to happen in the area Sonic's in. "On second thought, I'll move the camera." When his hands start to move the camera instead, everything seems normal with Sonic.

"I don't think this is part of the movie," Sonic says in concern.

"Come back! What would I do? Where should I go?" Lindsey runs past the camera, but now the talisman is in the way of the shot.

"This thing's still in the way." He picks up the talisman and puts it on the ground. Once again, something strange happens with Sonic, but when he takes a look around the room, he sees nothing.

"Places everybody!"

"And action!"

* * *

That night, the crew are doing a scene in a dark corridor. The whole place is quiet, a little too quiet. Lindsey is using a candelabra to light her way, as this part of the castle doesn't have lighting. She passes by a wall that is covered in strange symbols.

"Uh, DB, there's a noise," A crew member calls out.

"Cut!"

Sonic looks out over the courtyard from an upstairs window. He could see the plants and fountains from this view, along with all the trees planted around. He smiles and goes off to see what more this place had to offer.

"Chris asked for my autograph!" Ella is telling Lindsey as they're preparing for the next scene.

"Can't find anything wrong with the sound on my end," the sound engineer reports.

"Are we good to go here?" The script writer wonders, looking over.

"Yeah. Let's try it again," He answers with a smile, thinking it was just a one time thing.

"Alright, Lindsey, action!" A click is heard and Lindsey walks through the corridor with the candelabra again like before, but the noise appears again. No one else could really hear it, though.

"Sorry, they're still noise," The sound engineer calls out.

"Cut! That's a wrap," The director declares. "I hate working on location," He huffs as he stands up.

* * *

Lindsey has taken her wig off and is preparing for bed, as she had to do more filming in the morning. She applies something on her face while sitting in front of the mirror. Lindsey was powdering it for the movie and her face needed to look as nice as possible. Someone knocks and comes in. She turns around to see Sophia and Chris.

"We just came to say goodnight," Chris starts, Sophia holding a silver tray covered by a lid.

"And to bring you some refreshments for your work in the morning," She holds out the tray.

"You're such considerate children," She tells them, taking the tray.

"Yeah," Chris places his hands behind his back. "Anyway, we'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Chris, Sophia!" She hugs them close. "Sweet dreams, my darlings." She felt like Sophia was the daughter she never had. And while Sophia was here, she'd be like a substitute mother in the meantime.

"You too, Mom," Chris wishes as Sophia pats her back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mrs. Thorndyke," Sophia bows her head.

"Oh, please, just call me Lindsey!" Mrs. Thorndyke waves it off. "Off you go."

"We'll see you on the set in the morning, Mom," The two wave to her as they leave.

"Until the morrow, my loves!"

* * *

The sound man is walking down the corridor with a sound detecting device, looking for the noise. "I can't sleep till I find that noise."

Chris arrives in his room, yawning and he stops as he sees only Tails, who is reading on a bed. "Where is everybody, Tails?"

"The girls are having a sleepover in Ella's room," Tails explains, still reading.

"And Sonic?" Chris then asks.

"He's probably exploring around as usual."

"I sure hope Sonic doesn't get into any trouble," Chris thinks to himself. But as always with Sonic, trouble is not far behind. Not that it was his fault. "Sophia must love it here, huh?"

"Yeah," Tails looks up. "She couldn't stop talking about how much the castle reminds her of home and her parents."

"She must miss it that bad," Chris murmurs, as he remembers how Sophia's had to give up her clothes and jewels. As a princess, it must've been hard to do. Having to give up everything you've ever known.

"Yeah...but she's changed, Chris. Station Square did that. She may miss home, but she likes her new self."

Sophia looks out the window as her friends are having fun. The princess is wearing her nightgown with her flowing pink hair down. She looks up at the moon and sighs a little, placing a hand on her cheek as she's thinking of her parents. Where they were, what they were doing, and if they were okay. After all this time, they must be worried since she has no way to talk to them. She looks down at her communication device as it's still not working and puts it away in her pocket.

 _My parents would surely love this place...if only they were around to see it._

Sonic is walking around outside in the courtyard. He stops when he sees the pedestal that the talisman statue had been on. He goes up to it, and then looks down to see the talisman that the camera man had placed on the ground earlier that day. He picks it up and examines it.

With the sound man, he's still walking the corridor when he finally finds the area where the noise is coming from. "Oh, it's here!" It's coming from the wall that Lindsey had passed while filming that scene, the one with strange symbols. As he listens, the sound becomes clear: laughter. Behind him, a few little ghosts appear! "Sounds like some kids are playing." He turns around, but the ghosts disappear immediately.

* * *

Lindsey, still powdering her face, hears the same laughter. "Chris, honey? Sophia?" She looks towards her door, thinking it was them. She goes back to what she's doing, but the noise can still be heard. Lindsey starts to get angry, turning around.

"Alright, come out here! This little joke has gone far enough!" The laughing stops as she looks around. "I thought I heard something. Perhaps it was just the wind." Something changes in the mirror behind her. She sits back down with her eyes closed. "It's been such a long day." She sees her reflection in the mirror, but it's not her reflection! It has her hair, shirt, and necklace. But instead of her normal face, the face is pure white, with large, red and yellow circular eyes with black pupils. Its mouth is open in a large grin, showing large, sharp, black teeth.

"Well hello there," It greets her in a deep voice. Lindsey gasps at it.

* * *

Outside, Sonic looks at the talisman. The one end of it has a crescent moon mark on it, and the other end has a sun mark on it.

"I wonder what this thing is for," He says to himself.

Back at the castle, the crew is on a frantic search for Lindsey, who has disappeared.

"Lindsey! Answer me, are you alright?"

"Hey Mom!" Chris calls out, searching outside with Tails.

"Are you here, Mrs. Thorndyke?" Ella calls out from inside the castle. Amy, Sophia, Cream, and Cheese are with her, helping with the search party. They go down the hall with the strange symbols.

"We're all worried about you," Cream says as Cheese clings onto her, looking frightened.

"Perhaps we should call the proper authorities," Sophia suggests and Cream starts shaking.

"Do you hear something, Cheese?" Suddenly, the laughter from before starts.

"I don't like the sound of this, Ella," Amy comments, her and Cream moving closer to the maid. Sophia looks up at the ceiling, trying to determine where the laughter is coming from.

"What on Earth...?" She murmurs as she tries to make sense of it.

"It's coming from behind this wall," Ella whimpers slightly, looking a little scared too. "Excuse me, is that you, Mrs. Thorndyke?" She knocks on it, but gets more laughing in response.

"I better go get some help!" Amy runs off, but is stopped by a ghostly arm coming out of the wall. Suddenly, more ghostly arms surround them and they all scream.

"Sounds like Amy!" Sonic looks up at the castle, having heard them.

Chris and Tails reach them first. "What's happening, Amy?" They're shocked to find ghostly arms coming from the wall as Amy tries to pull Ella. She's halfway out of the strange, symbolic wall. Sophia tries to help her, to no avail.

"Help us save Ella!" Amy calls out and the ghostly arms disappear into the wall. They pull on Ella's arm, trying to free her, but it's no use. Ella's arm is sucked into the wall.

"Something pulled them all right through the wall!" Amy exclaims as Tails and Chris look in shock. Sonic then appears.

"What's going on?" He asks, Sophia turning to him.

"We were searching for Lindsey and then we were attacked by ghosts," she explains.

"I don't believe in ghosts," Sonic states, but then some of the ghosts' heads poke out of the wall. He kicks the wall, revealing a large, pink-purple wall.

"What is that?" Chris murmurs in confusion.

"That must be how Ella disappeared...perhaps Lindsey, as well," Sophia assumes, glancing at the others. Ghost arms reach out of the wall and grab at them. Chris, Tails, and Amy run, Sonic and Sophia trying to attack the hands. They turn intangible, so their attacks are useless.

"Maybe there is such a thing as ghosts after all!" Sonic exclaims.

Tails is suddenly grabbed by the ghosts and pulled towards the wall. "It grabbed Tails!" Chris and Amy shout at the same time. Tails disappears into the wall.

"Bring him back!" Sonic demands, but they go after him and Sophia next. They jump in the air to dodge and the hands grab him while Sophia lands safely.

"Sonic!" Amy, Chris, ad Sophia shout as he's pulled towards the wall.

"Sophia, catch!" Sonic throws the talisman and she catches it in her hands.

"What's that, Sonic?" Chris wonders as Sophia stares down at it.

"I'm not sure," Sonic answers as the pieces of the outer wall start to piece themselves back together. "But it fell off a pedestal outside and I think it's got something to do with all this!" The wall then seals him off, completing the outer wall.

"No, Sonic!" Amy cries out, angrily striking the wall repeatedly with her Piko Piko Hammer. "Bring him back! You hear me?! Right now! You can't. Take. My. Sonic," She starts to cry as Sophia looks at the talisman in her hands, wondering if it really did have something to do with the ghosts and the people disappearing.

* * *

The next morning, they've found the pedestal Sonic told them about before he disappeared.

"This must be where Sonic found that thing," Amy deduces. "But I don't see what this has to do with those ghosts."

"Well, I'm not sure, but there's something written here. 'Appears under the moon, disappears under the sun.' Wonder what that means," Chris says and Sophia looks between the talisman and the space above the plaque.

Chris then hears wind, and feels a draft coming from underneath the pedestal. "What, Chris?"

"I feel a breeze coming from the base. There must be a hidden passageway underneath," He explains, to Sophia's confusion.

"For what purpose?"

Amy takes out her hammer and hits the side of the pedestal, making it move to the side and revealing stairs going down somewhere.

"Whoa..."

"Ah..."

"Very strange..."

"You think we should go take a look?" Chris suggests.

"We may be able to rescue Sonic. Let's go," Amy starts to walk, but Chris stops her.

"Hold on. It could be dangerous down there."

"I know that," She admits, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was rescue Sonic.

"But don't you think we should let the police check it out? I mean..."

Amy doesn't answer and goes down the stairs anyway. Sophia shakes her head as Chris continues to protest.

"But Amy, we..."

"Chris," He turns to the pink-haired girl. "Amy is not going to let someone else handle it in this situation. So let us explore this passageway and move on."

"Alright," He goes downstairs in defeat, Sophia following him.

"I thought you were scared, Chris," Amy says as they go down the stairs.

"Of course I'm scared," he admits. "Aren't you two?"

"No," they both answer in unison. A drop of water falls from the ceiling drips onto Amy's shoulder, causing her to freak out.

"Perhaps we all are a bit frightened," Sophia comments, shaking her head. Even she had to admit, their surroundings weren't helping.

Sonic and the others who went missing are laying on the ground, unconscious. Behind them are two small ghosts and the king himself, King Boom Boo. The two small ghosts' eyes turn large, black, and yellow.

"Remember Chris, ghosts love it if they see you're scared," Amy warns him as they reach the bottom of the stairs. "So if you run into one, stay calm."

"I'll pretend like I don't even notice them," Chris states and Sophia hears something.

"Erm...that would be difficult to pull off," She murmurs as they hear it too. They look around and see more ghosts flying towards them. They fly circles around them and Amy grabs the talisman, holding it up in the air. The ghosts freeze, then start flying away in a panic from the way they came.

"It seems like they're scared of that thing," Chris realizes, Amy smirking.

"Alright. Let's show those ghosts that we can spook them," She feels much braver as she charges after the ghosts.

"Amy, wait!" Chris and Sophia run to catch up with her. They come to another room, which seems to be empty.

"Where'd the ghosts go?" She wonders as Sophia looks around.

"They must be around here someplace," Chris says, looking at the pink-haired girl. "Sophia, can't you use your x-ray vision?"

"Chris, they are ghosts. If Sonic and I cannot touch them, it would surely be just as hard to sense them," Sophia explains, trying to use her super hearing.

"They can go through walls. Maybe they already escaped," Amy suggests, Sophia shaking her head.

"No. It is very faint, but I can still sense them around," Sophia looks down and Chris points.

"They're heading down those stairs!" Amy looks in their direction as the ghosts go down some stairs and through a door.

Sonic starts to gain consciousness and looks up in confusion to see the ghosts. He gasps as he sees King Boom Boo standing there. He laughs deeply as he just stares.

Amy, Chris, and Sophia stare at the door in front of them, not knowing what to expect. "Are you ready, Amy?"

"Let's do it!" Amy declares and they go through the door, but for safety, Amy holds out the statue in case there are ghosts around. Nothing happens and they peek through the door. "Is anybody here?" They step in as the room is empty and dark, except for a little light coming in from a small window.

"It looks like the ghosts led us to a dead end," Chris says.

"Sonic must be here," Amy states hopefully.

"But there's nobody around. Where could they be keeping him?"

"Or our friends," Sophia finishes, "But something is not right with this room. I can feel it."

"Sonic!" Amy calls out, getting no response. "Sonic!"

"Amy, Sophia, Chris!" He calls their names. "I'm up here!"

They look up and see him on the ceiling, Tails, Lindsey, and Ella behind him.

"Sonic!"

"There's not much time, so listen!" He yells. "I've always loved you, Amy."

"Huh?" They look in shock, as that did not sound like Sonic.

"Well, I'm sure you know how I feel," She looks down bashfully. King Boom Boo is speaking in Sonic's voice.

"You can free me if you put that stone into the space on the wall."

Amy blushes, "Right Sonic! I am sure glad we brought this thing along." She looks around for the space and sees the small window. "That must be where it goes." She goes to put the talisman on the window.

"I said DON'T put that thing over there, Amy! That's how the ghosts get power!" Sonic says in his normal voice, but they can't hear him.

"Is this where it goes?" Amy looks up at the ceiling.

"Wonderful, Amy. Now place that stone into the space on the wall with the moon side facing upwards," The deep-voiced Sonic tells her.

The sun side is facing her. "What moon side?" She turns it around. "Oh, I see."

"I don't think this is a good idea," Chris warns.

"Why would Sonic tell us these instructions? He stated that the talisman might have something to do with the ghosts," Sophia explains, and to her, it seemed kinda weird that Sonic would know those exact specifics with the talisman.

"It'll be fine," Amy tries to assure them. "Sonic knows exactly what he's doing."

"NO, Amy, don't!" The regular-voiced Sonic yells.

"You're the best, Amy," The deep-voiced Sonic compliments her.

"Oh, it was nothing," She places a hand on her cheek as she blushes. "I'm just glad we're going to be back together again."

The crescent moon on the talisman glows, and in a flash of light, King Boom Boo appears with some of his ghosts.

"Where did he come from?!" Amy exclaims in shock.

"Thank you, Amy," King Boom Boo says in his deep Sonic voice, revealing to them that it was him who pretended to be Sonic, tricking Amy.

"Hey, that was you pretending to be Sonic!" Amy realizes, angry.

"You don't have a chance against that thing. Don't even think about taking it on!" Sonic warns, Sophia nodding.

"Sonic has a point. You cannot even touch-"

Amy pulls out her hammer, ignoring their warnings. "I'm not letting them make a fool out of me!" She attacks them, but they disappear, causing Amy to go off balance. King Boom Boo grabs her, all three of them gasping. "No! Let me go!" Amy struggles and a Boom enters her body, making her pass out. King Boom Boo places her on the ground, Chris and Sophia running up to her.

"Amy! Please, Amy, open your eyes for me."

"Amy, wake up," Sophia says softly and she suddenly wakes up, her eyes now black, red, and yellow. Her mouth is a large grin with black, sharp teeth. She gets up, like a ragdoll, floating in the air as she is now possessed.

"Stop interfering with my plans or you'll never leave this castle!" She says and starts chasing them with her Piko Piko Hammer.

"Amy!" They shout as she slams down the hammer.

"Amy, refrain yourself!" Sophia warns, but she doesn't listen. Chris trips on a rock and Sophia bends down to him. They look up to see Amy cornering them.

"Amy, please don't do it!" Chris yells and she slams it down, both of them moving out of the way. The ghosts just continue laughing.

"Sonic, help us!" Chris shouts as Amy is still chasing them with a laugh.

"I'll help you, but first you have to get me out of here!" Sonic calls out.

"How?" Sophia yells in disbelief as Amy prepares a final blow. She would do it herself, but...she didn't want to hurt Amy, even if she is possessed. Sure, being chased wasn't the best solution, but it was the right thing to do since the talisman was no help.

"Stop, Amy," Chris warns and she prepares another blow, but she stops, as if in fear. Sophia turns around and realizes why she's suddenly like this.

"Chris," She gestures her head to the object and he sees it.

"Now I get it!"

 _Wonderful, Amy. Now place that stone in the space on the wall with the moon side facing upwards._

 _The moon side upwards..._ Chris thinks to himself. _What did it say on that pedestal? 'Appears under the moon, disappears under the sun.'_

"Hey, that's it!" Chris exclaims, taking hold of the talisman. "The ghosts show up when the moon's facing up." The ghosts realize what he's doing. "And when the sun is up, they're in big trouble," He turns it around and sunlight comes from tiles in the ceiling. Chris and Sophia shield themselves from the light and Sonic is freed. He rushes over to Amy, who falls into his arms, unconscious. The Boom leaves her body, turning her back to normal.

"Amy, are you okay?" Sonic asks the female hedgehog as she wakes up. She turns to him and smiles.

"Oh, Sonic!" She hugs him happily. "Oh, Sonic!"

"Please, Amy, we still have to stop the ghost attack!" He tells her as the small ghosts attack them. "I'll show you!" Sonic attacks back, defeating some of the ghosts. Sophia helps out too using her natural fighting abilities.

"Bring it on!" Sonic challenges and some ghosts get ready to attack Amy.

"You Booms better slip right away!" She yells and they sweat as she hits them into a wall. Five more corner her and fuse together into a larger Boom. "You creeps can't creep me out anymore!" She takes a fighting stance. "It's time to say goodbye!" She hits the ghost and it flies right past Sonic, Sophia, and King Boom Boo. The ghost crashes into the wall, its eyes rolling around. Amy huffs, placing a hand on her hip.

"Mom, wake up," Chris shakes Lindsey, who has been freed along with the others. She gets up to see her son, Ella, and Tails.

"Chris? How was I in that take?" She doesn't realize the events that have occurred.

"This isn't a movie, Mom," Chris explains to her and she frowns slightly.

"Chris!" They turn to Sophia and Sonic. "Get going now!"

"Bring the others to safety, please," Sophia turns to them.

"Here, guys!" Tails throws them rings.

"Thanks!" King Boom Boo smiles evilly, but the rings give the two the power to use their Spin Attack. Chris stops at the door.

"Go on, I'll catch up with you guys later," He says to Tails and he runs back to get the talisman. Sophia and Sonic go into sonic spin mode and Chris runs up the stairs. Sophia and Sonic slam into King Boom Boo, slamming him into the wall.

"See ya!" The two leave to go catch up with their friends.

"Let's go, Mom. We gotta hurry," Chris warns her.

"If we're going to film an action, can't I have my comfortable shoes?" She wonders and Amy looks annoyed as they're not even halfway up the stairs.

"I thought you guys would be out of this place by now," Sonic says as the two have arrived.

"Did you stop the ghost?" Chris asks.

"They didn't stand a ghost of a chance," Sonic states, sweat appearing from Sophia's hair by his joke.

"Sonic...please."

Suddenly, King Boom Boo bursts out of the wall. "What?!" Sonic exclaims in disbelief. The ghost king starts eating up the staircase. Sonic picks Lindsey up and starts running up the stairs towards the exit. Sophia does the same thing with the others.

"Okay, maybe I was wrong."

They all get outside. "Hurry, Chris!" Sophia shouts as he trips and Amy hits the pedestal back into place. Chris puts the talisman back on the pedestal and they shield themselves from the light.

"Amy, did I put the right side up?" Chris wonders as he rubs his eyes. Amy checks and it's on the moon side.

"It's the moon side!"

"So I messed up," Chris laments, Sonic giving him a wink with a thumbs up.

"Yeah, big time," But Sonic doesn't mind.

"Do not bring yourself down for mistakes people make," Sophia states, shaking her head. "Even I myself make mistakes."

"That was fun!" Lindsey exclaims, "But I didn't know this was a fantasy film. Those special effects were incredibly realistic."

The camera man, director, and a police officer run up to them. "You really had us worried," The director places a hand on Lindsey's shoulder in relief.

"Did something go wrong?" Lindsey asks curiously.

"Nobody ever got away from the ghosts down there before," the police officer explains.

"Who are they? Where did they all come from?" Chris wonders.

"Well, some folks say this place sits on an ancient burial ground. When the man who built the castle heard legends about ghosts, he laughed and said it was nonsense. Then the man disappeared in the first night he stayed here. And nobody ever saw him again...oh hey, Princess Sophia, can I get an autograph?"

Everyone sinks down in disbelief and the last thing that can be seen are two ghosts in one of the upper story windows, laughing...


	20. Cruise Blues

**Angel: Hi guys! One of my favorite episodes and it's finally complete! ^^ By the way, next week there will be no update. I have to go to Florida for a couple of days because we're taking my sister back home. I'll only be gone for less than a week though and then I start school on the 20th. Hopefully I can post other stories when I return!**

Antoniocrosthwaite73: I do remember my retelling of Sonic X before I saw this. It's not finished yet but I'll have it ready soon.

 **Angel: Just don't get any ideas from me, please ^^' After all, this one's been out longer.**

Trent Gaines: Yo this chapter was LIT! I can't wait until Shadow arrives!

 **Angel: Aw, thank you ^^ And yes, many of you have stated this, but be patient. I can only do so much XD I just finished writing a movie, for god's sake.**

Bajy: This is my least favorite episode in Sonic X, my number one least favorite, but you did a good job on this chapter none of the less, I enjoyed the bits that happened before those monstrosities appeared, in case you have not noticed I do not really like ghosts! They are a bunch of malarkey and it's just vile! Looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: But ghosts aren't real ^^'**

It's a sunny day out on the sea...well, not to Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe stuck at the bottom of the ocean. They're trying to fix and reboot the Egg Fort.

"Dr. Eggman, the main engine has been repaired," Decoe reports.

"Everything is in tip-top shape!" Bocoe says.

"Splendid!" He then pouts. "Now why does it always take you two so slow bots so long?"

"It is because Decoe is grumpy and wants to complain about everything," Bocoe states.

"This is the third time I had to fix this hunk of junk," Decoe narrows his eyes in annoyance. Eggman throws a can of soda at him. "Ow! Uh, I mean, it is a pleasure to work on such a fine machine."

"Now that's more like it," Eggman says in satisfaction.

"You better watch what you say, big mouth," Bocoe sweats a little.

"You don't think the doctor will throw me on the scrap heap, do you?" Decoe asks hopefully. Honestly, compared to the other robots, it's a wonder they've stuck around for this long.

"Now let's get going! We've gotta catch up with those pesky Sonic and Sophia!" Eggman declares.

"Aye aye, sir!" They turn back to the controls.

"Now fire up the main engine!" The engine starts to power up. "Well, so far so good. Now turn it up full blast!"

"It is purring like a kitten, doctor," Decoe replies, trying to get back on Eggman's good side. That is, if he had one. The engine then turns off, the craft failing to launch.

"Huh? What happened?"

"We have a problem, doctor," the two robots turn around. "I am afraid the turbines are malfunctioning again."

"I thought you said you fixed this contraption!" Eggman exclaims angrily.

"We did. At least, I thought we did," Decoe states. "Perhaps we can still repair it."

"Do not bet on it," Bocoe comments and Eggman turns around in his chair.

"I've had it with this broken-down bucket! Perhaps it's time to retire this old heap and introduce my newest creation," He explains, Decoe and Bocoe standing up. It seems like they had no knowledge of this.

"Say what?"

Eggman turns around with a sly smile. "Alright, I can't hold this off any longer! Have I got a surprise for you!"

* * *

Above the sea, a cruise ship goes sailing by. _We were already worn out from searching for the Chaos Emeralds and battling Dr. Eggman. Sophia and I had a long vacation from school coming up, so..._

" _I know just what you need!" Mr. Thorndyke exclaimed. "Why not take Grandpa and your friends on a cruise? I'm not using the yacht right now. You can take in some sun and maybe get a look at the glacier."_

 _So that's just what we did. Nothing but relaxation and fun in the sun! We'll get to the glaciers in about four days._

"Four days?!" Sonic exclaims in panic.

"You mean we're only halfway there?" Tails wonders, as they've been on there already for four days.

"Yachts sure do go slow, don't they?" Cream asks.

"Cruises are meant for entertainment. We should enjoy this experience while we can, my friends," Sophia points out.

"Give me a break, will ya?" Sonic is on his knees. "Come on, pal, I don't take to water. Can't you see I'm getting seasick here?"

Chris laughs nervously as he remembers Sonic's fear of water. "Please, I beg ya! I'm going crazy! Get me off of this thing!"

"Oh dear..." Sophia murmurs to herself next to Chris in her bathing suit from when they went to the Emerald Coast Resort.

* * *

 _Later that night..._

"There, I feel much better now," Chuck and the others are sitting on the couches in one of the interior cabins. Sophia wears a baby pink flowing sundress which has green dots and little lilies on it. Her dress hands from her left shoulder. Her sandals are pink with a flower on each shoe. Her hair is accessorized with flowers and thin white hairbands in an elegant low ponytail.

"Now did you take those seasick pills the doctor gave you?" Chris wonders.

"I sure did, my boy. And now that old Grandpa's feeling better, we're going to have a lot more fun," He declares, to which the others agree to. "You bet!" He laughs before he falls asleep right then and there.

"Grandpa sure is enjoying himself," Amy notes.

"Hey Chris, I know we're supposed to be relaxing and all, but what's there to do on this ship?" Tails wonders.

"There's lots of stuff to do. How bout taking a swim?" Chris suggests.

"As long as it does not end up like other of our 'vacations,' the better," Sophia crosses her arms, as their attempts to relax usually have Eggman involved. "But I have been researching about cruises and Chris is correct. There are many activities such as shuffleboard and pools to have a swim in."

Sonic just dashes around them, which they don't comment on as he's been doing this for a while.

"Tails is just being rude!" Amy stands up. "Don't pay any attention, Chris."

"Amy!" Sophia exclaims at her in shock. "How rude."

"That's right, don't forget Tails. Chris' father let us use this yacht out of the goodness of his heart. We should be grateful," Cream agrees with Amy.

Amy speeds over to the two-tailed fox, hands on her hips. "Well, Tails?"

"Heh heh, uh, okay. Uh, I'm grateful," He states nervously, not wanting the wrath of not one, but two of his female friends.

"That is enough out of you two," Sophia pushes Amy back into her seat. "I am very certain that deep down, Tails is grateful." She sits back down, picking up a slice of cake from the table and eating it.

"Tails will be okay, it's Sonic I'm worried about," Chris remarks in worry. "I think he feels trapped. I guess I'd go crazy too if I were him."

Sonic dashes by them again. "Here he comes again," Cream replies as they watch him speed by the couch.

"I've seen Sonic go stir-crazy before, but I've never seen anything as bad as this," Tails comments as he comes by once more. They're surprised because they've never seen Sonic so hyper before, but Sophia seems used to it.

"Sonic...can be very disoriented and deceitful when it comes to events such as this," Sophia slowly sips her tea. "If I were you, I would be careful on how he acts."

"Okay, it's time for a meeting," Amy walks up in his path and holds up a hand to stop him. "Halt! Let's have a little talk, Sonic."

"What about?" He wonders, though he didn't really need to ask.

"About _you,"_ She elaborates.

"About me?"

"And about the way you're acting. I've never seen such immature behavior. We're on this ship for 10 more days and 10 more nights. Get used to it! Be brave," She tells him, the others looking in surprise. He starts to panic at the thought of MORE days. "And just remember, bravery is not the absence of fear, but the facing of it. Nobody wants to see their hero carrying on like a big crybaby. They thought him to meet every challenge head-on, remember that, Sonic."

Tails and Cream look wide-eyed. "Think Amy is really getting through to him, guys?" Tails asks Sophia and Chris.

"Eh," Chris shrugs as he doesn't know.

"I would say..." Sophia starts off.

"Now go for it, hero, and keep your head held high!" Amy declares as Sonic walks off. He turns back to them and faints.

"No," Sophia finally finishes.

"He collapsed!" Amy exclaims, but he only pretended to faint. "I was too overwhelming!"

"Uh, we've got to do something. I think he's sick!" Tails says in worry.

"Okay, I'll call Dad," Chris decides, Sophia shaking her head at Sonic and his antics. She gets an idea and smiles to herself, deciding not to expose Sonic for a better reason.

* * *

The next day, the helicopter descends down onto the ship. Sonic is very excited because he's finally getting out of the ship.

Or so he thinks.

"Well, I'm off!" He says with joy. "It's been a real blast, but I gotta split!" He gives a thumbs up. "See ya!"

"Hey!" Amy realizes, placing her hands on her hips. "He isn't sick, he's a fake!"

"It's okay. After all, why make him stay on the boat if he doesn't want to?" Chris replies, but the door opens, the others' eyes widen except for Sophia. She wears a watermelon like shirt with a green mid-piece, pink shorts, green sandals, and her hair is in twin ponytails.

"Enjoy your vacay, kids! Catch ya on the flip side, huh?" He starts to walk.

"Oh, I am afraid you are not going anywhere," Sophia points forward and he shouts in surprise as he sees many senior people coming out of the helicopter. They all look in amazement at Sonic and their surroundings.

"What's going on?" Tails wonders.

"Good morning," Mr. Tanaka appears out of nowhere. "Nice day."

"Tanaka!" Chris exclaims in realization. "What are _you_ doing here? Who are all these people?"

"These people are joining us from the Silver Star Retirement home. It is Mr. Thorndyke's hope that you and your friends will learn from them. They will be your coaches, you see. Did Ms. Sophia not tell you?" He explains, the others turning to the girl. She smiles as she looks on at Sonic being touched all over.

"Coaches?"

"Tanaka, what will they coach us on?" Amy wonders.

"On how to relax," Mr. Tanaka answers.

"Properly," Sophia holds up a finger.

"You see, they have all worked hard for many years and now the time has come for them to relax. They will teach you how to as well," Mr. Tanaka elaborates.

"What better people to learn from if they are experienced in relaxation?" Sophia gestures to them.

"No thanks, Mr. Tanaka and Sophia. I just want the helicopter to take Sonic home," Chris waves his hands.

"He will remain here!" Mr. Tanaka declares, shocking the others a little. "Even a great warrior needs his rest. Constant battle not only exhausts the body, but also the mind. The warrior must relax and be rejuvenated so that when next he goes to battle, he is mightier than before!" He punches the air and Sophia clasps her hands together.

"You see, I know that Sonic will try anything to get off this yacht, so I arranged for these lovely people to come and help him relax. I have prepared for anything," Sophia explains and Sonic gives her a dirty look, accepting the challenge. "He is just as much as a battle as Eggman and I intend to win."

"Don't you think when he finds out, he'll be mad at you?" Chris asks nervously, as he knew how strong their friendship was.

"No. Even when I broke his shoes as a child, he has never gotten upset with me," Sophia shakes her head.

"It's true," Tails points out. "He's never been mad at her and they're still close friends."

Sonic ignores the seniors as the helicopter starts up. "Hey, where are you going?! What about me?"

The helicopter leaves without him and it's too far for him to jump. "No, wait," Sonic drops to his knees in agony. "Come back!" He's sad that he has to stay on the ship because Tanaka forced him to stay and enjoy. Sophia gives a sly smile as she's won this round.

* * *

 _And so, from that afternoon on, our new friends taught us all how to relax._

Tails and an elderly woman are looking at all the clouds. "Just look at that, Tails. Isn't it wonderful? Sometimes life goes by so fast, that we never take the time to appreciate the simple things. Like a blue sky and fluffy white clouds."

Tails doesn't respond, as he's trying to relax, but can't.

"I understand you and your friends are from another planet?" Another elderly woman asks Cream and Cheese. "My, it's so fascinating!"

"Yeah. We've only been here for a little while, but we like it," Cheese cheers in agreement. "Everyone's been so nice to us since we got here."

"I'm glad. How lovely. So, you come from another planet, do you?"

"Yes."

 _And so_ _the lady asked Cream the same question over and over._

Sonic is trying to get off the ship by jumping a long distance.

 _Sonic was so bored, he tried to jump ship all the way to shore, but he missed. 15 times._

The hedgehog falls into the water once again.

"Not bad," The captain looks through his binoculars. "He went about 5 nautical miles on that one."

"Hmm, little guy gets further every time."

"That Sonic can't relax for one second!" Amy exclaims in anger, turning to her left. "Sophia, it happened again!"

"Oh dear," Sophia walks up to the edge and opens her wings, starting to fly towards Sonic.

Amy kicks the air with a dejected look. "Oh, what's the use? I'll find somebody else to play shuffleboard with."

An elderly man sitting nearby laughs. "Something tells me you got a thing for that little Sonic fellow." She leaps onto the table, hiding her red cheeks.

"What makes you think that, mister?"

He laughs again. "I can tell just by looking at ya."

"Is it that easy to see?" She looks away bashfully.

"Why, sure. It's obvious. Then again Sonic probably has that effect on all the girls."

"What girls are you talking about?" Amy demands as she faces him.

* * *

Meanwhile, back down in the ocean, Eggman lets out a chortle. "It sure is a beauty, eh? Those dimwits thought they'd seen the end of me. But I've outsmarted them. I got a shiny new base, hidden where nobody can see!"

He has created 3 new flying fortress inventions: 1 for Decoe, 1 for Bocoe, and 1 for himself. "You have outdone yourself, Doctor," Decoe comments, trying once again to get back on Eggman's good side. "Very impressive."

"You can say that again," Bocoe replies, "What a shocker! I had no idea there was another super secret base hidden down here!"

"Of course you had no idea!" Eggman exclaims, "If you had, it wouldn't have been a secret! Heh, it's required of all evil geniuses to be smart as well as sneaky!"

"Let's get started, doctor," Decoe says, not wanting to hear him laugh anymore. "I cannot wait to see the look on Sonic and Sophia's faces when they see the powerful new Decoe-Bocoe XL Super Ultra!"

"Just a minute!" Eggman interrupts angrily, to the robot's confusion. "Hold your horses, you dolt-headed donkey! Who gave you permission to name anything around here? _I'm_ the boss, I'll do the naming!"

"You mean you already named the three components?" Bocoe wonders.

"But of course! There's Decoe 2, Bocoe 2, and best of all, the XL Super Ultra Eggman Extreme!" He declares, to the robots' annoyance.

"I do not like those names," Bocoe argues.

"Neither do I. Why do our sections get boring names and your section gets a big long fancy one with cool words like Super Ultra Extreme?" Decoe complains.

"What is the deal with that? We should be able to name our own sections!" Bocoe points out.

Eggman growls and pulls out a book. "Well excuse me! I thought I was doing you a favor by naming them for you!"

"Well maybe you should have asked us first," Decoe remarks.

"Alright, alright! Don't get snippy! I've written some second and third choices in here. What about Ace, Jack, King?"

"Nope."

"I don't even play cards," Bocoe says.

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

"You can't be serious," Decoe deadpans.

"Erm, eeny, meeny, miney? Eh, X, Y, Z? How does egg, egger, and eggy scramble sound? I think that could work." Decoe sweats at all of the lame names.

* * *

 _As time went by, we learned more and more about relaxing and enjoying life from our new friends. Soon everyone was having a good time. Everyone except Sonic, who still hasn't gotten_ _used to the idea. So_ _he started hatching an escape plan, and this is what happened._

Sonic was laying on an anchor until he turned around and grinned. He speeds past the bell on the yacht, making it ring.

"Why would I be worried about the X Tornado?" Tails wonders as he's reading a book.

"You see, we've been on this boat for a couple of days, right?" Sonic asks, Tails nodding.

"Uh huh."

"Well, Tails, did you ever think that just maybe...machines can get lonely?" Sonic opens an eye with a smug smile. "I bet the X Tornado's been awful lonesome since you went away." He closes his eye as the plan works, the fox feeling guilty and depressed.

"Oh no. I never even thought of that. I feel so guilty. How could I abandon you like that? Poor little X Tornado!"

"I got him," Sonic pumps a fist.

* * *

Next was Amy, since he was aware that she is crazy with being in love with him. "Do you really mean that, Sonic?"

He looks at her with a grin on his face. "Well, sure I mean it, Amy. I think you're just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. The way you swing that little hammer of yours around. My heart beats a million times a minute," He looks down as he continues, "I know, you could never care for somebody like me. I guess that's just the way it has to be." He turns around, looking sad, but he was faking it. "Perhaps I could go on if you would only swing that hammer once more."

Amy takes his words literally. "You want it, you got it." She starts swinging her hammer as if she was insane.

* * *

Chris, Chuck, and Sophia gasp. "Amy's gone berserk!" Chris exclaims as Sonic kneels on the floor.

"Tails has been acting strangely as well," Sophia notes.

"Uh huh. This boat's gonna drive everybody bananas sooner or later."

Sophia narrows her eyes suspiciously at his tone. "What do you think, Grandpa and Sophia? Maybe we should ask the captain if we can turn the ship around?"

Sonic smirks to himself.

"I don't know," Chuck crosses his arms. "I have a feeling something fishy's going on."

"I most certainly will not ask," Sophia places her hands on her hips. "I spoke with Amy a half hour ago. She was perfectly fine."

Just then, Amy and Cream enter the cabin, Amy looking very happy. "Did he really, truly say that, Amy?"

"It's the truth, Cream! He said his little heart beat faster every time I swung my hammer! He's so dreamy."

"Wow, that's so sweet," Cream comments, the three humans sweating sheepishly. Sonic sneakily crawls away, having been caught.

"I have a feeling one day soon, Sonic's gonna ask me to be his girl!"

"Really?"

"SONIIIIIC!" Sophia and Chris shout his name.

* * *

Back at Chris' house, Bokkun drops in, opening the doors with a big smile. "Hey! Long time no see! Did ya miss me?"

He finds no one inside, as everyone is long gone. "No big important message this time. Just dropping by to say hi! Hey, you guys! Where is everybody?"

The entire mansion is empty and quiet. "Hello? Anybody? Hello?" He starts to grow very sad that there's no one in the house, starting to feel lonely. "There's...nobody...home." His lip quivers and he hears a noise, turning around to see Ella. She had gone out for groceries.

"Well look who we have here. A little flying robot friend. You come to stir trouble today? Well, too bad for you cause nobody here now so you can just scram, you hear me?" She laughs and he starts to cry, hugging her. "What's the matter now?"

"I'm so lonesome, nobody's home. I just wanted somebody to play with!" He sobs and she puts down the groceries, kneeling down and rubbing his head.

"It's alright. There, there now. Don't cry, sweetheart."

"I'm so lonely!" He weeps.

"Don't be lonely. Ella's here now," She soothes to console him. "You stay here, I'll make you a nice lunch, okay? Don't you worry now."

He looks up at her with tears in his eyes. "Ella? I'm sorry. For all those times I was bad. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course."

"This is for you."

"For me?" He planted a bomb, which goes off and makes her scream. He laughs as he flies away, but Ella is extremely furious now.

* * *

Tails and Chris look over the water as glaciers are coming into view. "Hey look, Tails."

"An iceberg! We're near the glaciers!" Tails exclaims and Chuck approaches them, putting a jacket over Chris.

"Put this on, it's a bit chilly out here."

"Hey thanks, Grandpa. Guess Amy's still pretty upset with Sonic, huh?"

Sophia approaches them with a pink jacket over her clothes. "Upset does not even begin to describe her state."

"Yes, well, it wasn't very nice of him to lie to her like that," Chuck states.

"I have stated before he will stop at nothing to escape the ship," Sophia points out. "Even lie."

"But Amy can't stay mad forever," Tails comments.

"Sonic!" They turn to see Amy with her hammer. "Come on, you can't stay up there all day. Don't you want to see all the wonderful things I can do with this hammer? It's pretty amazing, Sonic, but you've got to see it up real close, got it?"

Sonic's on top of a pole so that he's FAR away from her.

"No thanks, I'll just stay up here, catch some rays. Maybe another time," He calls out.

"Alright, that's it!" She jumps to the end of the pole. "You come down off that pole!" She starts using her hammer, to Cream and Sophia's shock, Cream protesting. The boys huddle together.

"I get the feeling we oughta stay out of this."

"I agree," Chris cringes. Sophia runs over and as Amy prepares to swing, the princess grabs hold of the mallet part, causing Amy to turn around.

"Amy, perhaps you should calm down. I am certain that Sonic will have learned his lesson sooner or later."

"No way! He'll come down and I'll make hi-" Sophia pressure points her neck and she falls down on the floor.

"I repeat, you must calm down. A nice nap will do the trick."

Tails gasps as a whale surfaces, using its blowhole to let out water. "Look at that!" Chris exclaims as Sophia quickly joins them, taking a picture with her camera.

"Wow!" Chuck looks in awe.

"It's a whale!" Tails says in excitement. "Another one!"

"Wow, look how big it is!"

Sophia sees it and bites her lip. "Erm, my friends? That is no whale."

"I guess not," Chris guesses, as it's something robotic and it's flying.

"If not, what is it?" Tails wonders.

"Thought you could take a pleasure cruise without me, eh? Well, think again!" It's Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe.

"Let's go get them!" Decoe declares.

"We can beat that overgrown tugboat any day!" Bocoe brags.

Sonic chuckles, laying down on the ground. "I was wondering how long it would take before you bozos showed up." Amy is sitting on him, having woken up and gotten her revenge. "You two boys starting to rust yet?"

"We are incapable of corrosion," Bocoe answers.

"You, on the other hand, are a rotten little hedgehog."

Eggman growls in frustration, pushing the two away from squishing his face. "Stop all this yammering at once! You two tin heads are forgetting who's in charge here! I hope you've enjoyed yourselves, Sophia and Sonic, because your happy little holiday is about to end!"

"Oh, yeah, I'd say the fun's about to start!" Sonic brags.

"Don't be so sure, warthog!"

Sophia growls as she clenches her fists in frustration. "Must he always interrupt our attempted vacations?! Can he leave us be for once in our lives?!"

Tails, Chris, and Chuck look at her in shock.

"Wow...she must be really angry," Chris murmurs, and she had a good reason too. Sophia walks off with an annoyed huff, making the three wonder where she's going.

"Captain, we've reached the glacier, sir," A crew member reports.

"Wonderful!" They're not aware of Eggman since he's behind the yacht. "Let's stop here so our passengers can get a look!"

"Hey!" Chris turns around as they've stopped the ship. "Why did you stop the ship?"

"What's going on here?" Chuck demands.

"It's the glacier, Mr. Thorndyke. Sure is a beauty, isn't it, sir? We can stay here as long as you like."

The three boys fall down in disbelief, as they don't realize the ACTUAL danger.

"Are you crazy?!" Chris exclaims, "This is no time to look at a glacier!"

Sonic backflips onto the ice, standing in front of the flying ships. "Okay, if you want a fight, you got a fight! Bring it on, Egghead!"

"All in good time, my friend. First, let's mix things up a bit, shall we? Perhaps you seafaring simpletons would like to see what my new Egg Fort 2 can do! Get ready to be blown away! Alright, Egg Fort 2, combine! One."

"Two!"

"Three!"

They combine into a flying fortress: Egg Fort 2. "Egg Fort 2 complete!"

Eggman laughs at his new invention. "Impressive, eh?" The phone rings and he answers it. "Hello? No, I'm not going to change names!" The other line goes off and he picks it up. "How dare you say my Egg Fort 2 isn't all that?" He hangs up on both of the robots. "I'm getting an unlisted number!"

"Come on, try and catch me! What are you waiting for?" Sonic is running, but he's not moving.

"Oh Sonic?" Eggman calls out.

"Yeah, what?"

"You're going nowhere fast," Eggman points out to him. Sonic looks down and notices that he's not running.

"OH NO!" He shouts and he's hit from behind.

"Ah, watch out!" Chris warns and Eggman fires at the icy structures, making Sonic flail around in the air.

"This much fun should be illegal!" Eggman cheers, his friends calling out to him.

"Be careful!"

"Don't worry! We'll get help!"

"Where's Sophia?" Tails wonders. "She can handle all this ice!"

Sophia is looking around in her bags, searching for something as she has a look of rage on her face.

"Aw, poor little thing," They turn around to the speaker. "You're having a tough time. I may be an old-timer, but I just might be able to help you out." An old woman has somehow gotten in the captain's quarters and has managed to grab the intercom. "Now Sonic, I want you to breathe deeply and relax. Focus on your goal. Relax. Stay in the moment, and feel the ice with your feet."

Sonic listens and slides slightly on the ice, coming to a stop. He does as she said, regaining his confidence. "Not bad." He turns to the ship with a smirk. "Now if I can only keep my feet from slipping, this oughta be a piece of cake."

"Something's the matter," Decoe points out. "Why isn't he frightened?"

"I don't like it. A moment ago, we had him on the run. And Sophia's missing too!"

"He certainly is cool all of a sudden, isn't he?" Eggman wonders. "Enough of this! Let's put the freeze on that hedgehog."

"Captain!" A crew member shouts and Bokkun flies in out of nowhere, landing on the fortress window.

"What are you doing here?"

"He looks upset," Bocoe notes.

"Please let me in!" Bokkun begs, crying.

"Why should we let you in?" Bocoe asks in disbelief and a glint appears from the sky, seeing the X Tornado come into view.

"It's the X Tornado!" Chris exclaims.

"But who's flying it?" Tails asks, as there's no autopilot.

A furious Ella is flying the plane, wanting revenge for earlier. "I'LL GET YOU, YOU BRAT!"

"It's Ella!" Chris shouts, all of them very surprised.

"But how?"

"How'd she learn how to fly the X Tornado?"

"Ella can do anything she puts her mind to," Chuck places an arm behind his neck. "Except windows." Chris' look of surprise turns into a knowing look.

"AAH! Help me!" Bokkun cries out.

"What are you bawling about, Bokkun?" Eggman asks, as they don't see Ella.

"Now we change to X Cyclone! Transform! You see who's boss now!" She yells as the legs form. "Cyclone Kick!"

A glint comes from the ship and Sophia jumps into the air, having finally found her sword. She yells in rage as she pierces through the ship repeatedly, swinging her sword back and forth with fire in her eyes.

"LEAVE US BE FOR A VACATION, YOU INSUFFERABLE DEMONS!" She shouts and lets Ella do her attack.

Bokkun runs on the ship and the three give a scared look as the ship flies into the sky before it's gone. Sophia lands next to Sonic as she pants, still looking angry.

"Hey, Sophia," Sonic places a hand on her arm with a knowing look. "Relax."

Sophia lets out a deep breath, smirking down at him as it's officially a tie. But she'd get him next time.

 _So often we rush through our lives from day to day, not seeing what is really important. Just think of it. The smell of the ocean, the rustling of leaves. Moments with_ _family and friends. Sometimes just sit and feel the warmth of the sun..._

"Sonic!" The hedgehog looks up to see Tails peeking his head out from the X Tornado. Everyone has gone back to their real vacation. Sophia looks calm now as she has a content look on her face while looking at the view. "The X Tornado's all set to go! You still wanna go back to town?"

"Ah," Sonic gives a wink. "What's the rush? Come on down here."

"Huh?" Tails looks confused.

"I changed my mind. Think I'll take it easy. Just enjoy myself for a while."

 _I think you've made the right decision, Sonic. Remember, there's always enough time to wile_ _away the hours and just be happy. Now let's all relax and enjoy ourselves!_

 **Angel: See you guys when I return with one of my stories being taken off hiatus!**


	21. Fast Friends

**Angel: Hi guys! I actually finished this last week, but I figured, why not use Tuesday to get a head start? That way I can work a little faster XD** **Which I did, but with me starting school just yesterday, it might be a little harder to update...**

Antoniocrosthwaite73: I'm not really. I already had thought about what my story will be like. I'm using Ray the flying squirrel, Mighty the armadillo, and the freedom fighters.

 **Angel: Oh, then by all means, go ahead.**

GreenD109: Apparently, for a group like Sonic's it can be very hard to have a vacation with bad guys like Eggman coming to ruin it in an attempt to get the heroes at their weakest during down time, it's just an unavoidable fate.

 **Angel: Heh, yeah...not sure why he keeps thinking that it'll actually work.**

Ichabod: Wow...I always thought Sonic was so freaked out by water cuz of that whole myth thing that hedgehogs can't swim...btw, they CAN, they just can't climb out of the water.

 **Angel: Yeah, but then again, this is a cartoon. So** **they can spin whatever logic they've got up their sleeve.**

Guest: Wow that was awesome and Sophia looked really pissed off with Eggman I can't wait to see the next chapter soon

 **Angel: Thank** **you!**

 **Sophia: I apologize for my anger. But whenever I am pushed beyond my limit, I tend to act upon it. Especially when that someone is Eggman or his robot minions.**

Bajy: Great job! One of my favorite episodes, poor Sonic had it rough. Note to everyone, never make Ella and Sophia angry or you will deeply regret it. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Yeah, I don't want to experience that ^^' Eggman deserves it, though.**

Jake: Wow that was a cool chapter and a bit funny I can't wait for the next chapter and I finished reading the turtles forever story and I heard a comment about Xiaolin Showdown that was my favorite show when I was a kid

 **Angel: Usually, when someone asks me about a show, it's a bad sign. After all, that's how Sonic X got its start. I really...don't want to be pressured again into doing another story ^^' But Youtube** **used to have all the episodes until they were taken down.**

Sapphire: I think the next one is fast friends where Sam and Sonic race to see who is the fastest I wonder what'll happen plus I hope you had a great trip

 **Angel: Sam is just annoying in this episode...but the ending pays off, so I'm not too worried. And I was only there for 5 days. I** **had to help my sister move into her new dorm room, but otherwise, it was okay. I just hate sitting in a car for 9 to 10 hours.**

Guest: This story is going really good I can't wait to read the next chapter to see the race it's my favorite episode

 **Angel: Really? Because I didn't like Sam in this episode. I have more than one favorite, especially later on with Shadow and Cosmo and the Metarex.**

At the Thorndyke Mansion, everyone is sleeping peacefully. Sonic is on the balcony while an engine goes off not too far away. The hedgehog continues to sleep in content as the car speeds on the highway. Amy, Cream, Ella, and Cheese are sleeping in the same bed as the race car stops at the front door of the house, its engine sound waking everyone inside up.

"What's that?" Chris asks in confusion.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sophia yawns as she rubs her eyes sleepily. She has an eye mask over her head while wearing her regular pajamas. The car stops running, Mr. Tanaka and Ella bursting out of the mansion with weapons.

The driver, who's out of the car, blocks their attacks as he's revealed to be Sam Speed himself. "Back off, relax! Lighten up! It's me!"

They give a look of confusion as Chuck emerges out of the mansion himself. "Blast it, Sam. Don't you have any idea what time it is?"

Sam gives a thumbs up with a smirk. "Sure I do! It's morning!"

"It's 3 am!" Chuck elaborates, annoyed.

"So it's a little early," Sam dismisses his dismay.

"You're lucky I held myself back," Ella warns him. "I was just about to batter you like a chicken cutlet!" She yawns and heads for the mansion.

"I'm going back to bed," Mr. Tanaka follows her.

"I hope you didn't wake the neighbors," Chuck scolds, but is surprised to see a large crowd of citizens gathered right in front of the mansion. "Nice. They're all up." He looks up to see helicopters circling around.

Chris and Sophia approach Sonic on the balcony, looking tired as they rub their eyes. "What's going on?" the boy wonders. He moves his hand to see all of the citizens, police, and more. "Where'd all those people come from?"

"I don't know," Sonic answers simply. "Looks like they're lined up for a parade."

"Which happened to be outside Chris' home? I find that unlikely and very strange to find this amount of people at 3 in the morning," Sophia yawns, looking irritated at the lack of privacy.

"Hey Sam, isn't that a new car?" Chuck notices the race car Sam was driving to get here. The engine looks to be very powerful.

"I'm here to challenge Princess Sophia and Sonic to a road race!" Sam declares, not answering Chuck's question.

Sophia, Sonic, and Chris blink slowly. "A race?"

"Hold on!" Chuck calls out. "This is a rocket engine!"

"That's the SS 3 Super Rocket engine. It was designed by top engineers at the office of Science and Technology. Over a billion dollars went into its development," Sam explains, glaring. "Sonic, Sophia! I'm gonna prove once and for all I'm the fastest guy on the planet!" He points up at them. "No frilly princess is gonna beat me this time!"

"Sonic, Sophia, are you two gonna race against my Uncle Sam?" Chris wonders, as they don't look interested. Sonic suddenly stands up and jumps.

"No way!"

Chris goes back inside as Sophia crosses her arms.

"I respectfully decline your challenge to satisfy your drive to be the 'fastest' one in Station Square," She puts air quotes at fastest. "And that is saying a lot since you are part of the Thorndyke family," She walks away.

"Hey, wait!" He protests, storming to the front door. "You know, for a hedgehog and princess, you sure are spineless!"

He gets all the way to the basement, slamming the door open. "Hey you two, we have a race!"

Tails is sleeping there while Sonic and Sophia ignore him. Sophia hands Sonic and Chris some homemade cookies. The two-tailed fox wakes up due to the interruption. He looks around, tired.

"Morning already?"

* * *

"Sonic and Sophia say they won't race. See?" Chuck is explaining to Tails, who looks confused. Sophia sits on the floor next to him, handing him a cookie.

"Restore some energy, my friend," She rubs his back as he takes it in delight.

"They will race!" Sam says stubbornly and it's already morning as he explains the details. "The startling line will be in front of this house. From here we'll speed downtown, straight to the heart of Station Square. After we blast across the bridge out of the city, the competition will really heat up as we zoom through the desert! And navigate the twists and turns of the canyon. A hairpin turn will lead us back to the city. The winner will be the one who reaches the stadium firsts! There will be thousands of fans to cheer us on, including the president, waiting at the finish line."

"The president?!" Chris asks in surprise.

"He's gonna congratulate the winner on live TV," Sam answers.

" _The coverage will increase his poll numbers! The president is sure to win reelection in a landslide!"_ Sam remembers Jerome Wise saying when he proposed the idea.

"But why would the government let Uncle Sam use a rocket for a race with Sonic and Sophia?" Chris wonders.

"The S3 was expensive and they think the race will increase taxpayer support for the project. Sophia should know since she's a princess and all," Chuck explains to him.

"We do not use taxes back at home as I do not enforce my friends to pay us money," Sophia points out.

"Yeah, you've got it," Sam remarks.

"Except we're NOT gonna race," Sonic tells him.

"Oh?" Sam gets in Sonic's face. "What's the matter, Sonic? Are you and Sophia afraid that when our race is over, you'll be known as the second fastest guys on the planet? I'm not gonna take no for an answer, Sonic and Sophia, and I won't let up until you agree to race me!"

"Why couldn't I have a normal family?" Chris facepalms.

"The answer is still no," Sophia tells him, arms crossed.

"What?!" He exclaims at her.

"You heard me. N-O. Get the picture?" She smirks at him and he clenches his fists. While she tolerated him since he's Chris' uncle, she did not want to race him because of his ego, for one. And two, there was no point as they've beaten him once before. There wasn't a need to prove that further.

"Sam, you can't expect Station Square to shut down just so you three can have a race," Chuck argues for the two. Honestly, he found this whole thing absurd.

"Oh yeah, you wanna bet?" Sam turns on the TV to show Scarlet Garcia in one of the helicopters.

"They're just about ready for the big race here at Station Square. The streets will soon be completely clear of traffic and an enormous crowd is gathering all along the course, waiting for the race to start." Tails gasps at all of the attention this is getting, Sophia and Sonic glancing at each other. "They're cheering now for the sponsors of today's race: The popular movie star Lindsey Fair and her handsome mogul husband, Nelson Thorndyke."

"This keeps getting worse," Chris comments.

"I'll bet my nightcap that your uncle's the one who got them involved in this ridiculous race," Chuck grumbles.

"Well, guys? You're not gonna disappoint that crowd, are ya? They've been waitin' for hours to see us go human to hedgehog to princess!" Sam gets in their faces again.

"Tough," Sonic simply states.

"Still refusing~" Sophia sings. "Though, I do respect all of your preparation." He really expected them to race after all that?

"Come on!" He exclaims in disbelief, holding his hair. All he wanted was one race!

* * *

Jerome, asleep, starts to sleep talk. "Hello, my dear." He makes kissing sounds and sits up, continuing until the phone rings, startling him awake. He answers it with a palm to his forehead.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"SONIC AND SOPHIA WON'T RACE ME!" Sam shouts, annoying the advisor. "Do something! The president should order them to compete!" Jerome opens an eye at that.

"Who is this?"

Nothing happens on the other line and he hangs up, yawning. "Sophia and Sonic won't race," He crawls back into bed. "That's too bad. But if they won't race..." He lays back down before he realizes the situation. "Wha?! If they don't race Sam Speed, my career's over." He imagines the crowd yelling at the man in charge. "Now the president will probably be impeached before the next election, and all because Sophia and Sonic won't race. We've got to do something! We'll call out the military! The army! The Navy! And the air force!" He laughs at the thought. "That should help convince them to change their mind! No, the Secretary of Defense will probably make a fuss about it. I know! I'll go over their heads!"

* * *

A satellite powers up, closing in on one ship...the Egg Fort 2 itself. A robot places down a chess piece.

"And that is checkmate."

Eggman growls at his loss. "You cheater!"

"Loser," The robot states, arms crossed.

"What?" Eggman demands, even though it was true. "I built you and I can unbuild you!" He grabs the small robot in his hands and shakes him. "I'll checkmate you! You pawn!"

"I promise that I will let you win next time, doctor," The robot tells him, trying to save his life.

"There won't be a next time," He threatens before an alarm goes off. He turns to the TV as someone with a coat, hat, and sunglasses is on.

"Dr. Eggman, I have a proposition for you," He starts.

"Oh yeah? Who are you?" Eggman wonders.

"That doesn't matter. Now, do you wanna settle the score with Sophia and Sonic?"

Back at home, Sophia is reading a book until her super hearing kicks in to listen in on this conversation. Her eyes widen as she looks around her room before she locks it closed, concentrating.

"Yes, maybe," Eggman answers, still holding onto the robot.

"What if I told you that Sonic and Sophia had been challenged to race against a high-tech rocket car designed by the government?" The mysterious informant asks.

"Really?" Eggman asks, intrigued. "Is that so?"

"In fact, Sophia and Sonic are so scared they'll be defeated that they turned us down," He continues.

"Oh?" Eggman drops the robot in his hands. "And so you need me to get them in the race? That's it?"

"You convince them to enter that race, and I'll get you front-row seats to an ice show," the informant offers.

"Are you nuts? An ice show?" Eggman asks in disbelief, Decoe and Bocoe with looks of joy.

"I love figure skating!"

"Oh please, can we go?" Bocoe pleads.

"We will work day and night without complaining!" Decoe begs.

"Not even behind your back like we usually do!" Bocoe states, Eggman placing a finger under his chin as he thinks about it.

"Alright, but how do I know this isn't some kind of elaborate trick you're playing on me?" They turn to the man with accusing looks, as Eggman would do the same to Sonic and Sophia.

"Uh," He reveals himself as Jerome Wise, his eyes innocent. "Look at my eyes and you'll see I'm sincere!"

They give looks of disgust. "Well...I'll do it. I'll need a robot to stop Sophia and Sonic." He looks at the robot who just won against him.

"Me?"

The three narrow their eyes at him. "I'll rebuild this one into a model that forces Sonic and Sophia to enter the race."

"No, please. Doctor, not me!" The robot pleads.

* * *

Chris, Amy, and Tails are admiring Sam's rocket car. "It's cool!" Tails comments.

"It does look fast," Amy points out.

"My Uncle Sam wouldn't drive it if it wasn't cool and fast," Chris explains, and they hear laughter from the skies. Chris looks up to see Bokkun, turning away with a sweatdrop. "Oh brother."

"Where's Sonic and the princess? I have to see 'em now. I brought a message with me," Bokkun states as Sonic is laying on the balcony. Sophia runs up to him, hands on the railing.

"Sonic, I must warn you that-" Bokkun lands in front of them and she groans at her timing.

"Wake up! I have a message for you two!" Sonic opens his eyes and immediately backs away, not wanting to be caught in an explosion today. "Relax, I promise this one isn't gonna blow up at the end."

"Alright," Sonic says slowly. "What is it?"

"You two better enter that race, Sophia and Sonic!" He threatens.

"No. You see, I happen to know what Eggman is up to, so whatever you have, we do not want it," Sophia crosses her arms, Sonic staring at her in confusion.

"Or else you'll have to face this!" He pulls out a robot from his backpack.

"Hi there!" It's...a kissing robot? "Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah." Sonic and Sophia have looks of disbelief at Eggman's new...creation. They run away from the robot, being trapped by the railings. The kissing robot continues its advances, jumping up in the air. Sonic shouts as Sophia pulls him away and it kisses their former spot. Bokkun laughs at their predicament as the kissing robot puckers its lips.

"Yuck. I don't wanna take any lip from that robot," Sonic comments.

"Agreed, but...it is Sam Speed," Sophia whispers, glancing at the robot as Bokkun continues to laugh. She narrows her eyes as she didn't get a chance to inform anyone of what Jerome did.

Sam starts up his rocket car and they turn to the noise, gritting their teeth at his insistence. " _I'm not gonna_ _take no for an answer, you two, and I won't let up until you agree to race me!"_

The kissing robot advances again. "Then we'll race!" Sonic reluctantly agrees, both of them jumping off the balcony. The robot kisses Bokkun instead, which ceases his laughter. Sam revs up his car, Chuck and Chris watching.

"Are you gonna play with that pedal all day?" Sonic asks, hands on his hips.

"Huh?" They turn to the two in confusion.

"Or shall we have a race?" Sophia challenges, Sam finally gotten his wish...unfortunately.

"Now since you're friends...I'll let you two race against me instead of you two doing it one on one. Not that it'll help you in any way."

"Since we're a team, what if one of us reaches the finish line first?" Sonic wonders, as there had to be rules for this.

"Heh, tell ya what. If either of you crosses first before the other, I'll give Sophia a lifetime supply of gummy bears and I'll believe that you're faster than me."

Her eyes shine at the thought.

 _So_ _there's no rule against either one of us crossing first..._ Sonic thinks, as that could be an advantage.

"Before we race, I must make a phone call," Sophia holds up a hand, speeding into the mansion. Sonic glances at the others, who shrug. Sophia picks up the phone in the basement, putting it to her ear. "Mr. President? I must inform you of a deal your advisor made..."

* * *

They're at the starting line next to the palm trees. Ella holds Cream while Mr. Tanaka holds Cheese, the crowd looking happy to finally witness the race.

"I just don't get it," Amy states, "What made Sophia and Sonic change their mind?"

"I guess they couldn't resist the challenge," Tails guesses.

"But Sophia isn't persuaded that easily," Amy turns to him. "She still would've refused."

"On your mark," Chuck raises a flag. "Get set." Sonic smirks as he knew that he and his good friend would win. "Go!"

Sam starts off strong, knocking the two speeders back from the smoke. They follow after the rocket car as the helicopter follows the action.

"This is Scarlet Garcia reporting from news chopper 1. We now continue our live coverage of the road race of the century as Princess Sophia and Sonic the Hedgehog take on Sam Speed. After a delayed start, the racers left the Thorndyke mansion and are now speeding through downtown Station Square."

Sam, Sonic, and Sophia are neck-and-neck already.

"Hey Sam," Sonic calls out.

"Yeah, what?" Sam asks impatiently, as he was trying to win.

"We thought this was supposed to be a road race, but your rocket car doesn't even touch the asphalt!" Sonic shouts over. "What's up? That thing doesn't even have wheels!"

"Surely you know the rules of a road race," Sophia points out.

"Yeah? Look close," Sam informs him and Sonic looks down to see that there are in fact wheels. "You see, the wheels guide the glide."

"What if you get a flat?" Sonic wonders.

"Our race is about to enter the most dangerous part of the course as they steer through these narrow streets at super high speed. But is the rocket car maneuverable enough to make those hypervelocity turns?"

"This'll be easy," Sam says confidently.

"Oh yeah? Then prove it," Sonic challenges, the two speeders go on ahead, starting to make the turns.

"Sonic and Sophia's gone way ahead. Commence project straightaway now," Sam contacts the Highway Patrol team.

"Roger." The garages open up from the buildings, creating a straight path for Sam, who laughs at his advantage.

"Sorry you two, but being part of the S Team gives me the kind of class that really opens doors in this city! Ha ha ha!" He takes the lead, Sonic and Sophia close behind. They look behind at the closing garage doors, Sophia narrowing her eyes as she turns to her friend.

"Sonic, the president's aide has gone too far. He-"

"Hold that thought, princess," Sonic interrupts as they speed up to the car. "That wasn't fair!"

"Tough luck," Sam retorts, Sophia growling slightly. They jump and land on the top of his car. Sam tries to look at the road, but he can't since they're in the way. "Get off my hood, you two!"

"Ah, nice breeze here," Sonic comments, Sophia running a hand through her hair.

"Hitching a ride is against the rules!" Sam exclaims, Sonic turning around.

"Tough luck."

Sam laughs sheepishly, knowing that they had the cards here. "You got me. But would you mind moving to the back some so I can see where I'm going?"

Sonic and Sophia do so, but only because he could potentially crash. They end up standing right above him.

"Right here?"

"Further back."

Sophia narrows her eyes suspiciously and moves slightly slower to the back. "How about now?"

"Great, right there will do just fine." Sam chuckles and presses a button, causing a spring to activate and sending the two flying away. "Bye, Sophia and Sonic."

"Strange," Scarlet sees the two flying right past her. "What's Sonic and Sophia doing? Why are they going the wrong way? It certainly is an odd tactic." Eggman is watching the broadcast at this moment, laughing.

"That rocket car is my kind of mean machine! Have to try that spring trick on Sonic and the princess myself!" He writes it down. "Okay, go! Sumo-Man!"

Sam has arrived in the desert section, but Sophia and Sonic have managed to catch up to him. "That can't be Sonic and Sophia!" He looks up ahead to see a sand explosion. It turns out to be Sumo-Man, Eggman's new robot.

"You may not pass! Turn back!"

"A roadblock?!" Sonic exclaims, Sophia gasping.

"Hey!" Sam shouts, pressing a button to make his wings move downwards.

"Turn back, or be destroyed!" Sumo-Man threatens, but Sam manages to dive underneath the sand and emerge behind the robot, taking off.

"Sucker," Sam comments smugly, taking the lead again.

"Stop now!" Sumo-Man turns his attention to the speedy duo. "I order you to halt and reverse your course now!"

"Perhaps if he was not so loud, he could make a good guard for the castle," Sophia comments and they slide underneath him.

"How could I have missed Sonic and Sophia? Dr. Eggman will punish me! But not if I punish myself first!" He hits himself, sending the robot flying. Bokkun starts to cry.

"That robot kissed me!" Decoe and Bocoe try to comfort him.

"Bokkun, it might have been a lot worse, you know. You could've been accidentally kissed by Dr. Eggman."

"What a revolting thought," Bocoe comments, Eggman looking annoyed, as does the kissing robot.

"We blew it." the doctor remarks.

"Well good for me. I did my job," the kiss robot points out.

"Kiss off, you clown!" Dr. Eggman scolds. Suddenly, Sumo-Man appears from the sky and crashes into the Egg Fort 2.

"Are you alright?" The kiss robot asks, "Let me kiss and make it better." He starts kissing Eggman on the cheek, who looks frustrated.

* * *

Sophia, Sonic, and Sam are neck-and-neck once again, still in the desert region.

"Wow," Sam looks at his watch. "It's already lunchtime." A panel opens to reveal a hamburger and soda. Sonic looks at the burger, hungry himself as Sam takes a bite. "Hey, ya want a bite?"

"I politely decline," Sophia shakes her head, but she uses politely loosely since Sam wasn't playing fair.

"No thanks!" Sonic remarks, not wanting it to be another trick. He takes the lead with Sophia and he rubs his stomach. "Come to think of it, I am pretty hungry."

"Hey, Sophia, Sonic!"

They look up to see Tails and Chris with the X Tornado. Chris is bending down with two lunch boxes. "Ella sent some ham sandwiches and milk for ya!"

"Wow, thanks Chris! That looks-" Sam zooms past them, covering the three with sand and unfortunately, the food as well.

"My bad," Sam looks sheepish, but also like he meant it.

"I'll pass on the sandwich," Sonic and Sophia shake off the sand.

"Sorry, guys," Chris says, still covered in it. "See you at the finish line." The X Tornado takes off to the skies.

"Right."

"It is alright, I have brought back-up lunches," Sophia pulls out two blue and pink boxes out of nowhere, tossing the blue one to Sonic.

"Sweet! Thanks, Sophia!" He takes a bite out of his sandwich, catching up with Sam. Sophia turns to Sam, taking a big proud bite out of her back-up sandwich. Sam frowns a little and Sonic chomps the rest of his lunch down.

"This road race is still up for grabs as our racers prepare to speed through the canyon," Scarlet reports, looking down at the action.

They arrive at the Great Canyon, jumping off the surface. Sophia and Sonic run down the rocks, Sam closely behind. They turn at the turning point where Sam said it would be and continue. The trio speed up the rocks they just came down and go down the path. They're neck-and-neck for the third time in the race.

"Our racers have reached the halfway point and are now speeding back towards Station Square. Sonic, Sam Speed, and Princess Sophia are still running neck-and-neck," Scarlet tells the crowd at the stadium. The duo's friends are already there, though most of them look worried as Sam was pretty confident that he'd win.

Everyone is preparing for their arrival...well, almost everyone. Jerome looks concerned as someone is still absent. "What's taking the president so long? The race is going to finish soon."

Right then and there, he gets a phone call from his cell phone in his pocket. He answers it. "Hello? What?! But can't the president hold his emergency security meeting later? Alright, if it can't be changed." He hangs up. "I'll fill in. It's just as well. I'm more photogenic than the president, anyway. In fact, I'm more lovable than my boring boss too! I can use this race to launch my own campaign! Then the world will call me Mr. President!" He chuckles at the thought.

"What are you laughing at?"

He snaps out of his daydream to see Amy standing there, demanding an explanation.

"Oh, nothing." He chuckles still, Amy shrugging.

It's only a few miles left where the racers are now. "Now, the three challengers are racing into the city. And pulling out all the stops as they speed toward the stadium."

The crowd cheers as some people hold out Sonic and Sophia signs. They're almost at the entrance, their friends giving pleading looks.

"Come on, you guys," Amy begs to herself.

"Alright," Sam glances at his opponents. "IT'S ROCKET TIME!" He pushes a lever and uses the full extent of the rocket engine.

"Look out!" Scarlet warns, "Sam Speed is pulling away!"

Sonic and Sophia glance at each other, smirking.

"Oh yeah?"

"We shall see!"

They both turn up their turbo mode, catching up. Sam starts to sweat as he looks focused. It seems that they all cross the finish line first. The crowd cheers as the race is finished.

"Well it looks like we have a tie. That was close. The judges will examine photos to see if they can determine a winner. The results will be posted on the stadium monitor."

The challengers look up at the screen as Sophia and Sonic cross the finish line first at the same time, Sonic having done a few poses and crossing again.

"Amazing!" Sonic rubs his nose while Sophia waves both of her hands to the crowd. "Princess Sophia and Sonic not only crossed the finish line first, they went back for an encore!"

Sam gives a look of utter shock as he didn't see any of that. And because of the fact that he owes Sophia a lifetime supply of gummy bears until who knows when. "They're the winners!" Confetti falls from the stadium as the audience cheers.

"Congratulations!" Amy cheers, jumping in for a hug.

"Ah, it's no big deal," Sonic waves it off, high-fiving Sophia.

"Oh, Sonic, Sophia," They look to see Lindsey and Nelson. Lindsey is holding a bouquet of roses while Nelson claps. "Well done." Lindsey hands Sophia the flowers, hugging her.

"Thanks a lot."

"Yes, thank you," Sophia bows, Nelson hugging her too.

"We're so proud of you!" He sobs, Sophia looking away awkwardly.

"There, there," She pats his back slowly. Sonic turns to Sam, who gives them a congratulatory thumbs up. Sophia and Sonic return it.

"It was a good race, Sam," Sophia replies. "Though, you are sending me my first month of candy tomorrow."

"I'll get right on it..." He sweats a little at the money he was paying for that.

"Sonic, princess!" They look up to see Jerome Wise, who offers his hands. "That was just great." They turn to see the press with their cameras ready. The advisor leans in to them. "Guys, shake my hand. Hurry up so they can take our picture together."

Sonic and Sophia growl at him, Sophia narrowing her eyes. The girl leans in and whispers in his ear. Sonic's eyes widen as he gasps.

Jerome's phone rings and he picks up. "Hello? Oh, hi there Vivian. What?! I'm under investigation for negotiating with Dr. Eggman?!" He covers his eyes from the camera flashing, who are demanding answers. "There's no way I'll be president now! Ugggh!"

Sonic just shrugs, Sophia winking at Jerome. He gasps as he realizes how they found out.


	22. Little Chao Lost

**Angel: Sorry that this is late, I've been trying to catch up on my school notes because Biology is a lot of material. And I've been trying to find new batteries for my TV remote because it died and I can't find the same batteries ANYWHERE!**

GreenD109: It seems like Sophia manages to figure out Jerome's plan, called the President before the race begins and exposed Jerome and got him fired for working for Eggman for his own selfish gains, not bad at all for the young princess. It's just like her to think a step ahead of her adversaries.

 **Sophia: Thank you. My mother taught me to always be aware. I never liked Jerome.**

Jake: Sorry angel and great chapter I just really liked that show when I was little

 **Angel: It's okay...I'm busy enough trying to do this show in my spare time when I'm not doing something school-related.**

Ichabod: Hoo boy, what a zany day you and Sonic had! Let's hope Eggman doesn't watch MechaGodzilla movies...who KNOWS what he'd build?

 **Sophia: Eggman had already created robots larger than buildings themselves. We shall deal with whatever he throws at us.**

 **Angel: Wasn't there a gorilla robot anyway XD And plus, the Egg Fort was HUGE.**

Bajy: Great job here! Yay Sonic and Sophia! They won, and Sam is gonna be paying for candy for some time. Jerome is a greed who doesn't know he needs to be taught a lesson. That race was intense! Super hearing, gotta love it! Looking forward to the next chapter of this story! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thank you, but I'm still trying to do the movie version on IMT. The website makes it difficult for me and my sister hasn't lent me her password for Hulu yet. I swear, one of these days, I'm gonna change my Netflix account password for revenge.**

 **Sophia: Yes, super hearing is essential to have in the right situation. Sam will be paying me back in candy for a long time.**

 **Angel: Poor dude XD**

Sapphire: Oh Sophia rocks I can't wait to see the lost Chao episode where they go to Japan, Tokyo and see the hidden Chao village I wonder how Sophia will react to seeing Tokyo Japan if it reminds her of something or someone.

 **Angel: ? What would Japan have to do with Sophia?**

Mr. Tanaka is praying to a statue, wishing Sonic and his friends a safe trip to arrive at their location. The statue depicts a Japanese warrior on top of a horse for a battle.

"Let's see," Chris murmurs as they're waiting for a bus. "It says the town is located deep in the mountains." Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Sophia, Chris, Frances, Danny, and Mr. Stewart are all going to a camping trip to a valley, but not just any valley. They're all holding backpacks on their shoulders, Sophia's filled with some of her lifetime supply candy. "I guess we'll have to transfer here. It should take another hour."

"What?" Amy complains with a bored look. "How far do we have to go?"

"It's not that far, Amy," Danny tries to reassure her. "Why not think of this as just part of the adventure?"

"Camping's not my idea of an adventure," She admits, Frances bending down to her.

"Oh, we're gonna have lotsa fun, I promise!" She smiles.

"Alright, if you say so," Amy agrees, but she still didn't like the idea.

"I do!" Frances giggles.

"Camping is a wonderful experience. S'mores, fishing, making tents," Sophia suggests as she's holding her backpack. "It is not about the time it will take, it is about the journey that lies up ahead."

"Have you been camping, Sophia?" Frances wonders, to which Sophia shakes her head.

"No. As a princess, I do not have time for camping. But I hope to enjoy everything it has to offer."

Tails smiles at their laughter before opening his eyes. "Hey Chris. So, you know a good place to set up camp when we get there?"

"I hear there's a great place right near a river north of here. It's nice and peaceful and it's good for fishing too," Chris suggests, pointing north.

"Yay, that sounds like a perfect spot!" Cream cheers at the thought. "And maybe you and I could go for a swim, Cheese. Sounds fun?"

"Chao!" Cheese looks happy at the idea.

Mr. Stewart adjusts his glasses to read the bus stop schedule. "Uh, bus service to Hot Springs Village." He looks around before checking his watch, leaning in and whispering. "This is Stewart. Do you read me? Listen carefully. The bus to Hot Springs Village leaves every hour on the hour from bus stop number 3. Have you got that?"

"Yes."

He shouts in surprise as he sees Sophia standing behind him with a sly smile. He sweats nervously as she just caught him!

"No need to fear," She holds up a hand. "I am aware how secretive your work is and that you informed the government of my heritage, so therefore, as long as you hold my secret to yourself..."

"You won't tell anyone about mine," He sags in relief, nodding. "Deal."

He turns to the others, holding up a flag and putting on a cheery look. "Alright, students, line up! The bus will be here any minute now!" He blows a whistle, causing Sophia to cover her ears since she's right next to him.

"Mr. Stewart sure is excited," Danny points out.

"I'll say," Chris comments, but his happiness is because he would be gaining information.

"Hey Frances, how come Mr. Stewart's coming? Wouldn't this trip be a lot more fun if it was just us kids?" Tails wonders, holding the straps of his backpack. "Technically, Sophia is the oldest out of us, she could keep watch."

"Refrain from talking about my age," Sophia glares at him from behind and he sweats sheepishly.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Don't know. Maybe he wants to have some fun too," Frances remarks.

"All I can say is this whole camping thing better be fun," Amy comments, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Or they're gonna hear it from me."

"Where's Sonic, anyway?" Chris questions, as all of his friends were supposed to be going.

"Sonic's not much for camping. He says he's gonna explore the city. He's on his way there now," Tails explains, as Sonic at this moment is running past a train. He jumps to a different path with fauna and runs past the grass.

* * *

"Look at that!" Cream looks out to the mountains on the bus. Tails and Amy smile at the view as the bus goes across a bridge. Sophia's eyes shine at the water below, as she's never seen it so beautiful before. She takes a picture with her camera. She's not one to take pictures, but she wanted to show her memories to her parents, wherever they were right now.

"How many pictures have you taken, Sophia?" Frances wonders and Sophia holds it out.

"Oh, plenty! This was a gift from my father, Tails invented it to have unlimited memory and storage." She presses the forward button, showing off some pictures of her with her friends, and of their adventures so far, even the one she took with Knuckles.

"Wow, they're so good and detailed! Ever thought of taking up photography?" Frances asks as she hands the camera back.

"Mm, perhaps it could be a potential hobby," Sophia smiles at her camera.

They arrive at the beautiful valley, which is actually Mr. Tanaka's homeland. The bus stops to let them out. "Mr. Tanaka, we're here!" Chris announces, going down the steps.

"I trust you had a safe trip," Mr. Tanaka looks down at him.

"Your homeland really is beautiful, Mr. Tanaka," Chris comments.

"Thank you, Master Chris. I hope you, Miss Sophia, and your friends will enjoy your stay here. It certainly was a wonderful place for a boy to grow up," He explains, Sophia stepping down.

"I can see why," Chris smiles brightly, as Mr. Tanaka was, most of the time, polite. The bus leaves to go to the next stop.

"Where do we go from here, Mr. Tanaka?" Amy wonders, since there were cottages around.

"Well, just follow me and I will take you," Mr. Tanaka offers.

"Now hold on just a minute there, sir!" Mr. Stewart protests, waving his arms around. "Uh, just let me get out my flag here. I will be your official guide! Step lively, kids!" He leads the way while waving his yellow flag.

"Oh dear," Sophia murmurs before she takes a picture.

"Look at the mountains!" Cream exclaims at the green covered structures.

"And all the nature around us!" Amy points out.

"Nothing but blue skies, trees, grass. Sure is pretty, huh Cream?" Chris replies with a smile.

"It's the most beautiful place we've ever seen! Isn't it, Cheese?" Cream answers with a bright look. Cheese agrees with her and Mr. Tanaka smiles at the fact they're having a good experience.

* * *

Sonic jumps across the rooftops at one of the villages, jumping off the roof of a building. He takes off into a run.

* * *

They've finally settled into their campsite, where Amy holds up cut up onion. "What's this thing?"

"An onion," Mr. Stewart answers for her. "Mr. Tanaka and Sophia are fixing us some lunch."

Mr. Tanaka cuts up onion precisely while Sophia stirs a bowl, Mr. Stewart watching him. "You do that just like a real chef, Mr. Tanaka."

"It takes great concentration," Mr. Tanaka tells him, Amy holding up a bowl.

"Would you like to help make the dressing for the salad, Mr. Stewart?"

"Uh, well...sure, why not?" He takes it from her. _This camping trip won't be so bad after all. I have to keep an eye on Sophia and Chris, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun._

"Here's a bowl to put the vegetables in, Mr. Tanaka," Amy places the bowl on the counter.

"Perfect."

 _I think I'm beginning to like this._

* * *

A fly rests on a tree until a net slams against the bark. "Got it!" Danny exclaims, but that look turns into disappointment as he sees the fly.

"You just missed," Chris assures him. Tails pokes a roly poly and it curls up into a ball.

"Whoa, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen! I'm gonna put it in a jar and take it home!" He picks up the small bug with two of his fingers.

"I thought we were only collecting bugs that fly," Danny says in confusion.

"Mm," Chris shrugs, as Tails had a different opinion, which was perfectly fine.

"Hello, little guy," Tails states as he looks at it.

"Wow, look at all the fish, Cream!" Frances and Cream are standing in a river, Cream wearing her beach sandals while Frances is barefoot.

"Yeah, they're so..." She runs up to two little fish, attempting to catch them, but they fly out of her hands. "It jumped!"

Frances giggles at her before noticing Cheese swimming away from them because of the current. "Cheese, watch out!"

Cream shouts in worry as he hits a rock and floats away. "Cheese!" She tries to run after him.

"Come back, no!" She holds Cream back from going after him. "Cream, we have to tell the others!"

Cheese is left floating in the main stream.

* * *

They've notified the others, Cream looking upset. "Cheese must be at the river somewhere," Mr. Stewart suggests.

"About a mile from this spot, the river splits off in two different directions. There is no telling which way the current was traveling," Mr. Tanaka explains, Cream breaking into tears.

"Cheese," She sobs for his safety.

"Don't cry, Cream, it'll be okay," Amy tells her. "Remember, Cheese is a very good swimmer."

"Yeah, Amy's right," Tails assures and Sophia places a hand on her shoulder.

"We will find him, Cream," She replies, Cream nodding slowly.

"I feel so bad," Frances looks guilty, as she did pull Cream back. "I should've done something."

"Don't feel bad, it's not your fault," Chris states, Danny nodding in agreement.

"The current may be rapid, but there are many areas where the water is shallow. Cheese may very well be stuck in a patch of sand somewhere," Mr. Tanaka explains.

"Let's all search!" Danny suggests, "Right away!"

"Okay, we'll start an official search party!" Tails pumps his fists, everyone else cheering.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe are hiking through the valley, Eggman wearing an explorer outfit. He looks frustrated as his two robots are groaning from the weight of the backpacks on them.

"My feet are killing me," Bocoe whines like a child. Eggman growls, throwing his hat, which hits Decoe and knocks him to the ground.

"I can't take it anymore! It must be a hundred and twenty degrees out here!" Eggman shouts loudly.

Decoe stands up, holding a yellow thermometer. "Actually, doctor, it is exactly 95 degrees Fahrenheit."

Bocoe holds a light blue one. "Mine says 35 degrees Celsius, which is really the same as 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Either way, we are talking hot stuff."

"Be quiet!" Eggman yells at them, "I didn't ask you for a weather report! Decoe, my chair! Bocoe, my fan!"

Decoe unfolds a chair, "Alright." Eggman flops onto it, taking a deep breath. "There we go." Decoe wipes his face.

"Nice and cool," Bocoe fans him, Eggman smiling in relaxation.

"Pretty please, doctor, can't we have our vacation back at the Egg Fort where it is nice and cool?" Decoe wonders.

"No, the theme of this vacation is roughing it, and like it or not, that's what we're going to do!" Eggman insists.

"Oh well," Bocoe sags sadly. "At least mosquitoes don't like robots. I just hope you brought enough calamine lotion."

"QUIET!" Eggman screams at his complaining and Bocoe is whisked away into the grass. He hears laughter and Bocoe opens his eyes to see Bokkun arriving. Eggman clenches his fists, as he didn't want to be bothered.

"Hi!" The little robot greets.

"What are you doing here? I gave strict orders not to be disturbed!" Eggman warns, to which Bokkun giggles at.

"I know, I know. But I thought you should know about this," He points forward, intriguing Eggman and his robots as they hear voices.

"Cheese!" Mr. Stewart calls out.

"Hey, Cheese!"

"We're coming to get you!"

Everyone except Mr. Tanaka and Amy have gone out to the mountains to search for their friend, who are in very close proximity to Eggman's area. "What are those clowns doing here?!" Eggman exclaims.

"This sure is a coincidence," Decoe points out.

"Perhaps they are looking for a Chaos Emerald," Bocoe suggests, which is the opposite of what they're doing.

"Well so am I!" Eggman declares, the two robots pushing him into the grass.

"Get down, they'll see us!" Decoe warns.

"In order to observe, we must remain incognito," Bocoe informs, Eggman growling as he has some dirt and bruises on him.

"Oh, I'll remain incognito, alright. As incognito as a snake in the grass," He grumbles, reminding himself to deal with his robots later for their action.

"Cheese!" Chris shouts, but there's no sign of him.

"Are you there?"

As they continue calling out his name, Eggman and his robots are hiding in the grass near them. He gets bit by a mosquito. "Ow!" He slams his hand against the back of his head. "That pesky mosquito just sunk its stinger into my soggy, wet noodle!"

Decoe and Bocoe glance at each other. "It is not like we did not warn him," Decoe remarks, Bocoe nodding.

"Alright, you lazy leeches! I want every mosquito here insecticided!" He demands.

"Couldn't we just use bug spray?" Bocoe asks lazily.

"Oh!" Decoe notices something, "Behind you." Eggman looks up to see a moth coming right towards him and it lands on his face, spraying something. The evil doctor screams for his face and the moth flies away. He turns around with bumps all over his face, angry. He screams at the pain of the bites.

Decoe applies some ointment to his bruises. "That cursed insect!"

Chris turns around, having heard him. "Hey, was that a voice coming from over there?" He wonders.

Frances gasps, "Was it Cheese?"

"No," Sophia shakes her head. "Though, it did sound awfully familiar..."

"Yeah, Sophia's right. It did sound like a man," Chris agrees, finding it weird.

"Maybe someone else is camping," Mr. Stewart suggests.

"Maybe," Chris decides to ignore it, but Sophia doesn't as she narrows her eyes. She'd have to keep an eye out.

"Cheese!"

"Hey Cheese!"

"We're on our way!"

* * *

They come to a stop at a small tunnel that crosses paths with the river. "What if Cheese is inside that tunnel?" Cream asks, growing more worried. Sophia uses her super vision and sees something inside, gasping.

"What? What'd you see, Sophia?" Tails asks her.

"...He is in there, but..." Sophia glances away, "That is all I can say."

"I'll look," Mr. Stewart bends down to catch a glimpse inside before shrugging. "I'm afraid I can't fit."

"I'll bet we could all fit no problem," Chris suggests, "You wait here while we check it out."

"Alright," Mr. Stewart moves out of their way. "Promise you'll be careful."

"Okay," Chris bends down and crawls, Mr. Stewart looking worried. If something happened to his students, he'd never live it down. Then again, he wasn't an actual teacher with a degree. Chris and the others step carefully inside, as the size was just enough to step in slowly.

"Just make sure you don't lose your way," Mr. Stewart states.

"We won't," Frances calls out as Sophia is the last one to enter.

"As the oldest, I will look after them," She informs, stepping inside the tunnel. "And turn off that tracker."

Mr. Stwart smiles sheepishly and turns it off...but turns it back on when she's out of his sight. Chris is wearing the tracker on his pants, but he doesn't notice. "Hey, they're coming in loud and clear." The device on his arm is zapped and he shouts in surprise, turning to see Sophia with her laser eyes turned on. She smiles and turns back into the tunnel.

"Thank you for understanding~" She calls out and he groans at his device.

* * *

Sonic approaches a food stand and sees batter being filled into little spoons. "Hey," He looks at the prep in awe as it's made into little shapes. "Wow!"

Someone hears him, tilting her head to see him. "Sonic!" He turns around to see the woman holding out a tray. "Try a pastry!" She bends down to him.

"Thanks," He takes one and eats it, someone filming him.

"You like it?"

"It's good," He gives her a thumbs up, the tourists and citizens clapping.

"Please, take this to your friend, Princess Sophia," She holds out a bag. "She's so pretty and brave, and I want her to have them!"

"Will do," He takes it from her, "She'd love these!"

* * *

"Guess this is the end of the tunnel. I wonder what's out here since Sophia won't tell us," Chris states as they step out into the end of the path, gasping.

"What?" Frances wonders before the others gasp in shock.

"Is...this real?" Chris asks in disbelief. "It can't be!"

"Oh, but it is," Sophia answers as she gestures to a Chao colony, filled with Chao! They all seem at peace as they enjoy the water and fresh air.

"Hey, they all look just like Cheese," Chris notices, which probably meant it would be much harder to find him.

"I can't believe it!" Tails exclaims in awe, "It's a Chao colony!" He laughs as he and a worried Cream go to explore.

"Ah, they're all so cute," Frances bends down to two of them.

"Hey look Chris, they really like us," Danny notes as the Chao look like they want to play. Two of them braid Sophia's hair.

"Yeah, I guess they can sense that we're friendly," Chris comments as one is pulling at Tails' fur.

"Hey, this one wants to go for a swim," Tails points out.

"Cheese!" Cream calls out as one of them flies up to her. "Is that you? I guess not." She sees another one. "Oh, Cheese! Sorry."

"Chao," She hears a familiar voice and looks to see Cheese swimming in the water. And she knows it's him when she sees the red bow around his neck.

"There you are! Cheese!" They happily reunite as she pulls him out of the water. "Oh Cheese, you're okay."

"Chao chao."

"She's so happy," Frances says as they look on happily. "Come on out of that water, Cream. You're getting your feet all soggy."

"I don't mind. All that matters is Cheese is okay," She remarks as she walks up to them.

"She sure is. Are you happy?" Chris asks and she nods.

"Looks like Cheese made some friends," Tails points out as some Chao are around him. Cheese says Chao and the other Chao react in joy.

"What's up?" Chris wonders.

"They're all excited about something," Tails says.

"I bet they're just happy that Cheese found her friends again, that's all," Chris guesses.

"I think you're right," Frances agrees with him.

"It really is pretty here, don't you think?"

"Sure is," Frances replies, "Let's look around!"

* * *

"There he is!"

"Up there on the roof!"

Sonic chuckles as he stands on top of a building, smirking proudly.

"Hi Sonic!"

"Hey!" He waves to them and one girl takes a picture. "Hiya girls!" He jumps away, disappearing.

"Oh, now I won't have a picture."

* * *

"Come on, throw the ball, Danny," Chris encourages and Danny does so, one of the Chao catching it.

"Hey, nice catch," Cream comments, Sophia clapping as Cheese cheers in delight.

"Ah, these look great," Chris and Frances pick fruit for the Chao to eat. "Here."

"Here you go," They hold out what look to be small peaches to the Chao, who eat them whole. "Look how they gobble them up!"

"Hey Tails, do the Chao on your planet have little colonies like this too?" Chris wonders, as Tails knew exactly what it was when they saw it.

"Yup. They have colonies in a lot of places, but there has to be plenty of fresh water. And since the water has to be kept clean, most of the Chao colonies are kept a secret. Sophia's mom usually handles that kind of stuff," Tails explains.

"I guess they're kept in secret here too," Frances states, "I've never seen anything like this. It's like a whole different world!"

"Yeah, a secret world," Tails adds and Chris notices something.

"Hey guys, check it out," Chris points forward to see Sophia bonding with a pink Chao. "I didn't know there were Chao in pink!"

"Well, you don't see them that often here, but they do exist," Tails replies.

"Wow, it'd be cool if Sophia kept it as a pet," Frances comments as Sophia feeds the pink Chao.

* * *

"How much longer do we have to keep this up?" Decoe wonders in exhaustion.

"Please can we go home, Dr. Eggman? My bearings are killing me," Bocoe calls out, Eggman growling again with a yell.

"Quit with your whining, will you?! I refuse to spend my week's vacation listening to your incessant belly aching!" Eggman pants when he's done with his rant.

"I think he has heat stroke," Decoe comments after a few seconds.

"Never mind him. If we don't stop roughing it soon, I'm going to overheat," Bocoe remarks.

"Decoe," Eggman points at the taller robot, "I order you to empty that knapsack!"

"Right away, doctor," Decoe unzips his bag, Bocoe shouting in surprise to see a portable selection machine. No wonder why it was so heavy.

"While I know this camping trip is all about getting back to nature, there are certain amenities one cannot do without, and this is one of them," Eggman explains as he presses the red button. "In we go!" He places his card deck inside the slot and closes it, pulling a lever. Eventually, it lands on his new E-66 Da-Dai-Oh from the Egg Fort 2. "A perfect choice. And now to wake up our little friend, E-66!" He presses a button from a remote, which emits a red light all the way to the ship, summoning the robot as it rises from the water.

* * *

Amy plays around with the salad, trying to make it look right. She looks up after a moment. "Do you think they're okay, Mr. Tanaka?"

"I'm sure they are just fine," Mr. Tanaka tries to reassure her. "When I was a boy, I would play in those mountains from sunrise to sunset. They will be back soon."

"You mean, once you were a young boy like Chris, Mr. Tanaka?" Amy wonders, as she couldn't see it.

"Certainly. I'll have you know I was not always a grown-up. Everyone is a child once," He explains.

"Children!" Mr. Stewart just happens to arrive back. "You mean they haven't come back here yet?"

"But we thought they were with you," Amy answers in confusion.

"We were looking for Cheese and we found a small tunnel. The children went in to look and I haven't seen them since. Where could they be?" Mr. Stewart glances at the mountains.

"They must have gotten lost," Mr. Tanaka suggests.

"Well, at first I was tracking Chris' whereabouts with this monitor," Mr. Stewart pulls out his watch to reveal the device. "But Sophia blasted it after they entered the tunnel."

"I hope they're okay," Amy looks up at the mountains, not even registering the fact that he was tracking them or how Sophia knew about the tracker in the first place.

A large shadow looms over them as Da-Dai-Oh flies past over the campsite. Amy and Mr. Stewart scream at his presence, but it ignores them, leaving Amy worried as she recognizes the design. "It's Eggman!"

* * *

Chris and the others watch the Chao as they're leaving. "Bye you guys!" Chris waves a hand, Cheese saying goodbye to them as well. The Chao wave goodbye and the pink one that Sophia was friendly with flies up to her.

"Chao Chao," She nuzzles her cheek and Sophia smiles, patting her head.

"Do not fret, little one. I will visit as often as I can." She waves and follows after her friends, the pink Chao staring after her sadly with a look of longing. The other Chao call out their goodbyes.

"See you later," Tails and Cream say to them, walking down the tunnel. Cheese looks sad.

"You look lonesome, don't you, Cheese?" Cream asks knowingly. Chris turns around.

"Maybe we can come back here next year," Chris offers.

"Sure, we can pack some sandwiches and maybe play some baseball," Danny agrees. "And Cheese can play with their new friends again."

"Yeah," Cream turns to her friend, "Cheese, that sound good?"

"Chao chao!" Cheese agrees happily. He looks in alarm as Da-Dai-Oh comes in at that moment. They duck as he flies right past him. Eggman chuckles as he and his robots are riding on top of the large robot.

"Good day, my little explorers." Eggman says through a bullhorn.

"Him again," Chris looks annoyed.

"Oh, now I have seen everything," Sophia narrows her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "What does he want now?"

The robot lands on the trees, crushing several of them.

"Okay kiddies, let's have it. Pass over that Chaos emerald or else!" He demands, to their confusion.

"What Chaos Emerald?" Chris wonders.

"What are you talking about?" Frances questions.

"Don't play coy with me! Why else would you scavengers be snooping around here for? Now hand it over!"

"Huh?" Danny asks, perplexed.

"He must have seen us looking for Cheese and thought we were hunting for a Chaos Emerald," Chris guesses.

"I knew I had heard a voice in the woods," Sophia crosses her arms.

"That's why he's so upset," Tails says in recognition.

"Hey, there aren't any Chaos Emeralds around here!" Chris calls out, using his hands to make sure Eggman got it through his head.

Eggman growls, clenching his fists as he knocks his two robots away. "You can't fool me, you emerald snatchers!"

"Do not get overexcited, doctor," Decoe warns as he stands up. Bocoe wipes his face.

"You are beginning to perspire."

Eggman snatches the wipe away in anger. "Well then if you bite size meddlers won't cooperate with me, perhaps my friend E-66 will convince you!"

"Even if we had an emerald, which has not been sensed in this area," Sophia calls out to him, "We would not give it to you. But we do not have an emerald, so cease your incessant whining."

The others laugh at her attitude and Da-Dai-Oh steps forward, creating a slight shake and scaring them. Sophia narrows her eyes and is about to step into action when the pink Chao comes out of nowhere. "Huh?!" Sophia and Eggman exclaim as she flies down and pulls a rope. This causes the robot to trip from the rope and to skid into the lake below. The impact of the crash pollutes the water where the entrance to the Chao colony is located.

"How did that happen?" Danny wonders, as Sophia looks down.

"That Chao caused it. She's really strong," Tails comments in shock. "That's why that big thing tipped over."

"It serves him right for sticking his robot on us," Frances states and Cream notices something.

"Oh no, the water!" They look to see the polluted river. "It's all muddy!"

"Hey you guys, that river tuns into the Chao colony," Chris explains.

"Come on, we have to do something," Danny says in determination.

"Let's go," They run back the way they came, the pink Chao flying up to Sophia and hiding in her bag. Eggman growls as his head pops out of the mud.

"Whoever heard of a mushy mountain?!"

"I have a feeling that E-66 and rugged terrain do not go hand in hand," Decoe holds his mud-covered head.

"He might be more effective on hard-flat surfaces," Bocoe comments, Eggman pushing their heads back into the mud.

"Quiet! Now help me dig out this cast iron klutz! We've got some emeralds to snag!"

* * *

Decoe and Bocoe have cleaned Da-Dai-Oh, having displaced somewhere where it couldn't get dirty again. "The cleaning is completed, doctor," Bocoe reports.

"Well, let's get going!"

"Dr. Eggman, look!" Decoe points down at the path. "Sonic!"

Sonic is holding a bag of souvenirs for himself and Sophia, and he didn't look happy. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Sonic. I, er, I...I mean, we...we were just doing a lovely bit of sightseeing," Eggman stammers.

"Yes, for our vacation," Decoe says, but Sonic notices how close he is to a village.

"Ah, you're on vacation," He replies sarcastically.

"Yes, vacation! See, I've been such an old gloomy Gus of late that I thought perhaps some pleasure time out inf the fresh air might do me a bit of good," Eggman answers.

"He so needs it," Decoe comments, and he wasn't lying either.

"That so?" Sonic asks suspiciously.

"Let it fly!" Eggman yells, Da-Dai-Oh attempting to catch Sonic. The hedgehog evades the attack with ease. "He's gone!" Sonic appears right next to him.

"Hi there." The three gasp in surprise. "Haven't you clowns learned yet you'll never be fast enough to catch me? Or Sophia." He throws his bag. "Catch ya later, kids." He runs down the robot and comes back, destroying it. The robot explodes, sending the trio flying away. Sonic holds out his hands to catch the souvenir bag.

"Sonic!"

"Huh?" He turns to see Amy, Mr. Stewart, and Mr. Tanaka.

"Sonic, you have to do something!" Mr. Stewart says urgently. "Oh, I see you've already done something."

"Mmhm," Sonic nods, as they were planning on telling him about Eggman.

"Cheese got lost down by the river," Amy explains, "They all went looking, but they haven't come back."

"I'll find 'em," Sonic walks past them, throwing up the souvenir bag. "Hold this, would ya?" Both men catch the bag, several items falling out of it. They look in confusion to see the souvenirs and food.

* * *

They're attempting to filter the mud out of the polluted lake in the Chao colony by digging it out. "We'll carry the mud out with this," Danny suggests as they make a makeshift storage for mud out of twigs and leaves.

"I don't think we can get it all, you guys," Chris says in worry.

"We have to at least try, Chris. Otherwise all those little Chao will get sick," Frances explains, as all of the human kids and Sophia have their pants and shoes off. Well, Sophia already wore a skirt, so she just took off her shoes.

"That's right, Frances," Tails agrees, "And if we all work together, it'll be a cinch."

"Now that's what I like to hear." They look up to see Sonic standing there. "So all we gotta do is get rid of that mud."

"It's Sonic!" Chris exclaims.

"Might wanna let me and Sophia take care of this," Sonic tells them, winking at Sophia. She catches on to his plan and nods. They stand in front of the muddy lake, pointing to it. "Here goes!" Using their speed, they filter the mud out of the polluted water, spraying it everywhere, but it's now clean again for the Chao. Sophia and Sonic come to a stop. "Okay gang, it's all cleaned up!"

The others cheer, though covered in mud. The Chao jump into the clean water.

"Ha, guys, you did it!" Chris cheers for them.

"You're all muddy," Sonic points at them and they look down at themselves.

"Wow, we really are dirty," Danny comments.

"Guess I need a bath," Frances replies.

"Thanks for doing that, guys," Chris tells the two.

"Hey, my pleasure," Sonic answers, Sophia nodding.

"Indeed. Our friends need clean water and sufficient food," She gestures to the lake and hears snoring. She looks down in her bag to see the sleeping pink Chao. "Oh dear, how long has she been there?"

"I think she likes you, Sophia," Cream replies as they look at her.

"She probably snuck in. I don't think she'll let you leave her here," Chris chuckles. Sophia smiles at the little stowaway as she wakes up, flying around Sophia's hair.

"Hey, maybe you should take her home," Tails suggests, "Keep her as a pet like with Cheese."

"But this is her home," Sophia glances at the other Chao, who don't seem that sad if she wanted to go with the princess.

"Chao," The pink Chao rests on her head and she bites her lip, thinking.

"...Alright, if it is fine with everyone else," She eventually agrees, the other Chao cheering for the two.

* * *

Later that night, they sit around a campfire, Chris smiling at his butler, "Bet you knew about the Chao colony, didn't you, Mr. Tanaka?"

"Of course I knew, Master Chris. I stumbled upon that colony when I was a boy."

"Don't worry, we'll keep it a secret. Thanks to Sophia and Sonic, maybe it'll still be here when I'm grown up. And Sophia's new Chao pet can visit them!"

"Perhaps even beyond, Master Chris," Mr. Tanaka agrees. Sonic lays on a tree branch as he watches the pink Chao look happy to be with Sophia.

"She needs a name," Cream points out.

"Mm...Rose," Sophia smiles down at her. "They are the favorite type of flowers my mother adores and she reminds me with their color."

"Great, well, welcome Rose," Chris greets and the Chao cheers happily.


	23. Emerald Anniversary

Crazycartoons5488: Wow Sophia as a cute little Pink Chao and she name her Rose it's so Cute.

 **Angel: Yeah, I figured to give Sophia a pet while she's in Station Square.**

Crazycartoons5488: Cheese and Rose saw Chaos and they happy too see him.

 **Angel: Um, yeah, but that's when Chaos appears and it hasn't happened yet...is that his name, it's been so long since I've watched that episode...?**

Challishanlon99: I love this chapter but if this is the end of the story I thank you for letting me read it

 **Angel: What! I don't plan on ending it, it just takes me some time to actually write them.** **I think an angry mob might come after me if I even consider that...**

Guest: Aw that's so adorable I can't believe Sophia has a new pet a chao I can't wait to see the next chapter and what'll happen next.

 **Sophia: Rose is very sweet and adorable, I will have to admit.**

Bajy: Love this episode! Love this chapter! Wonderful job here! Well done! Sophia has her eye on Mr. Stewart :P ha! XD Sophia now has a chao friend, Rose, just like Cream has Cheese. And the chao colony is saved! Chaos are cute! XD I do wonder what will happen next? Looking forward to it! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thank you for the compliments, first off, because I have been working on Biology so hard, I almost forgot to write this week's chapter. So much work for that one subject...and yes, Chao are adorable, and I want to have all of them.**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophie is good friend of Big the cat and his frog Froggy.

 **Angel: Yeah, but where'd you get that from? She hasn't interacted with them yet at this point.**

Guest: Wow that was amazing I can't wait to see the next chapter and see what'll be happening in the anniversary episode I wonder if Sophia's parents had a anniversary before Sophia and her friends were transported to Earth.

 **Sophia: Before we were transported? No, but then again, I do not like to interrupt them on their special day, so I usually cannot be in the castle for most of the day.**

At Area 99, a man in a suit walks in: an official from the president's office. He walks up to the man in the room. "It's very impressive, isn't it?"

"That's it?" The official asks in disbelief.

"Project Beetle is only a prototype, of course. Based on our analysis of Dr. Eggman's technology. But if all goes as planned, we'll soon have our own working robot," The boss explains, as they're in the process of making a new robot. They hope for it to be a success.

"The president considers this project to be a national priority," The official states.

"We won't let them down."

* * *

In the city, where people are doing their own thing, Topaz and Rouge are near a jewelry store. And of course, Rouge can't resist the urge to admire them.

"What a fabulous display. I wish I had a rock collection like that," She looks through a spy glass, Topaz sipping a coffee while sitting on the bench.

"You're a thief," Topaz tells her bluntly.

"I haven't stolen them yet, Topaz," Rouge retorts, not that she wasn't tempted to do so. Topaz takes another sip of her drink.

"So then you are planning a robbery, aren't you?" She asks knowingly. "Excuse me, could somebody get the police and tell 'em there's a thief hiding back here?"

Everyone gasps and turns around. Rouge screams in alarm and hides back in the tree. She peeks her head out and glances at her partner.

"I know why you're so passive-aggressive towards me. You're jealous of me because I'm the glamorous team member," Rouge states smugly.

"If you think I'm the least bit jealous of you, then you really are bad," Topaz says dismissively, turning her attention to the car approaching. And by car, she means limo. Several bodyguards step out to let Nelson Thorndyke out, everyone around recognizing him.

"That's Nelson Thorndyke!"

"The computer mogul?"

Rouge and Topaz blink in surprise as they happened to be right there. They also want to know what he's doing there, as he mostly spends time in his office. One of the guards opens the door for him, letting Nelson in to a man and a lady well dressed.

"Good morning," They recite cheerfully.

"Thank you for visiting our store, Mr. Thorndyke," The man says gratefully. "Is there something we can help you find today?"

"Yes, I'm shopping for an anniversary present for my wife," Nelson looks around.

"You've come to the right place, sir! We've got a full line of matrimonial mementos guaranteed to make every anniversary golden!" The man states, as something covered by a sheet gets Nelson's attention.

"What's under there?"

The man chuckles as he joins Nelson. "You have exquisite taste, sir. This item was acquired recently and it's truly one of a kind!" He pulls it off dramatically to reveal a purple Chaos Emerald! Nelson has to cover himself from the light. All of the people from outside, including Rouge and Topaz, gasp at the beauty.

"It's a perfect gift. That's it! Lindsey is simply wild about jewelry!" Nelson declares, thinking about how she would look with it. "How long will it take you to have the ring ready?"

Their eyes widen in surprise. "Isn't that gem a trad large for a ring?"

"My wife definitely likes flashy jewelry. It's our wedding anniversary and I want to get her something special," Nelson recites, holding up a finger. He crosses his arms with a smile. "I can't wait to see Lindsey's face when I slip it on her finger," He leans to them with a charming grin and wink. "Her birthday's coming up. I'll tell you what. Give me a couple of diamonds, too."

The man sweats awkwardly at him. "Sure."

Nelson later leaves with his gifts. "Thank you very much, Mr. Thorndyke!" The two employees recite politely. "Please feel free to stop by our store anytime!" The people outside are still there, Rouge and Topaz staring at him intently, turning to him with a smirk, silently coming up with a plan.

* * *

A phone call comes in at the Thorndyke mansion and Mr. Tanaka answers it. "Hello, this is the Thorndyke residence."

"Hello Tanaka, how's everything going at home?" Nelson greets, in his limo. Mr. Tanaka smiles at his voice.

"Everyone is doing very well here, Mr. Thorndyke." Amy, Tails, Sophia, Cream, Cheese, Chris, and Rose descend down the stairs, staring at him curiously. Mr. Tanaka covers the receiver. "Mr. Chris, I have Mr. Thorndyke on the line for you."

"Cool!" Chris runs up to the phone.

"Hold on, I thought Chuck was here," Tails shrugs at the others.

"He is," Amy tells him.

"Thank you," Chris takes the phone. "Hey there, how's it going, dad? Are you calling from the office or are you traveling?"

"Chris' father is the Mr. Thorndyke on the phone," Amy recites, "If it was Chuck, he'd say hello grandpa."

"Right," Mr. Tanaka walks up to them, hands behind his back. "It is Mr. Nelson Thorndyke."

"You see?" Amy asks them. "I'm right."

"Yeah, now it's clear," Tails says in agreement, but Cream still looks confused.

"Oh dear," Sophia murmurs, "I believe we have went over this many times."

"She's not here. Mom is in Filmdom City this whole week acting in a movie," Chris explains to his father, as he wanted to know if Lindsey was home. "If you need to reach her, you can call her at the studio, though. Okay, we'll be there."

Nelson hangs up the phone connected to the armrest. "I changed my mind. I wanna go to Filmdom City right away!"

"Yes sir," The driver answers, heading for the highway. Chris puts down the receiver.

"That's weird. My dad wants us all to go to Filmdom City, but he won't say why," Chris explains to the others.

"Filmdom City?!" Amy exclaims in surprise. "Where the movie stars live?! YEAH! Let's go!"

"It sounds like fun," Cream smiles, "Right Cheese?"

"Chao!"

Rose flies around Sophia in excitement and the princess smiles. "Of course you get to come along, Rose."

Tails inserts the 3 Chaos Emeralds they have so far into a compartment. They're still in Sophia's purple case as Tails presses a button to close it up. "We're all set."

"So Tails, how man Chaos Emeralds do you need now?" Chris wonders.

"We have 4, and Knuckles is holding one," Tails counts, "We need 7."

"Wow, just two more!" Chris exclaims, as one of their friends besides Knuckles has one of them right now.

"Yeah," Tails shrugs, "But we have to be really careful now when we add the new Chaos emeralds to the ones we have already. The 4 Chaos Emeralds we have now are okay because they've had time to adapt to each other, but it we add a new emerald without following the right steps, it could cause an electromagnetic reaction that we can't control, and we'll be in major trouble! The last time they were all brought together, it was a disaster."

"We do not speak of that," Sophia shakes her head.

"Huh. It sounds tricky," Chris comments.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting you're supposed to be with your father in Filmdom City now?" Amy warns, wanting to get there as soon as possible.

"Yeah, sorry," He murmurs, Sophia sighing a little at Amy.

The X Tornado starts up and takes off into the air, passing by the trees. Sonic jumps in out of nowhere and lands on the rear, laying against the wing. "Filmdom City, huh? I've never been there."

"Out of all the places in Station Square?" Sophia looks at him in disbelief as she sits across from him. "Highly unlikely to me."

Mr. Tanaka and Chuck are traveling by car.

Mr. Stewart is at a little café, having some coffee. He looks up in shock to see the X Tornado passing by. "Oh! The X Tornado!" He quickly jumps into his car and follows after them. "I better see what those kids are up to."

* * *

They've arrived in Filmdom City at the studio, having parked their vehicles near the warehouses. Nelson is waiting for them as he looks at the Chaos emerald ring, closing it.

"Yes, come in."

Chris opens the door. "Hi dad!"

"Hello son!" They hug, everyone smiling at the sight. "Thanks for coming, Chris. Boy am I happy to see you."

There's a humming sound from Sonic and he looks down along with Tails and Sophia to see something glowing on his back. "Sonic, Sophia, how are ya?" Nelson walks up to them. "Hey, that race you two won was really amazing," He offers a hand.

"Thanks a lot," Sonic shakes hands with him. When Sophia takes his hand, Nelson pulls her into a hug, to Sophia's shock. He pats her back and she moves away, blinking.

"Hey dad, I want you to meet some of my other friends who came along," Chris gestures to the group that he hadn't met formally. "This is Tails."

"Nice to meet ya," Tails rubs his neck as he shakes the man's hand. "Hello."

"Amy," The pink hedgehog curtsies when greeted.

"Hello!"

"And here's Cream and Cheese." Cream gives the man a warm smile.

"Hello sir."

Rose appears from Chris' shoulder and he chuckles nervously. "And this is Rose, Sophia's new friend."

Nelson shakes hands with Mr. Stewart. "And this is Sophia and I's teacher, Mr. Stewart."

"MR. STEWART'S HERE?!" Everyone exclaims in shock, now just realizing that he was there. "NO WAY!"

"Hello sir. It's a pleasure to meet you," He ignores the rest of them, Sophia wondering how he got past them to be seen.

"So, how are my children doing in school?" Mr. Thorndyke wonders.

"Oh, Sophia's like a daughter. They're model students, Mr. Thorndyke," He tells the man, Sophia shaking her head and not bothering to correct him.

"Is there a reason we're here?" Chuck wonders, as Nelson still hasn't let up why they had to come out there. "Or did we travel all this way just to say hello?"

"You mean I didn't tell you?" He asks in shock.

"Tell us what?" Sophia presses, crossing her arms. "You would not tell us over the phone."

"This is a very special day."

" _Lindsey, try to get it right this time," The director encourages. "Ready? And action!"_

 _Lindsey is wearing a pink gown and a wig that has a curly hair and a tiara, as she's rehearsing for a scene right now. She places a hand on the tree next to her. "The prince swore he would return someday and I know he'll keep his word." She hears a noise and looks up, seeing a man wearing a prince costume, but his face is covered by shadow. "Is it really you?" She runs up to the man, embracing him. "My true love."_

 _The man is revealed to be Nelson. "Why Nelson!" She gasps in shock and he pulls out something from his pocket._

" _Here, Lindsey. With my love," He shows the ring and she gasps in shock. "You haven't forgotten what today is, have you, dear?"_

 _The family remove their costumes, confetti falling. "Happy wedding anniversary to the Thorndykes!"_

" _I don't know what to say," Lindsey places her hands on her cheeks in shock. "Thank you all."_

" _Congratulations," Everyone claps for them, Rose and Cheese cheering happily. The two hug each other._

" _Thank you, honey."_

Nelson is hugging air as everyone stares at him. "So, what do you think?"

"Well," Chuck says simply, he and Ella sweating.

"That is almost as original as the time you wished her a happy birthday by skydiving onto her set," Mr. Tanaka deadpans.

"I guarantee you're going to leave Mrs. Thorndyke totally speechless," Ella lies, as sometimes Nelson could go a bit too far.

"That's what I'm going for!" He states, holding up a finger.

"Surprising Mom with that ring while she's filming is a great idea!" Chris exclaims, turning to Sophia. "Do your parents celebrate their anniversary, Sophia?"

"Yes," Sophia smiles, "The bakers and I are very good friends as they make their cakes. My parents have been together for..." She counts on her fingers. "5,250 years."

"Wow!" Chris' eyes widen at the amount.

"A wonderful plan, sir," Mr. Tanaka agrees, as he didn't want to lose a job, no matter how ridiculous Nelson could be.

"Hey, you can give me jewelry anytime," Ella replies, none of them noticing that Topaz and Rouge are listening in from the air vents. They both smirk to each other.

"Now honestly," Nelson opens up the case to reveal the Chaos emerald. "You really think she'll like it, Ella?" Ella gasps in shock at the Chaos emerald, which makes Sonic's emerald go off.

"Oh no," Sophia's eyes widen as she remembers Tails' warning.

"Oh my. It's amazing!" Ella exclaims, even though she doesn't know much about the Chaos emeralds to know their importance.

"What's going on?" Sonic looks at the blue emerald as it glows brighter, starting the electromagnetic process Tails mentioned. Rouge and Topaz look in shock, as they've never seen a reaction like this before. It causes a light to burst from the ceiling.

* * *

Eggman is sleeping in his Egg Fort 2. "I am bored out of my circuits," Decoe has his arms crossed behind his back.

"I would give my left servo motor for a little excitement," Bocoe has a hand on his cheek and his panel beeps. "What is this?" He turns to his sleeping boss. "Dr. Eggman, we have detected a Chaos Emerald!"

He falls off chis chair, glaring at his robot. "You'd better not be joking," He speeds over to the panel. "Where? Show me!"

"There, in Filmdom City," Bocoe explains as he looks at a single red dot.

"Right. Set a course for Filmdom City on the double!" Eggman orders, as he wanted that emerald.

* * *

Knuckles just happens to be running nearby Filmdom City and his red emerald reacts to the emeralds from the studio. He knows what it meant, as it's happened before with Tails. "There's a Chaos Emerald somewhere around here." He lands on the streets and starts walking. "That emerald could be any place in this city." He looks forward and sees the blue light up ahead. "I found it."

* * *

The reaction breaks light bulbs, the girls ducking from the blast. It also breaks a TV to Nelson's shock, and he closes the box quickly and the reaction stops, to everyone's shock. "Just what is going on here?" Nelson demands.

"The filming is about to begin," Mr. Tanaka reminds, to distract him. "You should go get changed, sir."

"Yeah, you're right." Mr. Tanaka leads him away.

"Thorndyke doesn't know how valuable that gem really is," Rouge says to Topaz and Sophia's right eat tilts, looking up.

"Now what?" Amy asks Sonic, as they couldn't simply ask for the emerald back. "That ring is made from the Chaos emerald, isn't it?"

"We need that emerald to get home, but now it looks like Chris' mom will be wearing it on her finger," Sonic answers.

"We should talk about it with Chris, but let's wait till after the surprise party is over," Tails suggests.

"Tails is right, we would ruin the surprise if we inform him now," Sophia tells them. She looks up at the vent and gets a suspicious look. _I could have sworn I heard a female voice..._

Mr. Stewart hides in a hallway while walking with the group. "Calling homeroom. I have just detected a possible Chaos emerald. Will retrieve." He continues walking like nothing happened.

* * *

The crew are setting up the forest scene, Lindsey wearing the same dress and wig from Nelson's vision. She's talking with her co-star as the costume designer is putting on the finishing touches. Nelson watches her from a tree, his family and employees in disguise. Sonic watches from a distance with his arms crossed.

"Hello Sonic," Knuckles approaches him.

"Hey there, Knuckles. What's cracking?" Sonic replies and Sophia joins them.

"You tell me," the red echidna says.

"P-Princess," Knuckles greets politely, bowing.

"Knuckles," Sophia smiles in greeting. "How wonderful to see you again."

"To be honest, I'm not really sure," Sonic answers Knuckles' question, shrugging.

"Let's try one more time. Try to get it right this time, people," The director orders. "Ready? And action!"

Lindsey places her hand on the tree next to her like in Nelson's dream. "The prince swore he would return someday and I know he'll keep his word." She hears a rustle and gasps, turning to see the 'prince.' "Is it really you?" She runs up to Nelson, but he trips, dropping the box. It opens up to reveal the emerald, causing the same electromagnetic reaction, but this time, Knuckles' emerald is added in.

"Oh no, the ring!" Nelson grabs it and Lindsey pulls off his wig.

"Nelson?"

"Lindsey!" He says, as the plan is ruined and the emerald glows brighter. Everyone has to squint away from the light, Mr. Stewart gasping at the now 3 emeralds.

Dr. Eggman arrives at the studio. "We are closing in on the Chaos Emerald!"

"Look, doctor," Decoe points forward, Eggman shooting up in his chair.

"What?!" He sees the light from the 3 emeralds and, knowing what it is, chuckles evilly. "That light beam would lead us straight to the emerald. LET'S GO!"

The lights inside the set break, including the equipment. "Put that ring back in the box right away!" Sonic shouts and Mr. Tanaka puts the emerald back in the box, everything stopping again. A spotlight drops near the camera.

"I think perhaps we should move off the set," Mr. Tanaka suggests, Lindsey putting her hands on her hips. "Sir?"

"What in the world has gotten into you?" She demands, angry. "We're shooting the most important scene in the entire movie!"

"I was only trying to surprise you, honey," Nelson protests, Chris sweating a bit.

"This isn't going like Dad planned at all," He comments.

"Sorry I forgot I married a movie star!" Nelson yells.

"Well, how would you liked it if I barged into one of your company's shareholder meetings and made a complete fool of myself?" Lindsey retorts, narrowing her eyes. Chuck looks at them in disbelief, as he's never seen them fight.

"At least I cared enough to come visit you!"

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you insinuating that I _don't_ care?"

"Now now, calm down," Chuck tries to break it up.

"Butt out!" They both tell him and his eyes widen. Mr. Stewart sweats a little as he looks at his watch.

"Homeroom, will you alert the crisis team to standby?"

"Sonic, we need that ring," Knuckles insists to Sonic and Sophia.

"We know, but it won't be easy to get," Sonic answers.

"Especially at this moment," Sophia glances at the couple fighting.

"Let's just tell 'em we need it to get home!" Knuckles clenches his fists, Sonic crossing his arms.

"We can't spoil their anniversary."

"It would be rude," Sophia warns Knuckles and he bows his head in shame.

"Forgive me, princess!"

Sophia sweats a little. "Oh dear." Suddenly, there's shaking around them and they look up to see that the Egg Fort 2 has crashed into the roof. Eggman, in his Egg Mobile, floats over to them, Decoe and Bocoe running.

"Hand over that Chaos Emerald!"

Sophia, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails all sweat at his arrival knowingly. "It's Eggman. Of course," They all say in unison before they all separate into 4 directions.

There's a dinosaur scene going on in one of the other sets. The dinosaur roars at two actors, who scream in fear. Sonic jumps from the car onto the fake dinosaur, running over it. "This way, Eggman!" Eggman crashes into the dinosaur with his Egg Mobile and Sonic smirks. The Egg Mobile now has the head stuck in it.

"I'll get you, Sonic!" Eggman declares.

Knuckles and Sophia run through an outer space scene, leaping over an orb. Decoe trips over it, falling onto the ground.

Tails runs into an ocean scene, making sure not to fall off the ship. Bocoe chases after him, but falls off. Tails manages to save him...right before dropping him smugly.

Rouge and Topaz are watching this display, Rouge turning to her partner. "With all this confusion, now's the perfect time to make my move," She swoops down, despite Topaz's protests. In one swift motion, she snatches the box from Nelson.

"Where's the ring?" They look up to see the thieving bat. "Hey! You give that back to me!"

"Sorry, but this gem is really a Chaos Emerald, which is far too precious to use in jewelry, even for somebody as glamorous as me," She answers, not noticing a gloved hand snatching it from with a laugh. She gasps as she looks up to see Eggman holding the box.

"Let's make sure this emerald is real," He opens the box to reveal the emerald. "Fantastic, we hit the jackpot."

"Hey!" Rouge lunges for it. "Hand it back, Eggman!"

"No way, it's mine now!"

Topaz jumps onto the Egg Mobile to help Rouge. "Give it up!"

"Get away!" He shouts as they all fight over it. "Decoe and Bocoe, come and help me! Hurry!"

Decoe, who was still chasing Knuckles and Sophia, comes to a stop. "Oh, yes, doctor."

"Coming!" Bocoe calls out, jumping off the ladder. Mr. Stewart is running through the catwalk and pauses to contact his supervisors. "Dr. Eggman is flying to escape with the emerald." He looks at Eggman fighting with Rouge and Topaz.

"Come on! Drop it!" Topaz demands as she tries to pull Eggman's hands off it.

"I'd rather drop you!" He presses the pedal and the Egg Mobile lunges forward, Topaz and Rouge trying to hold on. He brings it to a sudden stop, throwing Rouge and Topaz off and to Mr. Stewart.

"Ladies, please, I-!" He protests before they land on him, pushing all 3 into the water below.

"Eggman!" He looks over to see Knuckles, Sonic, and Sophia. "Hand over that Chaos Emerald or else!"

"Or else what?" He smirks at them, pushing a yellow button. "Weazo will get rid of those clowns!" Something crashes into the windows above them, landing in front of the Thorndyke family. It's a large green robot with some yellow details on him, and also has claws and a tail.

"Not another robot!" Sonic and Knuckles say in unison, Sophia looking at them weirdly. Weazo looks down at the Thorndykes before using its flamethrower weapon. He starts walking towards them slowly, Lindsey gasping as she backs away. Nelson stands in front of her protectively.

"You get away! Don't you dare hurt my family!" He warns, but he does look a little nervous. Weazo ignores the warning and takes another step.

"Hold it, chump!" The robot turns to see Mr. Tanaka standing there, leaves blowing past him. "Before you lay your claws on the Thorndyke family...you must get past me." He kicks his legs in the air, punching for demonstration and taking a fighting stance. "Well robot, do you feel lucky?" Weazo knocks him away with its tail, sending Mr. Tanak flying into a wall. Sophia gasps as Knuckles' eyes widen.

"What's wrong with that guy?"

"Too many kung fu movies," Sonic explains, looking on wearily. Weazo continues to charge at the frightened family, but is suddenly stopped. He looks down to see Knuckles holding onto his tail.

"Leave them alone, Weazo!" He warns, but Weazo picks up his tail and throws Knuckles into a box.

"You won't win that easy!" Weazo turns to see Sophia and Sonic in spin mode, knocking the robot over. They land behind it. "Come on!"

"We are waiting~" Sophia sings playfully, both of them taking off into a run. Weazo slithers after them and Eggman wears the Chaos ring on his finger, chuckling.

"Soon I'll steal the other emeralds too!"

"This one sure is impressive," Bocoe stares at it.

"It looks very powerful," Decoe comments. Weazo fires its flamethrower again, the two speedsters jumping over it. They turn left and a Godzilla like creature from one of the sets blows fire, Sonic and Sophia running past it. A flamethrower from Weazo destroys the prop. Sonic and Sophia are cornered near sea wallpaper.

"It's a dead end!" They turn around as Weazo corners them, trying to stop them with its fire. "We can't get away!"

Rose suddenly flies in and lands in front of Sophia, wanting to protect her. "Rose, no!" They both warn her and Sophia hugs her close, rolling away from fire.

"SONIC! PRINCESS SOPHIA!" Knuckles calls out. "Hey, Sonic, princess, where are you?" He turns a corner and through the other side of a glass wall, he sees Rose, Sonic, and Sophia in danger. "They're fighting in...water?" Knuckles doesn't know it's a glass wall and he touches it. "Now I see." Weazo fires flames again and Sophia covers Sonic protectively, Rose hiding in her purse.

"LISTEN YOU GUYS! JUMP UP NOW!" Knuckles warns them and Sophia flies Sonic up in the air. Knuckles punches the glass, breaking it and engulfing Weazo in the water. Because of this, the controls are damaged and he can't use his flamethrower anymore. "YOU'RE THROUGH!" Knuckles punches Weazo, giving Sophia and Sonic a chance to pierce through it with their spin attacks, defeating it once and for all. This shocks Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe, who were watching.

"I'll think I'll cut Sophia and Sonic a break and call it quits today." Decoe and Bocoe nodding in agreement.

"Good idea."

"Thanks for the Chaos Emerald!" They call out as they escape, laughing.

"Are you all okay?" Nelson asks his wife and son, who hug him.

"You protected us, dear."

"Of course, you're my family," Nelson tells them.

Ella, Cream, and Cheese look on fondly at the moment while Chuck sweats a little. "The surprise party certainly was surprising."

"I'm all upset that Eggman stole Mrs. Thorndyke's new ring. That gemstone was so pretty," She looks up in the sky, while Mr. Tanaka growls, ashamed.

"I have failed in my duties. I don't deserve this uniform," He proceeds to take it off. Chris and Sophia run up to him.

"Hold on! The important thing is we're all here to celebrate Mom and Dad's anniversary," He tells the butler.

"You cannot give up because of one failure," Sophia explains, "No one is perfect."

"And besides, Tanaka, it isn't your fault that my ring was stolen," Lindsey assures him and he bows his head.

"Thank you."

But really, they needed him to stay clothed. "Hey!" Chris calls out. "Let's all wish my mom and dad a vert happy anniversary!" Confetti falls down as they all clap.

"And many more!" They cheer, Rose and Cheese saying it in their own way.

"Thank you, everybody," They both say in unison and Lindsey smiles at her husband, wanting to forget all about that silly fight. It didn't matter that Nelson made a fool of himself, what mattered was each other.

"Congratulations!" Everyone cheers, Knuckles and Sonic looking on.

"It all worked out okay."

"Oh yeah, except for Eggman getting away with a Chaos Emerald, it went just perfect," Knuckles retorts.

"Knuckles," Sophia says with a small sigh. "We have 4, is that not enough right now?"

"...Yeah," He lets out a sigh. "Sorry, your highness."

Rouge watches them from above. "Sonic and princess have four Chaos emeralds and Knuckles has one. Even Dr. Eggman has one emerald, and now, we're the only ones who don't have any," She complains, hands on her hips. "When the last Chaos emerald is found and all 7 are put together, it'll be a real blast. I'll get those emeralds no matter what!"

Sophia looks up at the ceiling and sees Rouge and Topaz. They both gasp, wondering what she would do. She glances at Sonic and Knuckles before she goes back to talking with Knuckles, pretending that nothing happened. Topaz stares at her.

"Why didn't she say anything? She saw us!" Topaz whispers and Rouge looks at the pink-haired girl.

"While she could...she won't. Because she doesn't want to ruin our friendship. I don't either, so let's go," Rouge takes Topaz and flies away.


	24. How to Catch a Hedgehog

**Angel: Only 2 more episodes until the end of this season! Yaaay...and another two to go...but then 7 episodes into the season, Shadow will appear! Which a lot of people want, because I know you guys are waiting for Sophia to meet him ^^'**

Ichabod: For once I don't envy Sonic and Sophia...not only cracking Eggman's plan, but having to deal with all that extra hassle when trying to retrieve that Chaos Emerald!

Kenny: I guess there ARE advantages to being a powerless wuss! Looks like YOU lucked out!

Ichabod: Aw, man...I wish I had a power or ability. Sonic has super speed, Sophia has that crazy-good hearing (among other powers, possibly), Tails can fly & he's really smart, Rouge can fly & is a master of espionage, Knuckles can glide and has those fearsome fists o' fury, and Amy has that big ol' hammer! And me? Zippo. Zilch. Goose-egg. Even Espio's a lizard like me, and HE was born a chameleon! I got stuck as a stupid useless iguana. Thanks for nothing, Kenny.

Kenny: Hey, anytime you need to be reminded of how pointless your presence is, I jump at the chance!

Ichabod: Go stick your head in a shark tank. It won't give me powers, but it'll make ME feel better...

 **Sophia: There is no need to envy me, my friend. Everyone is special in their own way.**

 **Angel: Maybe you could have telepathy? Just throwing that out there.** **And it's not possibly, Sophia has super speed, laser eyes, and more.**

 **Sophia: Knuckles and Amy DO share strength...and Kenny, why must you put down Ichabod like this? He does not deserve that kind of treatment and I ask that you refrain from insulting him. Surely he is a good friend to you. *pulls out her sword* Perhaps you need an incentive should you refuse.**

 **Angel: *whispers* Snap.**

Bajy: Great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon! Sorry my review is short; I'm on a time crunch! Will be longer next time!

 **Angel: But it doesn't matter to me if there's a short review? ^^' I don't know why you think I'd be mad about a short review.**

Crazycartoons5488: In The Last Chaos Emerald Sophia and Rose will find out her case is missing with the four Chaos emerald.

 **Angel: Maybe, if I could figure out how to pull that off.**

Crazycartoons5488: Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, and Charmy Bee are going to be shocked to see Princess Sophia and Charmy Bee has hearts in his eyes because he has a crush on her.

 **Angel: No...just no. Charmy's like 8 and Sophia is WAY older than him. If I didn't ship Tails and Cream, I'd pair Charmy with Cream instead. You know, since they're the same age?**

Challishanlon99: More chapters please but if this is the end of the story I thank you for letting me read it.

 **Angel: *inhales deeply, taking a deep breath* ...This is not the end...I shouldn't have to keep saying that because it's not ending anytime soon.**

Guest: That was so cool I can't wait to see the next chapter the how to catch a hedgehog it's my favorite episode it was really funny

 **Angel: Well, here ya go!**

Jake: Okay that was a bit crazy and cool I can't wait to see next one it's my favorite episode

 **Angel: Lately, I've just been working on Rise of TMNT and this because the reboot is coming out in 11 days! Yay!**

Sapphire: Wow I really like the anniversary episode looking forward to the next one and see how it'll happen in it.

 **Angel: Huh, a lot of people liked the one...I feel like that's gonna change come Shadow's debut XD**

In a farm-like environment, Sophia and Sonic are battling their foe, Dr. Eggman, once again. They're facing off against E-88 Lightning Bird, Eggman flying near the robot in his Egg Mobile. Amy is standing behind Sonic and Sophia with a worried expression on her face. No matter what, her hero had to win this fight. She would be silently cheering for them. The robot suddenly beings charging towards the trio. It opens up its mouth and shines a bright light that blinds Sonic, Amy, and Sophia. When the light finally dims, Sonic looks up to see Amy being carried away by the giant bird-like robot.

"SONIC!" She shouts, her scream being faded away. "SOPHIA!"

"Bring her back!" Sonic yells.

"Now!" Sophia pulls out her sword, holding it in her right hand. "We demand it." Eggman just laughs at them.

"If you want her, come save her!" He taunts, Sophia clenching her fist. She would fly up there, but she doesn't want to risk Amy's life by destroying the robot in the air.

Amy tries to beak free using her Piko Piko Hammer, but this causes her dress to rip slightly, and she drops her hammer. "HELP!" She cries out, turning to the robot. "Hey, that's a brand new dress, buddy!"

"Amy, you just hang on tight!" Sonic calls out.

"We will help you!" Sophia yells loud enough for her to hear. Suddenly, the X Tornado arrives on the scene.

"Sonic! Sophia! Here come the rings!" Tails tells them, Sonic giving him a thumbs up. Sophia smiles up at him. The two rings are launched to them, and they catch them in their hands.

"Got it!"

They go into super spin mode, using the silo to fly up to the robot as it was getting away. The two destroy the robot, who drops Amy from his mouth. But a piece of the remains flies off and lands in Sonic's ear, which goes unnoticed. They kick Eggman and he flies away. Amy screams as she's still falling and Sophia looks down.

"Sonic!" She points down to Amy and he nods. He falls towards her as Sophia pierces through the robot, slicing it in half with her sword. Sonic grabs Amy's arms, catching her.

"Don't worry, Amy, I got ya," he tells her and she blushes at how close they are!

"You're my hero," She remarks and they land in a haystack. Sophia flies all the way down and peeks through the hay.

"Are you alright, my friends?" She offers, pulling them out.

"Yeah, we're okay," Sonic gives her a thumbs up and she smiles for their safety.

The're lying down on the hay, Sophia on the other side. The wind blows some of the hay past them as they watch the open sky.

"Isn't this just beautiful?" Amy smiles as she looks up at the clouds. "I wish we could stay here for days and just listen to the wind." She brings her hands together, a faint blush on her face. "Wouldn't that be...romantic?" She hears something, bringing her out of her thoughts as she looks at Sonic. He's rubbing his ear. "Have you been...listening?"

"Say what?" Sonic asks in confusion, Sophia sighing at him as she shakes her head. "Huh?" He looks slightly irritated as he's trying to get the chip out.

"Ohhh! You men!" Amy huffs, turning away.

"Uhhh..." Sonic looks confused and Sophia turns around to look at them. "What's wrong?"

"Perhaps we should be returning home now," Sophia stands up, not wanting Amy to get angry and do something she might regret.

* * *

Back at the Thorndyke mansion, Sonic is on top of the roof, rubbing his ear. Amy whines, clenching her fists. "You're impossible! You never hear a thing I say!"

Tails, Sophia, and Chris walk up to her in the driveway. "Hey, Amy, what's all the shouting about?" Chris wonders and Sophia looks up at Sonic.

"Your friend Sonic's acting weirder than ever!" Amy retorts to them, the boys looking up at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, he's acting weird?" Tails raises an eyebrow.

"He's off in his own little world!" Amy complains, Sophia sighing slightly.

"That's not really weird, Amy," Tails explains, "That's Sonic."

"He's worse than ever! He hasn't listened to a single word I said all day!" Amy glares at Sonic.

"Ever since we returned from the fight with Eggman," Sophia starts off, gesturing to Sonic, "He has been rubbing his ear and not paying attention to a conversation."

"Well maybe he's got something on his mind," Chris suggests, Sophia shaking his head.

"No, I believe it is something else. He has touched that ear ever since we arrived back," Sophia points out.

"I should've known you wouldn't understand!" Amy exclaims to the boys.

"Boys, that is not what she meant," Sophia whispers quietly, and Amy was feeling a little better that someone got the point. Mr. Tanaka flips the switch on a remote control. The device in Sonic's ear turns on. He perks up, pulls down his lower eyelids, and jumps off the roof to everyone's shock. He then runs off like a lunatic.

"He does seem stressed," Chris comments after a few seconds.

"What could have brought this on?" Sophia wonders to herself, as he seemed perfectly fine before the fight.

"He thinks he's stressed? Try being me!" Amy looks angry.

"That'd be horrible," Chris says to himself.

"What did you say?" Amy demands and he laughs nervously.

"Please calm down, I am sure it was nothing offensive," Sophia gives Chris a look at the last word.

"The only way to find out what's really going on with Sonic is to follow him in the X Tornado," Chris replies and Tails nods in agreement.

"I will try to catch him on flight!" Sophia runs off, opening her wings. "Good luck!" She flies off in the direction Sonic went.

* * *

Speaking of the hedgehog, he's in Station Square, going faster than he's ever gone. But there is a difference this time than his other journets.

"I don't get it, I can't stop my feet!" The chip in his ear is beeping away and he moves past a car before jumping over another. One of them comes to a stop and he looks back. "Sorry!"

Sophia is flying over the road and she spots Sonic not too far away. "Sonic!"

He looks up and sees her waving in the air. "Princess! I can't stop myself!"

"What?" She asks in shock. "How can that be?!" She flies down and grabs him, but his feet are still moving.

"Oh man!" He exclaims in disbelief and a car honks, making Sophia drop him. She groans at this and follows after him.

Sam Speed is talking to someone with a mohawk. He had pulled the man over because of speeding. "Listen punk, your car may be cool, but if you don't wear seatbelts, you're a fool." Sonic and Sophia zip past him, Sam seeing them go down the road. "That was Sonic and Sophia! Thanks to them, you're not getting a ticket today. Now go get a haircut!" He pushes past him and gets into his car. He would not miss a chance to race against them.

"I got ya now, Sonic and Sophia!" He looks down at a box and sweats. "Even though I'm still paying for these gummy bears..." He takes off after them as Sonic runs down the white line. Sam moves past two cars and uses his radio. "This is S Team leader to debate. In hot pursuit of high-speed hedgehog and pink-haired girl going south on Broad Street! Over."

"I can't stop!" Sonic calls out and the X Tornado comes into view.

"There's Uncle Sam," Chris notices.

"Looks like he's trying to catch up with Sonic," Tails says.

"I'm gonna radio him," Chris replies, as he guessed that his uncle doesn't know about Sonic's stress. "Hey Uncle Sam, this is Chris."

"When you're on this frequency, it's S Team leader, got it? Besides, I can't chit chat right now, I'm on a mission," Sam tells him.

"Sorry, but I need to talk to you about Sonic!" Chris explains.

"If you're calling to ask me to take it easy on him, forget it," Sam retorts, as his family tried to do that when he challenged Sophia and Sonic to a race.

"But he's acting really strange today. We're worried that there might be something really wrong with him. Sophia's trying to CATCH him!" Chris insists, trying to reason with his uncle. His ego could go too far sometimes.

"There must be if he thinks he can beat me," Sam doesn't take his warning seriously and presses on the gas pedal, taking off.

"He acts weirder than Sonic," Chris comments, rubbing the side of his head. Sam has almost caught up to Sonic and Sophia sees him.

"I got 'em now!"

"Sam, no!" Sophia calls out, "Sonic is-"

"Trying to beat me! Well, not today!" He declares, "Oh, and here," he throws the box of gummy bears into her hands. Sophia sweats a little at his attitude.

"Erm...no..." She murmurs to herself. "Oh dear..." Sonic's feet go into super mode.

"What's going on?!" He exclaims as he speeds up.

"Alright," Sam narrows his eyes, going up to the speed limit, but he runs out of fuel. "Huh?! Out of gas?" He comes to a stop in the middle of the road. "That little hedgehog and Sophia may have outrun me this time, but there's always next time! I'll get 'em."

Sonic just shrugs and runs past a newspaper stand, causing all of the newspapers to fall onto the ground. The stand owner's eyes widen as she looks around. A bus honks at Sonic.

"Oops!" He moves out of the way, running into the metro rail station. Sophia flies past the citizens.

"Pardon me, excuse me."

Sonic jumps onto the tracks and runs down them, moving past a train and jumping onto another runs down it all the way and runs onto the tracks again.

"I hope there's light at the end of this thing!"

The X Tornado flies around, trying to track him. He finally gets out of the station in another street and Sophia emerges from the entrance.

"There he is," Chris looks down at him.

"He's heading for the desert," Tails notes.

"I wonder why he's going there," Amy thinks as the desert is just up ahead.

* * *

Later on in the afternoon, Sonic's still running, the X Tornado following after him. Sophia has gotten inside, as her wings were tiring her out. "He's still running," Amy looks down in shock. Sonic goes into super spin mode again and takes off. "Now he's speeding up again. But why?"

Sophia glances down and sees Sonic rubbing his ear again. Amy gasps as she remembers what happened earlier today. She didn't realize it at the time, but something had happened to him before he rescued her.

"Maybe something happened to Sonic when he and Sophia were battling that robot! That could be why he's acting this way!"

"I believe Amy is right," Sophia speaks, as she looks up at the sky. "He was looking distressed right after we had landed in the hay."

"What could it be?" Chris turns around.

"I don't know," Amy answers, slightly worried now.

"Let's go talk to my grandpa," Chris suggests, "He might be able to figure out what's wrong."

Amy looks down at Sonic again. "I hope so, because if something's wrong with Sonic, it's because he saved me." Sophia places her hand on Amy's shoulder in comfort. Sophia knows that's not the case at all, because Amy wasn't causing Sonic to run off and rub his ear. "Please be okay, Sonic," Amy pleads as they fly away.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Egg Fort is flying above the desert. "Doctor, here is something I think you will enjoy," Decoe puts on footage of Sonic running. Eggman chuckles at his foe's predicament.

"Well, well. Looks like Sonic's working up quite a sweat!"

"Perhaps you might want to do the same, doctor," Bocoe suggests, "You have been getting a bit round around the waist lately."

"WHAT?!" Eggman shouts, making Bocoe whimper in fear. "Cut the wisecracks or I'll waste you, you impudent trashcan!" He looks back at Sonic. "Sonic must be up to something, but what could it be?"

* * *

The others are looking at Sonic in Chuck's lab, who are watching him run at this moment. "He doesn't stop, Grandpa, he just keeps on running," Chris explains.

"He _cannot_ stop. There is a difference," Sophia points out.

"We just have to figure out what's wrong with him," Amy pleads.

"The only way to do that is to examine him, but first we have to catch him," Chuck states, "That's not going to be easy. Hm...I think I may know a way!"

* * *

Amy is standing at the balcony, Tails and Chuck working on something in the laboratory. They looked tired as Amy sees them. She starts to wonder if Sonic was tired too, since he can't stop to take a break. "What's wrong, Sonic? Where are you?"

Sonic is still running despite the time. "Almost there! Almost there! Where am I going, anyway?"

Eggman, Bocoe, and Deoce are already asleep, tired of watching Sonic.

Soon, it's morning, and they've set up a station for Chuck's plan. "With the help of Tails, I have devised a plan that I believe will work. It's actually quite simple. Step one: We locate Sonic from the X Tornado and Sophia as well. Step two: We launch a specially designed bubble bomb which will hold him securely and lift him off the ground. And once Sonic is off his feet, we can discover what's been causing him to run amok."

"Yeah!" The others cheer.

Step one is in place as Sophia is leading the way, the X Tornado in the air. Sophia gestures her hand to underneath her as a signal as Sonic is right below her. She moves out of the way as the X Tornado flies above him.

"I've got company!" Sonic sees them.

"Target spotted, Chuck," Amy reports into her radio.

"Roger. Atay laert. Don't let him out of your sight," Chuck tells her, as he's still at his little station.

"I'll stay on him." The X Tornado turns left and so does Sonic as he follows them. They're actually leading him to their operation headquarters, where Mr. Tanaka, Chris, Chuck, Cream, Cheese, Ella, and Rose, underneath a tent for shade. He's tracking Sonic on his machine.

"Get ready." Amy holds the rocket launcher aimed at Sonic. At least it wasn't anything dangerous or otherwise she wouldn't fire anything at him. "Fire!" Amy pulls the trigger and the missile is shot. It hits Sonic in the back.

"Ow!" Mr. Tanaka and Ella smile as it worked. Sonic comes to a stop near them as a bubble inflats on his back. He's lifted in the air.

"It really worked," Amy comments in surprise.

"Look guys, I'm flying!" Sonic exclaims as the bubble gets slightly bigger. He chuckles, but he floats further into the air. "Hey, get me down, I'm floating away!"

Sophia gasps in shock, looking at Chuck. "Perhaps I used too much helium." Sophia falls down in disbelief as if something hit her head, her arm twitching.

"Whoooa! Help me! Somebody get this thing off of me!" Sonic shouts as he floats into a forest, Knuckles watching him not too far away.

"What now?" He asks, slightly annoyed.

"Hey, Knuckles!" Sonic calls out as he spots him. "Help me! Help me!" Knuckles picks up something and throws it. It turns out to be a rock, which pops the bubble and sends Sonic into a lake. He pops out and runs down water, to Knuckles' shock. He prepares to stop him, but Sonic just runs right past him. Knucklesis shocked, a fish in his arms.

"What? What the?" He looks down at the fish. Sophia comes into the area, looking around. She sees her friend.

"Ah! Knuckles!"

He looks up and sees her. "Princess!" He bows and she lands in front of him.

"Have you seen Sonic?"

"Yes, he went down that way," He points forward and she takes off into a run.

"Thank you!" She calls out, leaving him confused even more.

"Now what do we do?" Mr. Tanaka questions.

"You think he'll come back?" Chris wonders.

"I'm worried," Cream comments.

"It's all my fault," Amy states.

"Too much helium."

Knuckles walks up to them, still holding the fish. "Well, Sonic just tried to run me over!"

"Great, did you stop him?" Amy asks happily.

"He missed me," Knuckles chuckles. "But the princess went after him."

"Well, I'm not gonna miss ya!" Amy threatens, holding her Piko Piko Hammer.

"What's the big deal?" Kncuklses sweats nervously. "All I did was step aside."

"It isn't his fault, Amy," Cream tries to reason, sweating. Cheese and Rose agree with her.

"Cheese is right," Ella is holding lunch in her hands. "I bet you come up with a new way to help Sonic after you have a nice, hot lunch."

* * *

They're eating soup and bread. "I bet Sonic must be starving by now," Amy says in worry, eating another spoonful.

"I'm suer he's fine, Amy," Chuck tries to assure her." He looks at Tails as he's eating and a tumbleweed rolls by them. It traps Tails in it.

"That game looks like a lot of fun, Tails," Cream replies, Rose and Cheese cheering. Tails looks uncomfortable inside it.

"That's it!" Chuck gets an idea, standing up. "Knuckles will wait at the top of a hill with a specially engineered wheel trap. As Sonic approaches, we'll give the signal and Knuckles will roll the wheel down the hill, trapping Sonic inside! He'll be like a hamster in a cage!"

The others cheer at the plan, and hopefully, it would work this time.

Sonic, still running, looks up and sees Sophia catching up to him. "Sonic!" She points forward and he notices a red painted arrow on a rock, telling him to go left. Little does he know what his friends have in store for him. He turns right and in a short amount of time, Sonic is approaching their position. Sophia appears nearby, glancing at Chuck and Mr. Tanaka.

"Alright, Tanaka, he's almost in position," Chuck informs.

"Right." Sonic gets right where Chuck needs him.

"Roll it!"

Tanaka waves red and blue flags at Knuckles, who pushes the wheel down. It rolls down the path and comes right at Sonic. He runs past Chuck, chuckling until he's right next to the wheel. Chuck presses a button and the wheel traps Sonic inside, planting itself into the ground so that the wheel doesn't move.

"Ha ha!" Chuck smiles, Amy looking in awe. Sophia flies down, landing in front of the wheel. "Hey grandpa, it works!"

"Of course it does!"

A tray appears in front of Sonic as he's still running. It was a sandwich and a cup of water. "I thought you might be hungry after all this running," Amy says in worry. Sonic smiles as he takes the sandwich and takes a bite.

"Pretty tasty!"

After a while, Sonic still hasn't stopped running. Knuckles is standing in front of it and Sonic yawns, feeling tired.

"He looks like he's falling asleep!" Amy notes.

"That's good. If he falls asleep, he'll have to stop running," Chuck explains.

"I do not think that is the case. It may be something IN him that deems him unable to stop himself," Sophia explains and he thinks.

"Maybe I can help, Sonic!" Amy suggests to Chuck's confusion. "Want me to read you a bedtime story?"

"No...thank you...Amy," He says, about to doze off.

"That looks like fun!" Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe are still watching him from their tiny screen. "Exercising, I mean. I'm going to start!"

"You should," Decoe and Bocoe agree, nodding.

"Tomorrow," He finishes, taking a bite out of his lunch.

"Dr. Eggman, tomorrow never comes," They deadpan, as he usually says he will, but then he actually doesn't.

They're all watching Sonic inside the wheel. "Looks like Sonic's nap isn't slowing him down at all. He's going even faster," Chris notes.

"I've never seen anything like it. His energy is positively boundless!" Chuck glances at Sophia. "Sophia, have you ever run without stopping?"

"Like Sonic? No, but it baffles me how I was not affected," Sophia stares at her friend.

"Sonic has more power than my food processor alone," Ella comments. Sonic huffs as he looks exhausted and Chuck starts to worry a little.

"Sonic, that wheel wasn't built to withstand this intensity!" He warns, but it's not like Sonic could stop. The stand that's built into the wheel starts to burn.

"Knuckles, look out!" Tails warns as the stand breaks, releasing the wheel. They all gasp and Knuckles looks baffled before attempting to run away from it. He gets crushed by the wheel and then it falls on its side. Because of Sonic's speed, the wheel drills a deep hole into the ground. They all look down it as it shakes to shake.

"RUN!" Chuck shouts and they all scream, waving their legs around before running away as a geyser shoots up through the hole, taking Sonic with it. Another method to capture Sonic has failed. "Well, that was a washout."

Sophia sighs at his statement as she pinches her forehead, shaking her head. "Perhaps we should restart."

* * *

The sun is setting as Chuck has regathered them, still trying to find a means of capturing their friend. "So far your plans haven't worked, have they?" Amy asks softly, growing even more worried for Sonic.

"Not quite," Sophia gives him a look of disbelief at his answer. "But I'm confident that if we just keep trying, we'll eventually come up with a plan that will work." He glances at Ella, who is tending to Knuckles." She's rubbing ointment on his back after Sonic ran him over. "I got it!" They all look at him in confusion. "In fact, it's the best plan I've had all day! We just need a little help from a friend. Mm hmm." He nods with a smile.

It's night time once more as Sonic hasn't stopped at all, sleeping while he's running. "Sonic is running himself ragged!" Eggman exclaims as he's enjoying this. "He must be as worn out as an old sneaker. This would be a perfect time to launch a sneak attack against him! Ready?"

"Aye aye," the two robots nod in agreement.

"I'll destroy him right after my nap," He falls asleep right there in his chair, the lights going out.

"Please doctor," Bocoe pleads, wanting to have a little fun.

"Now is not the time for snoozing!"

He sleeps the whole night as the sun shines on a new day. Chuck's watch beeps.

"Right on time." He looks up to see a red car approaching the desert. It comes to a stop right in front of them and the lid opens to reveal Sam Speed. He jumps out of his seat.

"I would've been here sooner, but I stopped for donuts," He explains.

"I appreciate you coming to help us out, Sam," Chuck comments, Sophia shaking her head.

"You can always count on the Speed King to put the rubber to the road when a friend needs help," He gives a thumbs up.

"Well then," Chuck nods at his enthusiasm. "Let me bring up to date on our plan. Now we all know Sonic has quite a competitive streak, just like you do, Sam."

"It's Speed King, Chuck," Sam interrupts.

"Sorry, Speed King," Chuck retorts.

"Please go on," Sophia rolls her eyes at their banter.

"The plan is to have Speed King challenge Sonic to a test of speed. But unbeknownst to Sonic, a trap will be set at the end of the finish line. Speed King will get on Sonic's right side in lane 2. Sonic will be forced to race in lane 1 beside him and that will lead him straight into our trap. Then Sonic will be out of the running! Now let's get ready for the race, shall we?"

"Yeah!" The others cheer, hoping that this plan would work.

The X Tornado is trailing after Sonic, Amy holding a walkie talkie to talk to Sam, who is down below. "Standby. He's almost there."

"Roger," Sam has his helmet on. "I'm ready!" Sonic is coming up on his screen.

"Go!" Amy declares and Sam immediately races off. Sonic manages to catch up to him, now side by side. Sonic trips on a rock, falling slightly behind.

"What's the matter, slowpoke? Can't you do better than that?" Sam challenges and Sonic is caught in smoke as Sam drives in front of him. He moves to the left and then to the right.

"What are you doing? This isn't a real race, you're supposed to be a decoy!" Amy explains to him.

"Guess again, sweetheart. He beat me once, it's not gonna happen twice!"

Amy whines slightly and Sophia takes the walkie talkie from her.

"May I remind you, this is only to trap him, not to be a victor of a fake race," She says thinly.

Sam inches forward slightly past Sonic and he smirks. "Oh yeah?" He increases his speed.

"They're getting close to the finish," Chuck says to Amy.

"Remember Speed King, whatever you do, keep Sonic in the right lane," Amy informs.

"Right lane? I thought I'm in the right lane!" Sam says in confusion.

"That's right, just stay in lane 2. Remember, you're number 2, number 2!" Amy tries to remind him of which lane.

"Not me, sister. I'm number 1!" He laughs as he passes through the left lane with a cheer, to everyone's dismay. Sonic passes by lane 2, running past a stuck Sam as his car is glued to the substance underneath.

"That didn't work out too well," Amy frowns slightly.

"Perhaps we should have attempted to get it through his brain more," Sophia crosses her arms with a small sigh.

"Hey chuck, I'm picking up something weird on my scopes. Do you see it down there, too?" Tails looks at his screen in confusion.

"Yes, I've noticed it myself, Tails."

"I recorded the wave patterns. Maybe you could analyze it and figure out what it is."

Chuck does just that as the others watch. "From what I can gather, it's some kind of strange magnetic force field. It appears to be emanating from that ranch up ahead."

The location is the same barn that Amy, Sonic, and Sophia were at a few days ago. Lightning Bird gets chased by a dog there. The X Tornado arrives on the scene.

"Ready up there, Tails?" Amy calls out.

"I'm ready when you are!" He slowly descends to the grass.

"Okay Tails, keep it as steady as you can," Amy assures him. She's then standing on one of the wings with her hammer ready. Tails lowers the plane close enough for her to touch it and she swings, but misses. Lightning Bird jumps into the air and activates an electric net, shocking the pink hedgehog.

"Amy!" Sophia lifts the lid from her seat and jumps out of the plane. She jumps up towards the robot and slices once with her sword. The leg falls apart before it starts to fall.

"Amy!" Sonic just happens to come into the area and knocks the robot away. This causes the chip in his ear to fall out and the robot explodes in the air. Sonic runs into a haystack as Sophia flies down safely. She sees the chip and picks it up, examining it with her eyes.

"Strange...this must have fell into Sonic's ear while dealing with Eggman's robot," She murmurs before shrugging, throwing across the sky. It disappears all the way into space. It was no one's problem anymore.

"Sonic!" Amy cries out, jumping down from the plane happily and landing in the hay. This saves her from the fall, and Sonic is finally okay. "Sonic, I was so worried." He puts his finger in his ear. "Now what's the matter?" She asks in annoyance.

"Something's in my ear again."

She gasps and leans towards his ear. She gently blows into it, releasing some hay that got caught in his ear.

"Yeah, that feels much better. Thanks," He tells her and they smile at each other. Sophia smiles as she watches them from the barn. Sonic lays down on the hay peacefully and she watches him as the hay blows slightly past them above...


	25. A Dastardly Deed

**Angel: I actually finished this Tuesday, but I wanted to get a head start on the next few episodes, and today I'm starting season 2! Yay!**

Trent Gaines: Another awesome chapter! Keep up the good work!

 **Angel: Thanks, I will!**

Challishanlon99: I can't wait for the episode where Shadow comes in I wonder if the princess is going to be kidnapped by Shadow to the floating egg base in space or will just be Chris and if it is the princess then is he going to be overprotective of her either way I can't wait for that episode I know that's still a long way but still I can't wait and thank for this chapter I loved it

 **Angel: I haven't decided, but I already know how it's going to start off with their meeting. And it's not that far now, only...8 more episodes if my math is right, since he appears in the 7th episode.**

Bajy: Great job here! Poor Sonic, but I'm glad he's okay now. Who knew one little chip could cause such a ruckus? Sam is just stupid, really he needs to work on actually thinking and not racing. I look forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thank you, and yeah, running for several days without stopping is exhausting. If it were me, I'd probably pass out XD I don't know why the chip reacted to Tanaka's remote, though, cause it doesn't make sense when you think about it. And my uncle is kinda like Sam because sometimes he doesn't listen XD He's the youngest out of my mom and her 3 siblings, so it's not entirely unbelievable...**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia is going to be really mad at Knuckles and Chris for taking the Chaos emeralds in her case and to trust Dr. Eggman.

 **Angel: It's Sophia, she'd understand.**

Crazycartons5488: When did Sophia meet Vanilla the Rabbit Cream's mother.

 **Angel: She hasn't appeared yet, and it was when Sophia met Cream and her friends since Sonic introduced them to her when THEY first met.**

Crazycartoons5488: Vanilla the Rabbit is good friends to the king and queen Sophia's mom and dad.

 **Angel: She is, but they haven't returned yet from their royal business.**

Guest: Rose and Cheese are cute together.

 **Angel: With Cream, Rose, and Cheese...there is an overload of cuteness...**

Guest: Cream, tell me how did you and Sophia get trapped by Dr. Eggman?

 **Cream: Dr. Eggman kidnapped us when we were picking flowers together...**

 **Sophia: She wanted to make a flower crown for my mother.**

Jake: Just two more chapters and that's the end of season one and only 52 episodes left

 **Angel: One now! And if there are any TMNT fans out there who comment on my other stories, I have released 2 chapters of Rise of TMNT. You can look at my profile or through the Ninja Turtles category.**

"Stand by for take-off!" Tails calls out as the palm trees separate. The X Tornado is preparing to take flight as they're about to search for the last Chaos Emerald. "X Tornado, let's go!" Tails pulls on the levers and the engines start before it starts to move. "Take-off!" The plane lifts up in the air. "Hold on tight, Sophia and Sonic! It's time to deploy our stabilizing wing!" The two wings open up as Mr. Tanaka, Chuck, and Frances watch them leave.

"Do you think they'll be able to find that seventh emerald, Mr. Thorndyke?" Frances wonders.

"It's possible, but they're not the only ones who'll be looking for it," Chuck tells her.

"Don't you worry, Creamy," Ella says to Cream. "They're going to find that emerald before you know it." Cream smiles at her, Cheese smiling too. Rose looks upset as she sits on the kitchen table.

"Aw, it's okay, Rose," Cream looks at her. "Sophia will be back soon."

"She can take care of herself," Ella pats Rose on the back slightly. "In the meantime, I'll make you a snack."

Rose turns happy, flying around the room. The other three laugh. Rose loved anything homemade, especially from Sophia or Ella.

Amy peeks from behind Tails. "Any signs of the emerald yet, Tails?"

"Nope."

"Wow, this is so great!" Danny exclaims in excitement, but Chris doesn't look excited at all. He looks a little bit depressed. Chris looks at Sonic as he's sitting at the front of the X Tornado, looking out for a sign. The boy then turns right as Sophia is flying right next to his window, taking a look around the area.

"Hey, come on," Danny notices Chris' silence. "Aren't you gonna help look?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Chris turns to him before he frowns again. He wants them to go home, but...at the same time, he would miss them. Ever since they were transported here accidentally, his life has been filled with excitement and adventure. If they leave, what would that mean for him?

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Egg Fort 2, Eggman is looking at footage of his two enemies, chuckling.

"It looks like Dr. Eggman is in a very good mood," Decoe comments, as it's uncommon to see their creator and boss like this.

"Yes, he seems especially confident, doesn't he?" Bocoe asks, as they're talking right behind him. Eggman giggles, smiling widely.

"Something tells me today could be a very lucky day. In fact, those Chaos emeralds are as good as mine if I play my cards right!" Eggman seems very happy about this particular day...

"Your cards?" Bocoe offers Eggman the pack of cards he normally would use if he can't decide on a robot.

"No need," Eggman denies, "I've already chosen my weapon." He pushes them away, leaving Bocoe and Decoe confused. Eggman ALWAYS uses the selection machine before deploying a robot, not the other way around.

"You mean...a new weapon, doctor?" Decoe asks as the front door starts to open.

"But what is it?"

"The suspense is killing me!" Decoe exclaims as the robot is being deployed right now. But the robot is not what they expected it to be. It's rather small, yellow, and shaped like a bell. The little robot falls off after taking one step, Decoe and Bocoe shocked and Eggman irritated.

"You have got to be kidding, doctor!"

"That is the strangest-looking robot I have ever seen!" Bocoe exclaims, and that was saying a lot.

"Sure, he may look like a loser," Eggman holds up a finger, "But Lucky here is exactly the charm we need to capture that final Chaos Emerald!" Both Decoe and Bocoe gasp in shock. "That's right. You see, our plucky little pal here possesses that one elusive quality that will make that emerald practically drop into our waiting hands. So guess."

"What is it?" The two robots ask in anticipation.

"It's luck!" Eggman exclaims as if it was unheard of. The robots just stare at him.

"Luck?"

"Just wait," Eggman looks at his screen as Lucky sets off on his journey. "With Lucky on our side, we'll have that emerald in no time! Good luck, Lucky! And bring back the prize!"

* * *

Knuckles is walking through Forest Hill, holding the emerald that Hawk had given to him. "This planet isn't so bad, I suppose," He murmurs to himself, "But I'd do anything to get back home. What did that voice say?"

" _The servers are the seven Chaos."_

Knuckles comes to a stop. "We can only get back home if we find all seven Chaos emeralds. Well...Sonic and those guys have four, Eggman got's one, and then there's this one Sophia and I got from Hawk. That makes six in all, but even if we find the last one, we'd still have to convince Eggman to give up his. And since Sophia, Sonic, and Eggman don't exactly see eye to eye...we'll never get back home unless I can get all of them to work together!"

He's the only one who can do it. He could convince them to work together. Sophia would do anything if he asked because she was his friend. And he could finally become an official guardian...which is all he ever wanted...

He suddenly hears a noise and looks up, but he doesn't see anything or anyone. "What is that?" He murmurs, walking up to grass. He moves it away...to see Lucky on the ground, and he can't get up since his body won't allow him to. For someone named Lucky, he's pretty clumsy.

"Hey," Knuckles walks up to him. "You must be Eggman's robot," He helps Lucky to his feet, who nods to his question. "Yeah, what are you doing around here?" Knuckles looks around, wondering why this particular area, as it's not Station Square and there's no sign of his friends here. Lucky turns around and points. Knuckles goes to investigate and gasps, as the Egg Fort is right there in his view. He looks down at his emerald.

"Maybe the emerald led me here somehow," He mutters, as it's not that impossible, what with Eggman having one emerald.

* * *

At school, Mr. Stewart is drawing shapes on the board. The bell rings and he turns to the class. "Lunchtime, children."

The students cheer as they jump out of their seats. Frances is packing up her things as Chris, sitting right next to her, is having depressed thoughts again.

"Chris, you wanna eat lunch with us?" She wonders and he doesn't answer, leaving her a little worried.

"Yo, wake up," Danny calls out as he joins them. Sophia walks up to Chris and raises an eyebrow, noticing his silence.

"Step back, please," She pushes Frances and Danny backwards a little. "Ears."

Danny and Frances cover their ears as Sophia pulls out two cymbals and smashes them together, scaring Chris.

"Perhaps we should try this again," Sophia places two hands on her hips. "Chris, the bell rung 25 seconds ago for lunch."

"Uh, I'm not too hungry right now, guys," He sweats sheepishly, as he was lost in his thoughts again. His two friends glance at each other before Frances waves at him.

"Okay, we'll catch you later then," They walk off to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, okay," He awkwardly waves a hand back. Sophia stares at him, sensing that something was wrong. He's been quiet lately, which meant something was on his mind. She learned that when they were still getting to know each other. Mr. Stewart notices Chris' mood as well and walks up to him.

"You know, I think you, Sophia, and I should visit the counseling office," He suggests, Chris sweating nervously as that usually meant trouble.

"Ah, no thanks!" He stammers and Sophia smirks, crossing her arms.

"I believe that is a splendid idea."

"Come on, Chris, let's go," Mr. Stewart encourages and Chris reluctantly stands up.

* * *

"Are you ready, Chris?" Mr. Stewart asks as Chris is laying down on a cot.

"Yeah," Chris sighs slowly, nodding. Sophia and their teacher are sitting across from him, like real counselors.

"Now...tell us, Chris," The teacher starts off as Sophia clicks her pen. She was a princess, it was practically her job to listen to problems. And a 12-year-old human boy was no exception to that. "What's bothering you?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Chris answers honestly. "Lately, I'm feeling really confused."

"You are torn," Sophia guesses and he turns to them.

"Yeah," He answers and Sophia nods as they're getting somewhere, writing that down.

"I think we understand why. Part of you wants to help Sonic, Sophia here, and their friends return home," Mr. Stewart begins.

"However, the other part of you does not want to lose his new friends," Sophia holds up a finger and Chris gasps as he now knows his dilemma. "It is apparent that this situation is producing a war deep within you, Chris, and I honestly believe-"

"You're right!" Chris exclaims, shocking Sophia. "That's just how I feel, guys!"

"It's natural," Mr. Stewart smiles a little. "But you must face the fact that one day your friends are going to return home."

"I am sad to say that we have responsibilities back home, Chris, as do I. I am a princess. I cannot stay here with my parents possibly returning to find me missing and without anyone else to run it while I am here..." Sophia doesn't finish, as Chris knows what she was going to say. She has a duty to her kingdom.

"It's difficult, but you have to think of what's best for them," Mr. Stewart says, "Sophia's right, she has important things to do."

'I...know," He closes his eyes, not wanting to be the reason why they stay...but this wasn't their home, especially for a princess.

Mr. Stewart places a hand on his shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay, we promise you."

And with that, the counseling session has ended, Mr. Stewart stepping outside the office. He gets a call from his watch. "Yes?"

"Just checking in, chalkboard Charlie. Any problems?" His boss asks.

"No sir," Mr. Stewart glances at the door behind him. "Nothing I can't handle." He then leaves, Sophia opening the door slightly. She smiles slightly and closes the door behind her.

* * *

"So what you're saying, Rouge," The president starts off as Rouge is explaining to him about the chaos emeralds. "Is that the chaos control explosion that sent Eggman here was caused when the seven chaos emeralds came together."

"Right," Rouge says, as she was there when it happened.

"Yes, I see," He pauses for a few seconds. "So if we could create our own chaos control, then we just might solve our Eggman problem."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Topaz speaks up.

"Really? Why not?"

"Mr. President, I think that we first need to consider the effects such an action could have on the safety of the planet!" She had no idea what they were dealing with, and she didn't think the others knew either.

"Like what?" An advisor asks, the president waving a hand at him.

"Quiet. Go on, Topaz."

"Those emeralds might create a blast that could lead to total global destruction. Ask Rouge, she knows! Or Sophia!"

"She's right," Rouge looks smug at her statement. Topaz has seen what the emeralds could do, and with seven, there's no telling what could happen.

"Moving forward without careful consideration could create a worldwide disaster! I think it's wise to do everything we can to keep that from happening, sir," She warns.

"I see," He says in thought. "Perhaps until we're sure of what we're getting into, we need to keep those emeralds apart."

"I believe so, sir," Topaz agrees. He turns slightly in his chair.

"The question is...how do we manage to do that?"

Rouge doesn't look fazed by this at all. All she's wondering...is how she can use this to her favor.

* * *

Chris opens the door to the attic to see Ella cleaning. "Hi Ella." Sophia had gone out to go look for her friends after school had ended.

"Ah!" She smiles at him, "Hi Chris. Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, where is everyone?" He walks up to her.

"They're out looking for the Chaos emerald again, like usual," She explains, "And Grandpa's gone somewhere looking for new parts for his crazy machines. Thank goodness I can finally clean up this mess now!" She walks past him to go down the stairs, humming to herself. Chris smiles at her voice before it turns into yet another depressed frown. He looks around the room, thinking about how Tails would sleep here after he's done with work.

"The place seems empty. This is how it was before they all got here, and how it's gonna be...when they go." He could imagine Amy, Cream, Sophia, Cheese, and Rose playing, Tails reading, and Sonic relaxing like he always does...He closes his eyes and sighs, going down the stairs.

"Hello."

Chris looks surprised at Knuckles and Lucky standing right in front of him.

"Hey Knuckles," He walks up to him. "What's going on?"

"Plenty," He answers.

"Where'd you get that robot?" Chris looks down at Lucky. Knuckles glances at him, as Lucky had followed him here.

"Well, it's not exactly mine. I think he belongs to Eggman. I found him just roaming around the forest. Seems pretty harmless, though." Lucky speaks in beeps as he didn't seem to have any weapons on him and he didn't attack Knuckles on the way there. "Are Sonic and the princess around? I've gotta talk to them about something."

"Sorry, he's out looking for the last emerald. Sophia just left looking for him," Chris explains.

"Then give them this message. We have only one way to get back home. We've got to call a truce with Dr. Eggman," Knuckles states, to Chris' shock.

"A truce?! That'll never happen!" He knew Eggman by this point in time, and the doctor was always playing dirty tricks, especially when it came to the emeralds. He literally enjoys trying to make Sonic and Sophia surrender. Chris was thinking this was a trick, as Eggman has duped Knuckles before.

"It has to," Knuckles insists.

"But how, they're sworn enemies!" Chris exclaims in disbelief.

"The only way any of us will get back home is to team up with Eggman. I know it might sound crazy, and it may even be impossible, but I have to convince Sonic and Princess Sophia that this is the only chance we've got! We've all been away from home for WAY too long now. And I'm not about to let anything stand in our way of getting back there!"

Chris thinks to himself as Knuckles wasn't wrong. _Knuckles is_ _right. I'm being selfish. I've gotta_ _do whatever I can to help them!_

"Alright, Knuckles. I'll give them your message," Chris agrees in determination, Knuckles smiling.

"Meanwhile, I'll pay a visit to our friend Eggman."

"How will you know where to find him?" Chris wonders, as the evil doctor is anywhere and everywhere.

"Heh, I think I spotted his ship over at Forest Hill. Bye!" He waves to Chris, leaving with the robot. Chris looks down as a thought comes to mind.

"Knuckles?" The echidna turns over to the boy. "Mind if I come along?" He was going to see this through, to get his friends back home.

"Why not?" Knuckles ducks under the garage door and Chris follows him, with Lucky trailing behind. Eggman is certainly going to be lucky, alright...

* * *

They arrive at the Station Square train station to get them to Forest Hill, as they don't have anyone to take them there. "The express train'll get us to Forest Hill in no time at all!" The two are holding their tickets, Knuckles just staring at it. It's obvious that during his time, he hasn't rode a train unlike the others.

"Final boarding call, Forest Hill Express, track 29." They both gasp as that's the train they need to be on! They run up the stairs and get inside the train just before it closes. The train leaves, but Lucky has been left behind as he's just too slow and he falls as he tries to take a step from the stairs, unable to get up once more.

Chris and Knuckles have arrived in Forest Hill, with Chris looking worried that they might get lost or Eggman might do something. "Don't worry, Chris. Just stay calm and I'll do all the talking." Knuckles then notices the missing person in their third party. "Hey, the robot! Well, easy come, easy go."

Decoe is just doing nothing as a proximity alarm goes off, and he sees the two friends approaching. "Dr. Eggman, enemy approaching!"

"Prepare to launch attack," Bocoe goes to press a button, but Eggman stops him.

"Wait!"

"But Dr. Eggman-"

"Look there," he says and Bocoe looks at his screen to see Chris waving a white flag.

Eggman has let them inside, Knuckles explaining his plan. "Think of it this way. If we team up, we get the emeralds together and chaos control sends us straight home! But if we keep fighting like this, we'll all be stuck here for good! And that's bad!"

Eggman hides a grin behind his hand as he contemplates his opportunity here. Chris and Knuckles glance at each other, wondering if Eggman was really gonna go through this.

"Yes, yes yes, that's right," Eggman nods in agreement, though he had a plan up his sleeve. "I've never thought of it that way. How could I been such a brainless greedy old fool? Knuckles! I don't know how to thank you!" He shakes hands with the echidna, who looks shocked.

"The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Eggman!" Knuckles exclaims, happy that it all worked out well...or so he thinks.

Chris lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"However, I do have one condition," Eggman starts.

"What's that?" Knuckles asks, as he will do anything.

"That you allow me to hold on to your chaos emerald."

"You hold it?!" Chris asks in disbelief.

"Now, don't you trust me?" He questions, "Nothing is more important between allies than trust! If you're asking me to trust you, the least you can do is trust me!" He looks like a child saying that.

"What do you think?" Chris turns to Knuckles, as this was his plan after all.

"You can hold it..." Knuckles agrees, Eggman chortling in glee. It was just too easy!

"Thanks, Knuckles," He offers his hand. "We make a great team." They shake hands and Chris stares at the exchange, already skeptical.

 _Well, we did it. I guess it was the right thing, but I don't think Sonic or Sophia's gonna_ _like it._

"Well, well, well," Eggman says as he watches the two leave. "Who would've thought our little red Knuckles were such an honest fellow? As a matter of fact, I'd say he's honest to a fault!"

"What do you mean?" Bocoe asks curiously.

"I mean our naïve Knucklehead is playing right into my hands! Yes," Eggman chuckles evilly.

* * *

Lucky is sitting in a dumpster, looking dejected as his friends left him behind. He hears a noise and looks up to see a cat in a tree. He sweats nervously, as it's a black cat, and black cats mean bad luck! The little creature approaches the robot and Lucky freaks out, falling back into the dumpster. The garbage truck comes around and the garbageman gives signals to the driver.

"Okay, okay, a little more."

Lucky has no idea what's going on as the dumpster is taken to the truck to be dumped. Lucky shouts in protest, but over the garbage, no one can hear him and he's left in the truck to be taken to the dump.

* * *

"Okay kids! It's that time again! Everybody dance!" The Next Show is on as the purple mascot dances around. "Dance, dance!" Cream, Cheese, and Rose dance along, Tails laughing at the scene. Chuck looks on with a smile. Amy is sitting at the bed, Sonic lying down in a hammock above her. Rose flies over to Sophia on the ground, grabbing her hand and trying to pull her.

"Alright, alright," Sophia chuckles and walks up to the screen, dancing along with Rose.

"Hey, I'm home," Chris walks up to them, having just returned.

Tails and Chuck turn over to him, confused. "Chris, it's late. Where have you been all this time?" Chuck asks, as Chris was never arriving at that time for anything.

"Sorry, I was over at Danny's house studying." Sophia raises an eyebrow at that. "Oh, by the way, did you guys find any Chaos emeralds today?"

"We didn't find anything, Chris," Tails frowns slightly. Chris lets out a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I mean, that's bad!"

"Uh..." Tails and Sophia glance at each other. Cream, Cheese, and Rose start crying.

"Guys, what's wrong?" Chris rushes over to them as Sophia bends down to Rose.

"Our favorite program won't be on next week!" Cream laments. Chris sighs, sweat dripping down from the side of his face.

"Is that all?" He sighs again and looks up to see Sophia's case enclosed in Chuck's machine.

"We'll find that emerald, won't we?"

"You bet we will, Tails," Chuck assures him and Sophia looks at Chris as she's calmed down Rose, feeling that he was hiding something. Perhaps it had to do with his sadness over the others...or maybe something more that she doesn't know yet.

"Well, I think I'll go for a run," Sonic jumps off his hammock and takes off, Chris gasping as he runs after him.

"Sonic, wait up!"

The others stare in confusion as Sophia narrows her eyes slightly. "That was strange. Wonder what's wrong," Chuck murmurs and Sophia goes downstairs to use the phone.

Chris has managed to stop Sonic right outside. "So what's up?" Sonic wonders.

"Well...Sonic, I guess you must get pretty homesick being on a different planet and all," Chris starts off, wanting to tell him about what happened with Eggman.

"Eh, I don't think about it too much. Why?" Sonic replies, Chris confused.

"Huh? Oh, uh...my teacher Mr. Stewart says hi," He changes the subject, with Sonic not thinking too much about it.

"That's nice." He takes off for his run as Chris stares after him.

"I bet Sonic's just as homesick as the rest of them. He's just afraid to admit it. Poor guy."

"Chris," He turns around to Sophia...who's holding the phone. Oh.

"Um, yes?" He gulps nervously as Sophia's not stupid, she's smart when it comes to figuring out plans.

"I had an interesting conversation on the phone with Danny?" Sophia asks as she holds up the phone. "He informed me you were not at his house. Where were you today?"

"Erm, uh...Ella's making brownies!" He stammers and she narrows her eyes.

"Chris," She presses, wanting an explanation.

"Um, uh, gotta go, Grandpa's calling me!" He runs past her and she gives a suspicious look. Whether Chris liked it or not, she was going to figure out what was going on...

* * *

Knuckles is sitting at the Central Station from earlier, Chris walking up to him. He has a backpack on his shoulder.

"Did you get 'em?" Knuckles asks as if they're making an exchange. Chris simply nods.

"I didn't tell anybody I took 'em, though."

"It's not like we're doing anything wrong," Knuckles states, "Once they find out what we did, they'll probably be grateful. Come on," He jumps off his seat and Chris nods, as he wouldn't get to experience the exchange...

They hop onto the train.

* * *

At the South West dump, Lucky rummages out of the trash pile, looking around as he tries to make sense of where he is.

The government troops are looking for the chaos emerald as well, having tracked its signature. "The signal's coming from somewhere around here. Just be on your guard, boys." The other soldiers nod and separate as Rouge makes herself known to Topaz, flying upside down.

"Why am I hanging around?" she complains.

"Just keep watch. We're going to find that emerald," Topaz tells her firmly.

"Yeah, okay," Rouge waves a hand. "Oh, by the way, I know where it is."

Topaz gasps sharply.

Rouge has lead Topaz to a small cliff. "Wow," She pulls out her walkie-talkie. "Chief, I think we found it."

The door knocks as one of the president's advisors enters the room, smiling. "Mr. President. Good news, sir, we found Eggman's base."

The president turns to another of his advisors. "Let's make the call."

"Right." The advisor walks over to the phone and puts the receiver to his ear. "Report to Area 99 and dispatch the beetle immediately."

Topaz looks at Rouge, who's just casually floating in the air. "You ready?"

"Sure! Oh, hold on," She sees Chris and Knuckles approaching the Egg Fort right at this moment.

"Why are those two here?" The two glance at each other.

* * *

Sonic returns home and arrives in the attic. "Hey, I-oh." Everyone is looking inside the compartment where Sophia kept her royal purple case for the chaos emeralds they had gathered.

It's gone.

"Oh, what's up?" Sonic walks up to Cream.

"Chris took the chaos emeralds," Cream explains to Sonic's confusion.

"But why?"

"He left us a letter explaining why. 'I'm taking the emeralds so that you can all get back home very soon. Huh, I can't understand why in the world he would do something so foolhardy," Chuck states and Sophia opens her eyes.

"He informed me...that he did not want to be selfish and keep us home," Everyone turns to her in shock.

"Why didn't he tell us?" Sonic frowns a little.

"Perhaps he did not want us to worry," Sophia looks up at the ceiling. "I sensed something was wrong when he arrived late today and he was quiet during school all day."

"We better go look for him, Chuck," Amy suggests and Sonic looks at a picture of Chris. He remembered something Chris was trying to say earlier before his walk.

" _Well, Sonic...I guess you must get pretty homesick being on a different planet and all."_

Tails arrives with a frown. "Chris took the chaos emeralds from inside the X Tornado too. We can only fly it in normal mode now."

Sonic and Sophia speed right past him. "Where'd they go?" Everyone else looks in shock.

* * *

Lucky is climbing a mountain of trash, looking nervous as he's trying to reach the top. Any moment, he could slide down and he'd have to start all over. He slips on a can and hits a box on his way down. It opens up and something glows from it. Lucky holds his head before turning around and taking the item out of the box.

It's the final white Chaos emerald!

* * *

Chris and Knuckles enter Eggman's base, but no one's around. Then Eggman is hovering down a ladder using a chair.

"Ah, my new friends. Welcome." The chair locks into a desk in front of the two.

"We brought them," Knuckles states as Chris puts the bag down. Eggman looks satisfied, but he had to make sure.

"Let me see." Chris slowly opens up the bag to reveal Sophia's case that holds the four emeralds. "Oh my, aren't they lovely in that case? I can tell it's Sophia's by the jewels. And I have my chaos emerald right here," He places down a tiny blue box. "I could open the box and show it to you, but it's not safe to expose it to the others."

"Not yet," Knuckles adds, and Eggman grins widely.

* * *

"Yeah, I saw him," Sophia and Sonic are showing Chris' picture to an employee at the train station. "Let's see. I think he got on the 4 o'clock train to Forest Hill."

"To Forest Hill?" Sonic asks in confusion.

"Why would Chris go there with the emeralds...?" Sophia murmurs to herself.

* * *

"I'll hold onto the emeralds and put them in a safe place," Eggman holds up Sophia's case and Chris gives a nervous sound, as she would probably want that back. True, Tails had done his own tweaks so it could hold the Chaos emeralds, but it was still part of her culture.

"Okay, doc," Knuckles agrees.

"Wait," Chris speaks up, "The case...I need that back, I only borrowed it from Sophia. It's from her home planet...she would probably want it back." Sophia was like an older sister to him, he looked at her for guidance if not his grandpa. Her past was something dear to her.

"Excuse me, doctor?" Decoe speaks up and Eggman turns to his robot, not answering Chris' question.

"There is an urgent call from Lucky," Decoe changes the screen to Lucky, who beeps loudly as he's holding a phone receiver.

"WHAT?!" Eggman exclaims, "You've discovered the last Chaos emerald in a pile of garbage? Well done." Knuckles and Chris smile at each other. "Stay wherever you are, I'll come to you."

"Dr. Eggman, did he really find it?" Chris wonders happily.

"Of course he did," Eggman is still grinning and to them, it's a little unnerving. "Building a robot who bring good luck was my most brilliant stroke of genius."

"Does this mean we're out of a job?" Bocoe asks in worry, as that was the only thing they're built for, really.

"No such luck," Decoe shakes his head.

"Well, we have them all," Eggman remarks, "Don't we?"

"That's great!" Chris exclaims.

"Yeah," Knuckles turns to the boy, "Now I can finally go home and Sophia will make me the official guardian."

"Ha!" There's a glint in Eggman's eye. "Okay."

Decoe and Bocoe laugh evilly as the taller robot presses a red button. A trap door opens underneath Knuckles and he disappears. Chris bends down to him in shock as he's gone.

"What do you think you're doing, Eggman?" Chris demands. Eggman laughs and stands up, towering over Chris.

"Wise up. You didn't really believe that I was homesick like your loser friends, did you? The only thing I care about is establishing the Eggman Empire. I can do that on my planet or yours. If there's no difference to me."

"Then you...lied to us, didn't you?" Chris accuses, staring at the villain in the eye. Eggman chuckles as he drops Sophia's case. Chris gasps in shock as it slowly falls onto the ground and breaks. He could only stare in guilt as the case is in pieces.

"Oops~" Eggman says innocently, turning to his robots. "Ready the Egg Fort 2 for takeoff."

"Aye aye!" The two robots agree happily and trees move as the ship is about to take flight.

"He's leaving!" Rouge exclaims as they watch.

"HQ, come in!" Topaz radios the base. "Emergency!" They can only look as the ship lifts into the air, but not before deploying Knuckles out so he can't stop Eggman's plan himself. He lands on the grass roughly.

"EGGMAN!" He shouts before remembering Chris is still on the ship. Sophia and Sonic arrive too late.

"Where's Chris?"

"Up there," Knuckles turns to them. "Eggman has him in his ship along with all the Chaos emeralds." They look up as Eggman flies away, Sonic and Sophia immediately following after it. "Good luck Princess Sophia and Sonic!"

They follow the ship on foot on the rocky mountains.

 _Will Sonic and Sophia stop Eggman in time to save their friends? Find out next time!_


	26. Countdown to Chaos

**Angel: I'm done with the next episode, but I'm not gonna post it until next Thursday so I can have a head start on episode 28 and then sooner I can do the Shadow episode.** **Also, for any Rise of TMNT fans out there, I have started Donnie's Gifts, but the website I'm using provided by someone is kinda glitchy and it makes it difficult for me to type. I'm gonna try again today, but we'll see if I make any progress...**

Challishanlon99: Thank you for this chapter I can't wait for some more I love the story so much so thank you for letting me read it wouldn't it be really cool in the store I'm just saying thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more PS go Sophia and Sonic.

 **Angel: Aw, thank you. And what store? I'm confused XD**

Crazycartoons5488: Super Sonic and Super Sophia save the day to stop with the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

 **Angel: Yup, and people will finally get to see her form.**

Bajy: YIKES! Eggman yo k! Sonic and Sophia have to rescue Chris before something even bigger happens, and I know for a fact that something big will go down. Poor Knuckles and Chris. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: I mean...they just wanted to help. Knuckles really wanted to go home because his whole life is back on their world.**

Natalie: Will Sophia have a super form if so I'm excited to see what she looks like and I know we still got a long way to go but when Cosmo comes into the picture will Sophia be all grown or a teenager at least?

 **Angel: I wasn't gonna give Sophia a super form at first, but then I changed my mind because her powers have some elements to chaos energy. So yes, she has a super form. As for her age, no. She ages differently and she's stayed the same age for years. Heck, her parents aren't even 30.**

 **Sophia: Correct. Despite our long years, it takes centuries for our people to actually look their age. Our race is still adapting, and there are still new discoveries to be made.**

 **Angel: At this rate, she might be immortal XD**

Natalie: Alright I know Sophia won't be paired with anyone but for some reason I ship her with Sonic even though they're really close friends like a sibling relationship and even though they haven't even met yet same thing with Shadow lol

 **Angel: I really...don't know what it is about Sophia that she has to be shipped with hedgehogs, echidnas, or Chris. She is a human-looking, alien princess. Emphasis on human. I don't want a repeat of Sonic 06, so that is a strong reason why I don't do it. Besides...she's royalty. She'd have to date someone who's considered a royal, as in they have to be from a king and queen's society. I know Sonic is a big deal, but he's not a prince...though Sonic Underground would say otherwise XD _Which I'm not planning to write any time soon._**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Dr. Eggman sent a strange new robot named Lucky to search for the last Chaos Emerald. Meanwhile, Knuckles decided that the only way to get back home was to convince the others to join up with Dr. Eggman, get all seven emeralds together, and create Chaos control. Eggman pretended to agree to the plan and fooled Knuckles and Chris into handing over all of their Chaos emeralds, and then escaped with Chris held hostage._

 _Can Sophia and Sonic make it in time to get back the Chaos Emeralds and save their friend? Stay tuned!_

It's a new day as the sun rises. "Good morning, children. Come on, it's time to play."

"Look everybody, it's my favorite TV star," Frances places her hands on her cheeks. Danny, Frances, and Helen all laugh as they were playing with a puppet toy of Next, from the Next Show. A giant shadow looms over them and Frances looks up, gasping. "It's him, Dr. Eggman!" The giant fortress flies overhead. "He's back again."

It flies past them, everyone around staring after it. "What's he up to?" Danny asks bitterly.

"Whatever it is, it's not good," Helen states, Sonic and Sophia speeding right past them.

"That was Sonic and Sophia!" Frances looks up.

* * *

Decoe sees the two running as well from his screen. "Dr. Eggman, Sophia and Sonic are following us."

"Guys, hurry!" Chris calls out as he's bolted against a wall, courtesy of Decoe and Bocoe.

"They are gaining on us. We have to do something," Bocoe insists to his boss.

"Who cares about them? Especially when the seventh Chaos emerald is waiting for me," Eggman dismisses them, as they're not worth his time right now. Chris glances at the broken case on the floor and his heart wrenches as he could only imagine Sophia's reaction...

Lucky's eyes shine as he's holding the emerald.

* * *

"Eggman's ship is making its way towards Station Square, sir," a man reports to the president.

"What measures are being taken? A total evacuation?"

"Yes, Mr. President," The president's new advisor to replace Jerome Wise, Christina Cooper, answers. "While we're not sure exactly where Eggman is headed, we have begun an evacuation of the entire southern region. Everything is under control."

The president closes his eyes as a thought comes to mind. "I've been dreading something like this, but now that the time has come, I just hope we're ready for it."

"Thank you," One of his personnel hangs up the phone. "Mr. President, sir, we've just received word from the feed. The beetles are being put into place."

The G.U.N beetles that Topaz spoke of are being prepared. They're a way to attack Eggman while he's in his ship.

"Well, it won't be long now. We'll all have to wait and see. There's nothing more any of us can do. Nothing but hope for the best and prepare for the worst." He didn't know if Chaos Control would happen or not, but with Eggman, anything can happen...

* * *

The X Tornado is in the air, with Tails, Chuck, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Rose inside to help look for Chris. "Just keep her steady. He can't be far. Just give it a bit more and let's go get 'em, Tails!" Since they don't have any of the Chaos Emeralds to power the ship, they had to be careful.

"Topaz, it's gorgeous," Rouge is looking at a gift from her partner.

"It's...okay," She says slowly.

"I just don't know what to say," Rouge smiles slightly.

"If you don't like it, I can take it back, Rouge. I don't really know anything about jewelry, so I asked the sales clerk and she helped me pick it out." She wanted her 'friend' to have something in case Rouge had to go back home that day.

"It's dreamy!" Rouge closes her eyes.

"It's nice," Topaz dismisses it. The bat opens her eyes, glancing at her partner.

"Thanks, Topaz." She meant it, too.

Topaz looks surprised to hear the former thief saying that. "You deserve it. I just wanted to thank you for your help."

Rouge knew that wasn't the case though, and she would just let Topaz think that...

The plane holding them takes off, with Knuckles stowing away. He looks upset with himself. _I really messed up. How could I have trusted Eggman? I let Sophia down...she's never gonna make me an official guardian now...that was...my dream..._

* * *

Lucky is waving to Eggman as the Egg Fort has arrived at the dump. "Ah," Eggman smiles at him, "There's my little good luck charm. I just knew he'd bring back the Chaos Emerald." Decoe and Bocoe look annoyed at the praise Lucky's getting.

"I am surprised he did not drop it," Bocoe turns to Decoe.

"He sure is a klutz, isn't he?"

"Hey, he is a bit clumsy. I better grab that emerald. Lucky, come to Daddy," A robotic hand from underneath the Egg Fort 2 emerges, reaching out to Lucky. Before he can touch him, Sophia and Sonic arrive just in time to break the hand.

"Sorry Pops, you gotta be faster than that."

Lucky is whisked away, Eggman and the robots shocked. "Why do that heinous hedgehog and princess always have to ruin everything?"

"That is just our luck: Bad," Decoe summarizes their predicament.

Lucky hands on a mattress, but without the Chaos emerald. "But-But my-my emerald!"

Sonic chuckles as he turns around, waving a finger. "Don't worry, we'll keep it safe and sound for ya."

"Along with your pride," Sophia smirks, hands on her hips.

"Alright!" Chris cheers from the wall. Eggman growls in frustration.

"Don't even think about it, you little pests! That Chaos emerald is mine, you hear me?! MINE!" Lucky is holding out the emerald to Sophia.

"He would not dare."

"We must do something, doctor!" Bocoe insists, but before Lucky can give it to them, a robot comes out of nowhere.

"Too bad," Sonic glances at Eggman. "You just missed me. Nice try though, doc." Eggman looks confused as he didn't send out any other robots besides Lucky.

"Was it your idea to send those robots?" He points at the robot, Decoe waving his hands.

"I do not get ideas, doctor."

"Good boy," Eggman pats him on the head, Decoe chuckling nervously. It's the G.U.N Beetles that were deployed earlier.

"Where are they coming from, doctor?" Bocoe wonders and Sophia turns around.

"Beetle 1 to Beetle 2, we're in position."

"Hang on, Sophia and Sonic are in the line of fire." He turns on his microphone. "Your highness, Sonic, this is an official government operation. Please stand aside. I repeat, stand aside. We are launching an attack."

"Attack?!" Sonic exclaims in shock.

"Please, wait!" Sophia holds out her arms. "There is a hostage inside, you cannot fire!" They move past them, not even bothering to listen.

"We can't waste time. Open fire."

The Beetle fires a laser, electricity coming from the ship, shocking everyone inside. "Those fools, how dare they attack me?"

"YOU GOTTA LISTEN!" Sonic steps in front of one of the beetles. "Our friend Chris is-" They fire anyway and Sophia pushes Sonic onto the ground, dodging the lasers. They hit the ship and the two turn around, not hoping it was destroyed...luckily, there was a shield around it, but Chris was still inside there.

"My my, that was a close one."

"It is a good thing we put the Egg Shield up in time," Bocoe comments gratefully.

"Next time we may not be so lucky," Decoe says, Eggman getting angry.

"Quiet! Don't you mention that traitor again, you hear? Now let me see, how can I get my Chaos emerald back?"

"Doctor," Bocoe leans forward, "Look at this."

"At what?" Eggman asks in irritation.

"This is the inside of their robot," He looks at a schematic.

"It's just like yours, doctor!" Decoe realizes, making Eggman even more furious.

"How dare those underhanded hoodlums steal my ingenious robot designs to use in that revoltingly inferior hunk of junk monstrosity! I'll show that gang of sneak thieves what happens when they cross Dr. Eggman!" He declares, lowering the ship's weapons.

"Please doctor, do not be rash. Lucky is inside there," Bocoe pleads, worrying about the robot's safety. He may be clumsy, but he had to admire his success.

"Don't worry about him. With his dumb luck, he'll come out without a scratch!" Eggman hopes he's destroyed, as he tried to give away his Chaos emerald.

"I wouldn't count on it," Decoe comments, as Lucky was the one who found it. If that good luck went any further, he might survive.

"Fire!" Eggman shouts and the missiles are fired at the beetles. Lucky runs away as fast as he can.

"Hey, cool it, Eggman! Somebody might get hurt!" Sonic calls out as he and Sophia run past the missiles.

"That was the idea! Launch Egg Beam Cannonball!" He shouts and a blue laser cannonball hits the ground, creating an explosion. He laughs at his success. "Looks like that one did the trick!"

"One of these days you are going to blow up the whole planet," Bocoe states as Eggman still looks angry.

"It's a distinct possibility, Bocoe. But I'd rather do that than have Sonic and Sophia get those emeralds from me!"

Lucky is flying in the air from the blast and Eggman growls at his survival. "That voice."

"It was Lucky!" Bocoe exclaims in realization.

"Not that backwards bumbling bad luck charm again." First he didn't get his emerald, then Sonic and Sophia, and now this. Eggman just couldn't catch a break today.

"The enemy aircraft!" Decoe notices that the Beetles are still standing. "And not a single scratch!"

"The doctor really knows how to build a good ship, unfortunately."

Eggman places a hand on his bald head. "I wonder if it's possible to be too much of a genius for your own good..."

"I wonder what happened to-" Sophia and Sonic suddenly appear on the screen.

"It's Sonic and Sophia!" Chris cheers, happy that they're safe.

"That answers my question."

"How could they survive the Egg Beam Cannonball?" Eggman asks bitterly. Sophia smiles and waves, Eggman remembering her durability.

"Looks like you missed."

"I'll have you know the Egg Beam Cannonball is engineered to hit the bullseye every time," Eggman states, holding up a finger.

"But Sophia is an alien princess and Sonic is a hedgehog, not bulls," Decoe tells him.

"I'll try to forget you said that," Eggman deadpans and they hear beeping. He grits his teeth, clenching his fists. "There's no time to waste, we have to retrieve our boy Lucky and get back that seventh Chaos emerald before they do!"

"Yes doctor," Bocoe and Decoe salute.

The ship moves, the two friends watching the movement. _Uh oh, Eggman's on a mission to get that Chaos emerald. Not if we can help it!_

 _We must stop that ship and save our friend._

The two immediately go after the Egg Fort 2.

"It looks like Eggman's ship is on the move again," The driver from the Beetle reports.

"We got him covered." The beetles go after the ship on land and you'd think they wouldn't be able to go far, but they're prepared for that.

"Alright gentlemen, it is now takeoff time." The beetles start flying in the air, using rockets to power their flight. Lucky is flying in the air, barely moving.

"Oh dear, I didn't know Lucky could fly so high," Eggman comments as he looks up nervously.

"How will we ever catch him?"

"What if he drops the emerald, doctor?"

"That emerald doesn't belong to you anyway!" Chris shouts at Decoe.

"Speak only when spoken to!" Decoe retorts back to him. Sophia and Sonic notice one of the Beetles right next to them.

"Now's my chance!" Sonic jumps in the air, landing on the Beetle. Sophia jumps into the air.

"Hup!" Her wings appear on her back and she starts flying up to Lucky, Sonic using the Beetles to move on up.

"Wow, that was quite a leap," Bocoe comments in awe as Decoe is dealing with Chris. Eggman grunts at Sonic's speed. He manages to get up to the Egg Fort, Sophia flying near him. The four all look in shock, watching them.

"Guys!" Chris exclaims in awe.

"We are in trouble," Decoe states.

"What if they get that Chaos emerald away from Lucky?!" Eggman panics, as Lucky would just give it back.

"That would be very unlucky," Bocoe sweats at the possibility. Sonic is almost to the emerald and Lucky, but Lucky's almost to sea. Sophia holds Lucky in her arms.

"There, there, my friend. You are safe now." Lucky beeps gratefully, tears coming from his eyes. Sophia chuckles at him, as she had to admit the little robot was kind of adorable. Lucky holds out the emerald to Sonic.

"Just relax, we're your friends, little guy. We're not gonna hurt ya."

"But the Chaos Emerald you recovered is really important to us, so we will take it off your hands." Sonic takes the emerald from Lucky and the robot hugs Sophia for his safety. He couldn't help it, she was so nice and kind...!

"What is he doing? Why is he flying away?!" Eggman exclaims in disbelief as Sophia is flying with Lucky in her hands and Sonic on her back.

"Hey, this is kind of fun. Alright."

Lucky beeps in excitement as the wind touches him. Sophia chuckles as she places him on her back.

"There goes your lucky robot, doctor," Bocoe says smugly.

"He may be lucky, but he is not very loyal."

"BE QUIET! He dares to betray me, does he? I'll show that traitorous tin can not to mess with me!" Eggman declares, beyond furious.

"Doctor, are you thinking what I think you are thinking?" Bocoe asks in fear.

"I think that is what he is thinking," Decoe answers for him.

"Good thinking," Eggman's glasses glint slightly. "For the first time, I, the great Dr. Eggman, will transform the Egg Fort 2 into the greatest robot ever created. I was saving it for a special occasion, but why put it off any longer? After all, I'm feeling lucky! Get ready! Begin Egg Fort 2 transformation!" The Egg Fort 2 uses the 6 Chaos emeralds Eggman now had to take apart the three components. "Merge mode number 1!" The first part transforms. "Merge mode number 2!" The same thing happens with the second part. "Merge mode number 3!" The third part transforms into a pair of mechanical legs. The three parts then merge to form a gigantic robotic being. He laughs evilly as Sophia has made it safely to shore with the others, and they're sweating at the robot. "Say hello to my ultimate robot creation, the Eggsterminator!"

"Oh dear," Sophia murmurs, shaking her head at the name. The robot lands itself in the water.

"My my, bet you think you're pretty impressive, don't ya," Sonic says sarcastically before grinning widely. "You may be big and strong, but I bet you don't move as fast as we do." Sonic and Sophia speed around the robot, which doesn't move. "Come on, Eggman! What are ya waiting for?"

"Okay, he certainly is impatient, isn't he?" Eggman grins at Chris, who doesn't speak. He then looks at his six power sources. "But I say why rush into things." The panel lifts up for Chris to see.

"The six Chaos emeralds!"

"Don't worry, I'm keeping them safe and sound for future use. In the meantime, I'll transfer a bit of energy from each emerald into the Eggsterminator, so it can grow stronger." One emerald green gem is inserted as Eggman tracks the two's movements. Then another one and it locks onto the two friends, Eggman laughing.

"Guess the Eggsterminator's got 'em on the run! Eh kid?"

Chris looks at the screen in horror, as he technically set all of this in motion... _He's using the Chaos emeralds to beat them and it's all my fault!_

All of the emeralds are locked in. "I'm sorry!" Chris shouts and when the two jump, the ship turns invisible, confusing them. It then appears right behind them, punching Sonic and Sophia into a couple of buildings. "Sonic! Sophia!"

"That thing packs quite a punch," Eggman comments, impressed as he didn't know it was capable of that much power. Sophia coughs up some smoke as Sonic opens an eye.

"Yeah, he's got a good right hook."

"Indeed..." Sophia murmurs.

"They better surrender. With six Chaos Emeralds to power him, my boy is unbeatable!" Eggman grins at the success after all that's happened with that traitor Lucky. Now if he found him, it would be the best day ever...

"Please Dr. Eggman, let Sophia and Sonic go free!" Chris pleads.

"I'm afraid I can't do that just yet so sorry! Ah!" Eggman watches as Sophia and Sonic jump forward, only for the Eggsterminator to punch them into the ground. The X Tornado arrives.

"We're coming, guys!" Tails calls out.

"Quick Tails, do something," Amy tells him in worry.

"The X Tornado can't do much of anything now," Tails says in lament. "Not without a Chaos emerald." He wanted to help them, but what could he do without power?

"Alright," Amy looks determined, "I guess I'll have to take care of that hunk of junk myself!"

"Hold on!" The X Tornado moves out of the way as the Beetles arrive too, ready to attack the ship.

"Target in sight."

"What the?!" One of the soldiers exclaims at the ship's new form. The Eggsterminator appears behind a Beetle and destroys it like it's nothing. It throws one Beetle into the other and soon, all of the ships are destroyed.

"The Beetles, they've been wiped out!"

"Wow, he really is powerful, isn't he?" Bocoe asks in awe, but Eggman looks slightly scared of his power.

"Good thing he is on our side," Decoe points out.

"Even I'm impressed," Eggman remarks.

"Eggman!" They look in shock as Sonic staggers over to them, holding his arm.

"Heed our warning," Sophia glares up at the Eggsterminator, clutching her stomach. "We are coming for our friend Chris."

"And you better not try to stop us," Sonic declares despite their injuries. He kneels to the ground.

"How could Sonic and Sophia survive a pounding like that?" Bocoe asks in disbelief.

"I don't get it. They ought to be exterminated by now," Decoe replies.

"So they should...but Sophia has durability. Drat! They're much more resilient than I thought!" Eggman murmurs.

"We're coming, Chris!" Sonic shouts.

"They sure are a glutton for punishment!" The Chaos Emeralds start reacting. "What's going on? Eggsterminator, quit wasting power, will you? We must converse between battle!" The robot gains a burst of energy, the two fighters jumping out of the way from a punch. They're punched to the ground. Chris shouts at his friends getting hurt, trying to break free of his restraints. The robot slams into Sophia and Sonic repeatedly as a helicopter tries to get a better view.

"Can't you move in a bit closer?" Topaz asks.

"No way," The pilot denies. "It's too dangerous."

"He must be using the emeralds to power that thing," Rouge murmurs to herself.

Think, Knuckles, think! Knuckles stares down at the robot, which lifts up an unconscious Sonic and Sophia with one hand. Rouge and Knuckles gasp in shock at Sophia. Chris has his eyes squeezed shut, unable to bear the sight as he struggles.

"SONIC! SOPHIA! SONIC! SOPHIA!"

Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe turn around to him. They couldn't do this, it was too far. All they wanted to defeat them, not beat them to a pulp. "Alright Eggsterminator, enough fooling around! Drop them already!"

"Good idea," Decoe agrees and the robot does so, throwing them in the air. The three shout in shock, as they didn't want THAT to happen. Chris looks like he's about to cry as he watches his friends' peril. He remembered the day he first met them, all their heroic actions, and how happy they looked every time they got a Chaos emerald. Sophia and Sonic fall into the sea.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chris breaks free, to Eggman's shock.

"Why you-" Chris leaps forward and grabs a purple emerald.

"My emeralds!"

Chris rolls down as he was shocked and lands at the glass, holding all of the emeralds in his arms. "They're mine...mine...I won't..." Tears form at his closed eyes. "I won't let you take them away from me...ever again..." The emeralds glow in his arms. "Ever."

"That mealy-mouthed little crybaby shouldn't be so reckless," Eggman pouts at Chris, "After all, those emeralds are powering the Eggsterminator, and without them, this thing would be sent plummeting into the sea!"

"It is interesting, doctor," Decoe places a hand behind his head.

"As a matter of fact, we should be plummeting any moment now."

"I am sorry, doctor," Decoe speaks up, "But did you just say plummeting?"

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" Eggman exclaims as he holds Decoe.

"Yes doctor," Decoe sweats nervously. Knuckles drops down from the GUN helicopter and breaks through the glass, breaking in.

"Where is Chris? What did you do to Princess Sophia?!" He spits out. "I'm taking them with me."

"Well if it isn't our good friend Knuckles," Eggman laughs nervously as he sensed that Knuckles was angry with him for his deception. "How nice of you to drop in for a visit!" Decoe and Bocoe hug him in fear.

"I think he's upset!"

Knuckles stands up onto his feet. "They're coming with me, and that's that." Knuckles chuckles slightly. "I said, where are they? What did you do with them?"

Rouge has rescued Chris and the emeralds. "I have emeralds for a whole necklace and maybe some magic earrings."

"Sonic...Sophia," Chris murmurs, "Sonic...Sophia...let me...go."

"No way," Rouge refuses, "Not after all the trouble I went through." But that didn't mean she wasn't worried for Sophia. The bat looks down at the sea in worry. _Sophia...I hope you're okay...you're my closest friend..._

While struggling, Rouge drops Chris AND the emeralds. "Oh no! He made me drop my Chaos emeralds!" She flies down after them, but it's too late as they fall into the water. She did save the boy, though. "Oh well, there goes my new jewelry." The Eggsterminator suddenly grabs the two in its hands.

"The Eggsterminator is malfunctioning, all because of that thieving brat!" Eggman says bitterly as Knuckles notices the controls sparking.

"That's right!"

Knuckles growls and clenches his fists, as he's not getting the answers he wants.

"Where's the princess and Chris?"

Rouge grunts as she tries to prevent the Eggsterminator from squishing Chris. "You're awfully fresh." She yelps as the hand tightens slightly.

"We're coming, Chris!" Tails and the X Tornado arrive on the scene. There's a white glow coming from the water, shocking the others.

"Could it be?" Chuck wonders and a whirlpool forms from the light.

"Amy, I think it's Sonic and Sophia!" Cream exclaims, Rose cheering.

"It might be, but where's that glow coming from?" Amy wonders and her question is answered as two gold beings destroy the hand holding Rouge and Chris.

"Doctor, something is happening!" Decoe exclaims. "The Eggsterminator is losing its grip!"

"This is not good," Bocoe comments to a frowning Eggman, "What do we do now, doctor?"

"We do nothing. Right at this very moment, those seven Chaos emeralds are mingling together way down in the bottom of the sea. The great moment has finally come," Eggman tells them.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Decoe eyes him.

"Yes, I think that is what he is saying," Bocoe answers for him.

"Let Chaos Control begin!" Eggman begins as the two golden beings make themselves know: Sonic and Sophia. Sonic's fur has changed to a bright shade of yellow and his quills are turned upwards. His skin is also bright yellow and his green eyes are orangish. His whole body is also covered in a bright fiery aura that's yellow. The princess' hair is styled in a golden yellow ponytail that stops at her shoes with part of it braided and adorned with gold and white decorations like stars and gems. Sophia wears a white top adorned with gold pearls in the shoulders. The skirt is a tutu made from bright yellow petals with a smaller white flower-shaped peplum sewn to a golden yellow V-shaped band. On each hip is a golden yellow flower. Her white boots have a golden sole and scalloped cuff of yellow and white with a pearl accent to match the pearls on her top. And finally, she has a golden tiara adorned by three, droplet-shaped, diamond gems.

The robot tries to beat the two up, but they halt the attack without any effort.

"Well Knuckles, your wish came true, but I got some unfinished business," Sonic smirks.

"Eggman...take this," Sophia and Sonic destroy the Eggsterminator within a matter of seconds. Chaos Control beings, starting to engulf Station Square.

"Oh no. I think we're in Chaos control," Topaz murmurs in worry.

"It's Chaos Control, Chuck," Tails looks at the light. "You'll be sent back with us."

"Don't worry, it'll be my pleasure!" Chuck exclaims, as he wanted to know how their world works.

"Hey, look," Danny, Helen, and Frances see it too. "Where's that light coming from?"

"Does this mean...they're going home?" Helen wonders.

"Oh no," Frances murmurs, as she had a feeling that Chris would miss them dearly. While the process is happening, Sophia and Sonic are standing in front of an unconscious Chris.

"Can you hear me, pal?" Sonic asks.

"Chris...open your eyes," Sophia tells him softly and he slowly does. He sees them in their new forms.

"We're finally going home...thanks to you, Chris."

"We are eternally grateful," Sophia smiles softly at the boy.

"Sophia...Sonic...take me with you, please," He states honestly, "I don't wanna stay here. Not without you."

They don't say anything, only bending down to him. There's a green glow and his eyes widen as he hugs them. "Sonic...Sophia..."

"It's gonna be okay," Sonic assures him. "I promise."

"Everything will be fine, my friend."

"Sonic...Sophia...please don't leave. You're the best friends I ever had. I don't want you to go away!" He starts to cry as they close their eyes. They didn't want to leave him either, but...they had to go home. "I'll miss you so much! Please don't go! Please!" They could only listen as they disappear from his grip and he stares at the ground, tears falling down his face. They were gone...they had changed his life. Truly, they did. He never thought he'd have this much adventure and excitement in his life...but now...what would his life come to? Nothing...

"YOU CAN'T GOOOOO!" He screams at the top of his lungs and suddenly, everything is foggy at an island. The X Tornado flies up to it as the island sits on the water...but it's surrounded by buildings that are not native to their world.

Knuckles stares at a floating island in the sky: Angel Island, which is known for staying afloat. He just frowns at it. It turns out that instead of sending Sophia, Sonic, and their friends home, Chaos Control brought Angel Island and Mystic Ruins to Station Square, for some reason.

Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe are on the ground, now defeated, as the doctor looks at his scanner as he plans his next move. He then eyes the forest and Chris looks up happily as two shadows make themselves know. Sophia and Sonic walk up to him, smiling as they're back to normal. Sonic gives him a thumbs up, Sophia bowing.

"Hey! Long time no see!"


	27. Pure Chaos

**Angel: Wow, almost 200 reviews and I haven't even gotten to the Shadow saga yet! Thank you everyone! I'm legit scared of how many it's gonna be when the story ends XDD**

Ichabod: Way to go, you two! That was WAY PAST COOL! And don't worry about your next adventure-just OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALL RIGHT!

 **Angel: Stop with the references...stop XD I've seen a walkthrough of Sonic Adventure only once, and I never played the game. In fact, the only Sonic games I've played was the Sega All-Stars Racing one, Sonic Unleashed, and the Mario & Sonic games (but not ALL of them). I remember my cousin having Sonic 06, but I never touched that mess and he threw it out the next day. I've been wanting to play Sonic Forces, but I don't have a video game system anymore.**

Ichabod: Also, I saw the new RotTMNT episodes this week, and they are HILARIOUS! I'll probably adapt 'em into textual format this afternoon...

 **Angel: Out of the ones that are new, only one more hasn't been online yet. I'm still missing Mascot Melee, but I plan on releasing it soon.**

Antoniocrosthwaite73: Whoa. Sophia's super form was not what I thought it was. But any form is fine.

 **Angel: She is an alien princess...if I had made her skin yellow, it would've looked wrong to me.**

Challishanlon99: Sorry about that I didn't mean to say store I'm at story wouldn't it be cool to be in the story I would love to meet Shadow and the others thank you for this chapter by the way I can't wait for more PS I hope that you have a great time writing it

 **Angel: I've had dreams where I'm in another universe like with Sonic or TMNT before. I know that some writers have done that scenario where a human is transported into a TV show or a movie. Heck, it was done with The Great Mouse Detective, which is one of my favorite Disney movies. Personally, I wouldn't do it. I prefer an OC meeting them than a human from another world, it's just cliche. And I don't hate writing this, but the fact that so many people wanted it and kept bugging me for it...eh. Some episodes are fun to write, though. I'll give the fans that.**

Crazycartoons5488: I can't wait to see "The Beginning of Disaster" ("Pure Chaos") Rose and Cheese are happy to see Chaos again.

 **Angel: I don't think Rose was there...not that I remember.**

Bajy: Great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: *gasps* Bajy...you did it. You wrote a short review without apologizing!**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia remember Little Bird and his mom and dad.

 **Angel: Lily is a girl, and that was her brother and sister. As for Sophia remembering her...no. She's not an expert about Sonic's world. Remember the fact that she doesn't know where the Chaos Emeralds came from.**

Sapphire: I can't wait to see season two happening I hope to see Cream's mother and Sophia's parents coming when they find their daughters.

 **Angel: I've thought about that episode a little bit, but it's still so far away. I've been mostly focusing on the Shadow episodes coming up.**

Guest: I can't wait to see season two and their new adventures they'll have.

 **Angel: Personally, I just want to finish this whole thing XD It takes up all my time on Tuesdays and Thursdays that I sometimes forget to do homework.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, after tricking Knuckles into giving him the six Chaos emeralds, Dr. Eggman kidnapped Chris, holding him hostage on the Egg Fort 2. Soon, Dr. Eggman's robot Lucky returned with the seventh emerald. But just as Eggman was about to grab it, Sonic and Sophia showed up to thwart his plan. Determined to get the last emerald, Eggman transformed the Egg Fort 2 into the Eggsterminator, a gargantuan super bot powered by the Chaos emeralds._

 _The Eggsterminator captured Sophia and Sonic, but Chris broke free and grabbed the emeralds, only to find himself rescued by Rouge the Bat. But things got slippery and Rouge dropped the emeralds into the sea. All seven emeralds came together and it was Chaos Control time. Were Sonic and his friends sent back home to their planet? Are Tails and Chuck with them? Or did something even more unbelievable happen? There's only one way to find out: Stay tuned!_

It's raining as Big the Cat and his pal Froggy are sleeping peacefully. A bright light wakes up Froggy as it lands a few feet away. Froggy hops over to the object and Big looks up. Froggy sees a purple light up ahead and decides to follow it.

"Wait for me, Froggy!" Big calls out as he runs after his friend. Froggy has arrived at a pile of rocks when Big catches up to him. "I think you're trying to tell me something." He looks down and sees a purple Chaos emerald!

"Wow, what's this?" He examines it. "Sure is pretty. Somebody must've dropped it. Finders keepers, right pal?" He smiles as Froggy keeps ribbiting. Then some strange blue liquid comes up behind Froggy and Froggy turns around to see the sentient liquid. It lunges itself into Froggy's mouth. Big notices something is wrong. "Uh, what's the matter, little buddy?"

Froggy doesn't respond and Big stares at him. Then Froggy starts to shake as he grows a small little tail.

"Hey, am I seeing things? You're growing a tail!"

Froggy turns around and eyes him before jumping forward. He swallows the Chaos emerald they found and hops away with Big in pursuit.

* * *

Meanwhile, the President is on his plane, thinking about the past events. "It's been six months and I still don't understand what happened when the Chaos emeralds came together."

"Sonic, Sophia, and their friends thought Chaos Control would send them back to their home planet, but a piece of their planet was sent here instead," An advisor states. Mr. Stewart and Sophia herself are attending this meeting as well.

"Chaos Control is very hard to control," Sophia explains, "You cannot predict what it will do and you cannot manipulate it either. It works on its own with the seven Chaos emeralds."

"Still, our citizens appear to be taking it all in stride, Mr. President," Christina replies. "In fact, the plans to turn Mystic Ruins into a world famous tourist attraction are certain to be a great boost for the economy."

"Maybe so, but one thing still has me worried," The president turns around. "Dr. Eggman."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Mr. President. We got intelligence teams all over the globe tracking his whereabouts. Plans are also underway to install a new network of surveillance satellites," A advisor explains.

"Really?" The president asks, intrigued. He wasn't sure that was enough, as Eggman is pretty shifty.

"Right, but no matter how you spin it, you still haven't managed to catch him," Rouge comments.

"Rouge, please!" Topaz scolds her, as this was the president she's talking to, and she might be disrespectful.

"It's true, isn't it? Who cares about agents and satellites? Why don't we all admit that he's just too smart for us?" Rouge shrugs casually. The president stands up.

"Rouge is right. And all this time since Chaos Control happened, we haven't heard a peep out of him," He says.

"Isn't it obvious? He's taking a little break to plot his next move," Rouge explains and Sophia nods in agreement.

"While I would prefer a different attitude, I agree with my friend. Eggman is not one to lay low. He is always planning something sinister," Sophia narrows her eyes slightly.

"That must be it," The president puts a hand to his chin.

"I well understand your frustration, Mr. President," One of the advisors remarks, "We won't let you down, sir."

"See that you don't," The president tells him. He turns around and looks out the window. "Oh, and one more thing. How are Sonic and your little friends doing, anyway, your highness?"

Mr. Stewart steps up and Sophia narrows her eyes at him slightly. "Here, sir. From these pictures you can see they're all doing fine."

"I believe the question was meant for me," Sophia glares at the agent, who rubs his neck sheepishly. "Yes, they are quite alright. And now I must take my leave," She bows her head and goes out to fly through an open window.

* * *

At the Thorndyke mansion, Chris is eating with Cream, Chuck, and Cheese, as it's breakfast. Chuck takes a bite out of his food, smiling. "Delectable as always. I don't know how you do it, Ella."

"And you never will," Ella states with a small smile, "It's my secret recipe."

Sophia then arrives into the room, smiling. "Hello everyone, I have returned." Rose flies up to her happily and Sophia hugs her friend.

"How was the meeting?" Chuck asks as she sits down.

"The president has taken measures to find Eggman, but with no success," Sophia shakes her head before Ella puts down a plate in front of her. Mr. Tanaka offers a plate of bread to Cream.

"Would you like some toast with your scrambled eggs, Miss Cream?"

"Yes please. And some for Cheese," Cream answers, Cheese cheering happily as he takes a piece of bread. He takes a little bite and Chris laughs.

"I was wondering if you have to stay after school for anything special today, Chris and Sophia," Chuck glances at the two.

"Not today, Grandpa. Why do you ask?" Chris takes a sip of his drink.

"How would you two like to come to Mystic Ruins with me? I've been meaning to test out a new aircraft model at Tails' workshop there and thought you might like to join me," Chuck suggests and Sophia glances at Chris, taking a bite out of her eggs.

"I apologize, Chuck, but we are meeting Lindsey after school. Right Cream?" Sophia smiles at her friend.

"Yeah. It's true. She said she wants to show us something," Cream explains.

"Ah, it'll be good for you to spend some quality time together!" Chuck exclaims, Chris blushing in embarrassment.

"Yeah, we've got a lot to catch up on," He finishes his drink and places down his cup. "We better get going." Sophia and Chris stand up to leave for school. Rose waves to her owner and Sophia rubs her head.

"Behave now," Sophia giggles slightly. "Cream, take good care of her, okay?"

"I will!" Cream smiles as she loved to look after Rose.

"So long Master Chris and Miss Sophia," Mr. Tanaka says as the two leave.

"Study hard now. We'll see you at dinner time!" Ella calls out.

"Okay!" Chris yells back.

"Goodbye!" Sophia waves at them.

Chris looks up at the sky. "I know you're out there, Sonic. I sure hope you're okay." Sophia places a hand on his shoulder.

* * *

At a valley, Sonic is whistling. His voice echoes throughout the mountains.

Amy has moved into an apartment building in Station Square over the past six months, listening to the news as she's enjoying her breakfast. "Not long ago, this tranquil spot was the center of a raging battle. Today the sea is calm and peaceful and there is no sign of the disturbance that took place six months ago."

 _It's no fun being all by myself. Nobody to talk to_. Amy lets out a sigh before smiling at her environment. "It was so great having my friends with me. It was all so exciting. Every day was like a new adventure, and even when Sonic made me mad, which was most of the time, I always felt safe around him. But all that was before Sonic had to go and disappear like that without a trace!" She finishes her drink and puts her hands on the sill. "Sonic, where are you?" Her question echoes.

"Hey! Keep it down! Or I'll break down the door!"

"Sorry!" Amy calls out, shutting the window. She sighs as she turns around. "Why should I worry? Sonic will come back for me one day, I know he will!" But she knows she's trying to cheer herself up.

"Officials are still unsure as to the whereabouts of Dr. Eggman," Amy turns to her small TV. "His location still remains a mystery."

* * *

Meanwhile, in his new fortress, Eggman is manufacturing a new line of robots: The E-100 series. He places down a pink small bird, trapping it inside a circular prison. Some robotic claws reach out, taking a grey bird and a rabbit. They're placed inside the robots.

"Activate power surge now!" Three robots turn on, walking off their posts. A door opens to reveal Sophia and Sonic dolls. "Let's have a bit of target practice!" The doctor declares and the three robots open fire on the dolls, destroying them. "Heh heh heh! Not too shabby, I say!"

"Your new robots are working perfectly, doctor," Decoe comments.

"Who would've thought? Robots with animals built inside." Bocoe and Decoe shake hands, cheering for Eggman's success.

"I am a genius!" Eggman exclaims happily, laughing. "I've really outdone myself this time. Have you ever seen such exquisitely evil creatures! I feel like a proud papa! You, my pets, are the first of my brilliant new E-series robots. You are programmed to receive orders only from me."

"And now it is time for the roll call," Decoe uses his tablet. "E101, Beta." Beta, a black robot, turns on. "E102, Gamma." Gamma, a red robot, powers up. "E103 Delta. E104 Epsilon."

"As far as the names go, it's all Greek to me! Now, to create a bit of chaos." He marches over to something glowing and grins...at a red Chaos emerald. He grins at its beauty. Then he launches his new flying fortress from the sea, the Egg Carrier.

"Ah, my sleekly designed brand-spanking-new multi functional flying fortress handles like a dream. Alright Egg Carrier," He holds the Chaos emerald in his hand. "Blast off!" The wings open up. "I'm back, and this time, nothing will stand in my way!"

* * *

Chris and Sophia gasp at the yellow Chaos emerald. "Do you like it?" Lindsey asks.

"Sure I like it! It's amazing! Where'd you find it?" Chris wonders.

"I saw it in the jewelry shop last week and I just had to have it, but it doesn't really match any of my outfits. Here, it's yours," She hands it to Cream.

"A jewelry store?" Sophia asks in confusion, as she wondered why a Chaos emerald would be there.

"That's awfully generous," Cream says.

"It would look perfect with your coloring," Lindsey explains, Sophia sweating a bit.

"We sure could use it," Chris states, Rose and Cheese cheering.

"It's settled, then. Now if only we could get you out of that dreadful bunny costume and into a smart suit."

Cream looks confused. "But Mom, that's not a costume. Cream is a-" Before he can explain further, Lindsey's phone rings.

"Hi," She picks up. "Oh, right now? Fine, I'll be there. Wait for me."

"Oh, Mummy hates to rush off like this," She starts packing up her things, "But there's trouble on the set. Apparently they have to recast the dog."

"It's okay, I understand. We'll do it another time," Chris states.

"Oh, Mummy loves you," She hugs Chris and Sophia, kissing Chris on the cheek. "Goodbye sweethearts."

Sophia smiles at her. Lindsey and Nelson had started treating her more and more like a daughter, which she didn't mind given their personalities. They felt like they owed her for looking after Chris and protecting him.

"Thank you very much," Cream holds the box that holds the emerald. She gasps at its beauty. "Chris, Sophia, it's so pretty."

"I can't believe it was in a jewelry store. Let's take it home and show Sonic," Chris comments.

"Fate works in strange ways, my friend," Sophia states, Cream, Cheese, and Rose agreeing with her.

Froggy hops right in front of the two Chao out of nowhere. He spins around them and they all land on the ground.

"Cheese," Cream shakes her Chao slightly.

"Are you okay?" Chris asks in concern as Sophia bends down to the three. She offers her hands and the Chao fly into her arms, cheering happily. Chris then notices the tail that frogs don't usually have.

"What's this?" He picks up Froggy.

"It looks like a frog," Cream points out, "But it's got a tail."

"Frogs do not normally possess tails unless they are tadpoles," Sophia frowns in confusion.

"Hey Froggy!" A voice calls out as they hear a thump. They turn to the person to see Big walking up to them. He trips and lands on all of them, to their dismay.

"Big, how nice to see you again," Sophia struggles from underneath his belly, "But you are suffocating us!" She tries to push him off as Froggy lands right in his eyesight.

"Come here, Froggy!" Froggy hops away and Big immediately stands up, dismayed. "Oh, please don't run away!" His ears sag as the others crawl out from his hold. "My buddy!"

Sophia helps her friends to their feet as Big stands up. He turns to them. "Sorry, mister, your little frog friend got tangled up with our little Chao friend," Chris explains and Big says nothing, tilting his head back and forth.

"You look kinda lost," Cream states and Big turns his head to her, staying silent. The rabbit feels awkward.

"Big," Sophia steps up to him and he bows. "Please, on your feet. Inform us of what has happened."

"You know him?" Chris asks in confusion and Sophia nods.

"Yes, I know Big. He and Froggy are good friends of mine."

* * *

Chris and Cream sigh as Big has taken all afternoon. "Let's try this again. Sophia says your name is Big, and you came here with your friend Froggy. Is that what you're saying?"

Big nods slowly and the three sigh in relief. "Told you we'd get to the bottom of this," Chris says to Cream.

"But there's just one thing." They turn to Big. "That isn't Froggy!" Cream and Chris sag at the cat and his inconsistency. "He's gone...poor Froggy. What if I never find him?" He starts to cry, covering his eyes with his arm.

"My friend, we will find him," Sophia places a hand on his arm. "Froggy is not lost forever."

"Don't worry, Big, you'll find Froggy again like Sophia said. We'll help ya," Chris suggests with a small smile.

"Would you like us to help you find him?" Cream asks with a friendly smile. Big looks at them with happy tears, grateful that he was getting some help.

"That would be nice."

"Froggy!" Chris calls out.

"Froggy!"

"Little Froggy!" Sophia cries out.

"Where are you?"

"Froggy!" Big helps out too, along with Cheese and Rose.

"Froggy?" They peek into a bush, the sewers, but nothing. Their searching takes them into the night.

"We've been out here looking for hours!" Chris exclaims, a little tired.

"Hey, are you out here, little buddy?" Big yells and Sophia sighs slightly.

"He could be anywhere..." Her ear tilts up as she hears a rustle, and Big hears it too.

"Is that you, Froggy?" They find something, but it's not Froggy. It's some of the strange blue liquid that forced itself into Froggy's mouth.

"I don't think that's him," Cream says as Sophia narrows her eyes at it.

"That looks like the same stuff Froggy swallowed," Big comments as he recognizes it.

"You've seen it before?" Chris asks curiously.

"I saw him drink it and then Froggy grew a tail," Big explains, Sophia bending down to the liquid.

"Strange...perhaps this substance is what caused Froggy to grow a tail all of a sudden," She murmurs to herself, because frogs don't grow tails, not even frogs from her world. There was another force at work here.

Suddenly, the liquid starts to move, reforming itself into a creature. Cheese and Rose cheer happily, starting to move towards it, but their owners pull them back. Sophia pulls out her sword in case anything happened. The creature turns to them and Cream gasps as it stares at them.

"Don't move," Chris whispers, "Just keep calm."

The creature takes its attention off them and starts destroying everything in sight. This frightens the people around.

"We'd better make a run for it while it's not looking," Chris tells Cream. "Come on, let's go."

"Chris, you take them somewhere safe. I shall deal with the creature," Sophia calls out and he nods, leading the others away.

* * *

Elsewhere, Sonic lands on a rooftop and lets out a whistle. "Alright! Thought I was gone for good, didn't ya?" He then hears the commotion that the creature is causing and he looks down to see people running away. "Uh oh." He looks up and growls in annoyance as GUN helicopters are flying in the sky, along with the police cars on route. Sonic didn't trust them, especially after what happened with the Beetles. He preferred to do things his way.

The creature has transformed into liquid, surrounding a sewer grate. "Everybody stay back!" An officer calls out as the cars surround the creature. Sophia is standing nearby, narrowing her eyes at the liquid. Something wasn't right about the creature. The officers prepare their weapons, Chris gasping.

"That creature!"

"Stay back, kid," An officer pushes him back slightly.

"We're in trouble," Big comments and the creature reveals itself. It stands up for everybody to see and steps forward.

"Alright, get ready, boys!" The creature advances towards them. "What is it?"

"Ah, run!" They flee as it destroys two cars. The officers help the citizens leave the area. Sophia runs in, holding her sword. The creature grabs it from her and snaps it in half. She gasps in surprise and Sonic lands in front of her.

"I see you have a brain pal, so you better use it." Chris and Cream turn around at his voice.

"Sonic!"

"Hey buddy, good to see ya," Sonic turns to them with a grin.

"Sonic, Sophia, behind you!" The creature raises a claw and they both jump over it. Sonic uses his feet to land on its head. Sophia backflips and lands on his back before they leap away. "Careful guys, whatever it is, it's dangerous!"

Sonic just smirks as they both advance on the creature. It swipes its claw at them, but they jump over it, running up a building. They come back using their Spin Attack to pierce right through it. Sonic lands on a pole, Sophia landing underneath it.

"Alright!" The others cheer.

"Oh, look what it's doing!" Cream points at the creature, who dissolves into liquid. "It's melting!" They stare at it as it disappears into the sewers.

"Can't take the heat, huh?" Sonic teases as a spotlight moves above them, someone laughing. They look up to see Eggman in his Egg Mobile.

"I do hope you'll all forgive me for dropping in unannounced this way, but I simply couldn't miss out on all the excitement!"

"Look who's back in town," Sonic says as Sophia grunts in annoyance, clenching a fist. She still held a major grudge against him for destroying her royal purple case.

"Yes, I took a six-month Chaos Control break. But now I'm rested and ready to rumble!" He declares.

"Go away, Eggman. Haven't you already caused enough trouble?" Cream speaks up.

"One can never cause enough trouble, my dear, as you'll soon see." He presses a button and a robotic hand reaches out, stealing the emerald Lindsey gave to her.

"The emerald!" Chris exclaims.

"Here Chaos, have a little snack," Eggman moves the box over and the two friends try to stop him, to no avail. The emerald lands on the puddle and Chaos feeds on it, transforming into a taller version of himself. Eggman grins in delight. "He sure grows on ya, doesn't he?" He laughs evilly. "You see, Sonic and Princess Sophia, this new shape-shifting form of Chaos gains more and power with each Chaos emerald I feed it!"

"Chaos?" Sonic asks, ready to fight.

"That's right. This charming creature has been a pure Chaos and he's under my control! Soon the day will come when I have all seven Chaos emeralds in my possession and when that happens, we'll be unstoppable!"

"You will never live to see that day," Sophia growls at him. She and Sonic stand in front of their friends.

"Back off, pal," Sonic warns Chaos.

"Sorry, Sophia and Sonic. It only takes orders from me. Now get 'em!" Chaos reaches out to them.

"Not so fast!" Knuckles arrives and pushes the two away. "Alright, Eggman, what did you do with the Master Emerald?"

"Knuckles, did something happen to the Master Emerald?" Chris wonders, Sonic looking annoyed that Knuckles interrupted them.

"Yeah, ya might say that." He only then notices his friends. "Sonic, princess? What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same thing," Sonic retorts.

"I'm here to talk to Eggman. See I got a couple of pressing questions only he can answer," Knuckles grits his teeth.

"I would love to help you, Knuckles, but right now, it's feeding time," He holds up something red.

"A Chaos emerald!" Knuckles exclaims in realization.

"Another one?" Sophia asks in confusion.

"He has such a healthy appetite," Eggman throws it to Chaos, who catches it.

"It just keeps getting bigger!" Sonic states.

"Look out!" Chris warns as Chaos grows even taller. He makes one of his hands into a fist, attempting to attack the three. Knuckles, Sophia, and Sonic jump up. Sonic uses his Spin Attack, but Chaos emits yellow electricity, shocking Sonic slightly. Knuckles dashes up to it, but Chaos grabs him and throws him onto the ground. Sophia sweeps her hand, firing three pink Chaos spears, but Chaos grabs them before it can hit him and throws it back towards her. She yelps as she's hit, landing near Sonic and Knuckles. Chaos then sprays water and Sonic jumps into action.

He grabs Knuckles and Sophia, leaping out of the way of the water. They land above a sign.

"It's some kind of strange new form of pure Chaos that gets bigger every time Dr. Eggman gives it a Chaos emerald," Sonic explains to Knuckles. Chaos emits more water at them and they run off, the water hitting some trees instead. Chris and Cream leap out of the way, barely dodging it.

"That's right, trash everything," Eggman says proudly. Sophia glances at her friends and they all nod to each other. Eggman shouts in surprise as Sonic runs past the water, jumping back and forth to avoid it. He then looks at Knuckles, who has his fist ready. Sophia is backflipping and dodging Chaos. Sonic spin attacks to a rooftop as Knuckles punches Chaos three times, but nothing happens and he gets shocked.

"Knuckles!" Sophia cries out as she turns to him. Sonic growls and does another spin attack towards Chaos. The creature's not even scratched as Sonic continues, but nothing. Eggman chuckles at this.

"He's shocking, isn't he? And that's what he's like with only two measly emeralds!" He brags.

"He doesn't scare me," Knuckles states as Sophia stands up.

"Nor me."

"Yeah, me neither," Sonic replies and attacks again.

"Look out!" Knuckles warns him of the electricity. "You're finished!" Knuckles punches again, but he doesn't even touch Chaos as the electricity is acting as a shield. "Bye bye!" He's knocked away as Chaos looks tired. Eggman turns in another direction.

"Sophia! Sonic!"

The two run up to Chaos, spin attacking so fast they defeat Chaos, water everywhere. Eggman shouts in agony, the others cheering. They run up to them.

"Sonic, Sophia, Knuckles, you did it!" Chris and Cream hold their hands as they shake them.

"Ah, think you beat me, eh? Don't be so sure! I've got more chaos where that came from!" The Egg Mobile sucks up Chaos.

"We'll handle anything you come up with! Just bring it on!" Knuckles eggs as Eggman leaves.

"Good riddance," Sophia huffs in annoyance.

"You guys...I've got a bad feeling," Chris states his worries.

"Me too," Cream says as she's staring at the spot where Eggman left. "What if that Chaos creature gets stronger?"

Big, Rose, and Cheese look worried too.

Sonic thinks about how Chaos was so powerful with only two emeralds... "We'll see!"

"Sophia." The princess turns to Knuckles. "I also came to give you something."

"Oh?" She asks, intrigued. "What is it?"

"Here," He holds out her royal purple case and she gasps.

"Knuckles! My case...it has been repaired!" She takes it from him in awe and he smiles.

"You've helped me out so much, so I'm only returning the favor." He looks proud of himself as Sophia smiles gratefully.

"Thank you..."

"Tails repaired it, didn't he?" Chris asks with a small smile.

"...Yeah," Knuckles admits and they all laugh.


	28. A Chaotic Day

Crazycartoons5488: Lily is good friends of Princess Sophia.

 **Angel: Technically they haven't met yet.**

Challishanlon99: Thank you very much for this chapter I think it would be pretty cool if I was in the story then again it would be pretty cool if anyone could be right next to an in the world of Sonic X anyway I wanted to say thank you for writing this chapter and I can't wait for more I keep on getting more excited each time I read a chapter by the way Sophia since you have super powers does that mean you can control the Chaos emeralds too? Just asking that's all anyway thank you for the chapter can't wait for more.

 **Angel: Don't get any ideas, I already get too many people asking for OCs in my stories.**

 **Sophia: No, I cannot control the Chaos Emeralds. I do not believe anyone can control them due to their immense power.**

Guest D: Oh Knuckles...xD If it's not too much trouble, can Cream and Cheese go with Chris and Big to find Froggy? And maybe up to the ARK with the others? I disliked how they always got left behind on the adventures when I was a kid.

 **Angel: Umm, Cream is like 6, isn't she? It makes sense that they would be left behind since they don't fight. And plus, wasn't there a whole Emerl arc where she had to fight him? And she was in space with the others, so I don't think she's left behind all the time. She's a child! They wouldn't want to put her in danger.**

Bajy: Love it! This is a taste of what's to come for our heroes, that's for sure, a prelude. I wonder what will happen next? Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: I just wanna get through this arc, I'm only on episode 30 ^^'**

Guest: Cool chapter of season two I can't wait to see the next chapter soon

 **Angel: Well, there's definitely more to come. I'm three episodes away from Shadow's debut.**

At the Thorndyke mansion, in the garage, Sonic, Knuckles, Big, Chris, Chuck, and Sophia are having a coffee break. Sophia is drinking tea with Rose sitting on her shoulder.

"Shouldn't we be out trying to stop Eggman instead of taking a coffee break?" Sonic wonders, a little worried about what Eggman could do with Chaos.

"I'm hoping that we can put our heads together and unravel the mystery of Eggman's Chaos creature," Chuck states, taking a sip of his drink.

"Is it not obvious?" Everyone turns to Sophia. "The creature grows stronger each time it obtains an emerald. Two was difficult. Imagine if he had more."

"It's the most powerful thing I've ever seen," Knuckles comments, "We watched it gulp down two Chaos emeralds like they were candy."

"Candy..." Sophia murmurs with a blissful look.

"They made that thing even stronger!" Sonic replies.

"It sounds as if it's going to be a real challenge to defeat this creature," Chuck calls out.

"It will..." Knuckles murmurs in agreement, "I knew it would be trouble when I saw it on Angel Island. After Chaos Control happened, Angel Island was transported into this world. That's where the Master Emerald was, and I guarded it around the clock, as order of the princess. One night, a huge bolt of lightning woke me up. This wasn't an ordinary thunderstorm. Something very strange was happening at the summit. I knew the Master Emerald was in danger, but it was too late. And that's when I saw it."

"Hold on," Sophia glances at Knuckles. "You were sleeping outside during a thunderstorm?"

"I was fine!" He protests to keep her from worrying.

"Perhaps," She murmurs skeptically.

"If the Master Emerald's on Angel Island," Chris speaks up, "Why aren't you there now protecting it?"

"Because it's too late," He looks up at the boy. "The Chaos creature made sure of that."

 _The creature looked down at Knuckles. "Hey, who are you?" Knuckles demanded and Chaos was standing next to...pieces of the Master Emerald. "What happened to the Master Emerald? Are you the one who destroyed it?!"_

 _Chaos waved his arms and Knuckles jumped up, punching it. It hit him back with his head, knocking the echidna back. He landed a few feet away and Chaos shrunk into a puddle._

 _"Wait!" Knuckles ran up to it, but it disappeared. "Blast, where did that thing go?" The shrine began to shake. "Now what?"_

 _Without the Master Emerald, the island floated down onto the sea. "The Master Emerald keeps this island hovering in the air! But it can't if it's shattered!" Knuckles exclaimed as a pillar fell to pieces. The island landed in the ocean, now being a regular island._

Knuckles frowns, growling slightly at his failure.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for what that creature did, Knuckles," Chuck senses his look.

"That is right," Sophia places a hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "You could not foresee this."

Chris then glances at the purple cat. "Big, when you went looking for Froggy in the forest, didn't you see something that looked like Chaos?"

Big is staring at his coffee cup as he recalls the memory.

 _Chaos crawled around rocks, approaching Big and Froggy. It slid up to Froggy from behind. Froggy turned around and Chaos forced itself on him. Froggy swallowed the liquid, blinking._

 _Big stood up as he held the Chaos emerald. "Hey, you find another one, Froggy?"_

 _Froggy stayed silent and Big wondered if something was wrong. Froggy shook slightly to grow a tail._

 _"Hey, am I seeing things? You've grown a tail!"_

 _Froggy turned to his friend and leapt at him._

"I tried to catch Froggy, but he was faster than me, and he hopped away with something I found in the forest," Big explains.

"What was that?" Chris wonders, as Big never really explained that part.

"It was a big purple rock. It looked awful pretty when it was glowing," Big answers and Sophia gasps, Chris standing up.

"That sounds like it could've been a Chaos emerald!"

"Chaos must have forced itself into Froggy when Big found it. That must be why he ran away from you," Sophia glances at Big.

"If that's the case, then we better find that little frog quick or it won't survive long," Chuck rubs his chin.

"Why, Grandpa?" Chris asks.

"Because Dr. Eggman is determined to do anything to seize an emerald. The more emeralds he feeds that Chaos creature, the easier it'll be to take over this world," Chuck answers.

"We tried to help Big find it and could not. It might take DAYS to find one little frog with a tail," Sophia points out. "But...if we must," She sighs a little, remembering Chaos from last night.

 _Chaos moved around a manhole cover before revealing himself. It stood in front of police cars, approaching the officers._

 _"What is it?"_

 _They ran away in fear as Chaos destroyed the two cars._

"It's vital we find those emeralds before Eggman uses their power to conquer us all."

"No sweat!" Sonic stands up with a grin. "Sophia and I will find them."

Chris glances down at the hedgehog as Sophia looks up at him. "You have a plan, Sonic?"

"You know I prefer to think on my feet," Sonic holds up a finger, meaning he didn't.

"It is true," Sophia nods in agreement, "Most of the time, they work."

"I'll go and look for the broken pieces of the Master Emerald," Knuckles suggests and Chris looks up.

"I guess Big and I can go try to find Froggy together," He smiles slightly.

"Hmm, that's a good idea," Big comments, still staring at his cup.

"Big," Sophia chuckles slightly.

"Hmm?" He looks at Sophia.

"Your cup is empty," She giggles at him and he has a look of realization, laughing along with her.

Big and Chris set off in the opposite direction as Knuckles as they split up to do their missions.

* * *

In Windy Valley, Tails is in his workshop, tinkering with the X Tornado. "Tails!" His eyes widen slightly as he hears the voices, turning around to see Sonic and Sophia. "Hey!"

"Hiya Sonic, Sophia!" He greets with a smile.

"Hello, my good friend," Sophia smiles back.

"So we have to track down the Chaos emeralds all over again," Tails realizes as Sophia and Sonic have told him the story.

"If we fail, Eggman will win. You think you're up to the challenge?" Sonic finishes, Tails laughing.

"I already started collecting 'em!" He answers to their confusion. Sonic blinks once. "Ta da!" He opens up a panel to show some slots. He presses a button to reveal a green Chaos emerald. "I just found this emerald yesterday! We can use it to pinpoint where the other emeralds are. It'll make tracking 'em down a lot easier."

Sonic whistles, impressed. "Excellent job, Tails," Sophia grins at him.

"Now you're starting to think like me!" Sonic winks at his friend. They set off with the X Tornado to find more of them.

"Hang on! Ready for takeoff!" He pulls the levers and the plane goes into the air.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Casinopolis, the police are investigating a crime. Knuckles is there and he grows curious as he steps up to the scene. He gasps as he sees that there's been some damage done, as there is a hole in the building. He steps up to the officers.

"What happened, officer?"

He turns around and recognizes him. "Hey, it's Knuckles!"

"Whoa! Think you and me could get a picture taken to show the guys back at the station?" His partner asks.

"Maybe later.," Knuckles glances at the hole, pointing at it. "Do you guys have any idea what smashed into that building?"

"Well, sorta. Witnesses say it was a glowing object that fell from the sky."

"A what?!" Knuckles jumps onto him, grabbing onto his collar. "Are you sure?!"

"I, uh-" The officer can't answer clearly as Knuckles shakes him.

Knuckles is taken inside and sees something wedged into the floor. He looks closer and sees that it's an emerald shard, but not just any shard. "A piece of the Master Emerald!" He murmurs and he holds a hand to it. The shard lifts up from the floor and lands into his hand. The officers gasp as they didn't know Knuckles could do that. Knuckles smiles at his progress but then it turns into a frown as the shard starts to glow.

 _He's then transported to a version of Mystic Ruins from 4,000 years ago. He looks around at the trees, knowing that he's not in Casinopolis anymore. What's in front of him is a shrine that has the seven Chaos emeralds, with the Master Emerald in the center of it all. He walks forward and he knows he's seen that building before, but it was different than how he was seeing it now._

 _This place seems like Mystic Ruins, but the building should be ancient. Why do they look brand-new?_

 _"We must stop the invasion, Father!" He hears and he comes to a stop as three echidnas are talking. Two of them are darker in color compared to Knuckles himself. The third one is an orange-furred anthropomorphic echidna girl with cobalt eyes, physically 14 years old. She wears a tanktop-like garment which reveals her midriff and the traditional tribal dress with beige, green, and red triangular patterns. As a sign of her lineage, she wears a golden necklace and tiara-like band atop her forehead, both of which are decorated with a blue jewel in the center. Her white gloves are adorned with thick, cobalt-blue bracelets around her wrists, and she wears white-strapped sandals. Her dreadlocks are also wrapped with similar white bandages._

 _"Tikal," Pachacamac, the chief of the tribe and Tikal's father, starts. "You know I must seize those emeralds for the good of our tribe. Queen Valentina and King Elliot are willing to help us. When we have them, we will be strong."_

 _"But this plan of yours is foolish!" Tikal argues, "It will bring nothing but grief to our land and cause needless pain and suffering to our neighbors! There MUST be another way! We should not try to help our own kind by bringing harm to someone else! It's wrong."_

Knuckles is transported back into the present, opening his eyes. He's wondering what just happened. "You feelin' okay, pal?" The officer asks. Knuckles turns around and nods. "Since there wasn't a crime, we won't need that rock as evidence, will we?" He turns to his partner.

"No, Knuckles can keep it."

"If you find any more emeralds like this, let me know," Knuckles tells them, walking away to continue his search. _I couldn't protect the Master Emerald, but I will gather what's left of it._

* * *

The X Tornado flies over Windy Valley and it starts to shake, meaning that they've found another one. Sonic cringes nervously.

"The Chaos emerald detected something!" Tails exclaims and Sophia looks down at the land, knowing what it meant. There's a blue glow somewhere.

"Tails," Sophia points down.

"Over there," Sonic tells him.

The three friends have landed the plane, using the green Chaos emerald they have now to guide them. Tails gets almost blown away by the strong winds. Sonic and Sophia reach out, grabbing his legs to stop him.

"Gotcha." Sophia helps Tails down. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tails smiles sheepishly, "The wind caught me by surprise."

"That is why it is called...Windy Valley," Sophia smirks and the other two laugh, getting the joke. The green emerald starts to glow brighter and Tails comes to a stop.

"This must be it!"

"We'll see," Sonic looks down at a hole. He and Sophia hold up a ring, grasping them as they glow in their hands. They leap into the air and start soaring towards the ground. The two start their Spin Attacks to drill into the ground, Tails' mouth wide open. There's a blue glow and it emerges to reveal the cyan Chaos Emerald!

"Another emerald," Tails murmurs in shock, Sonic laughing, Tails gasping slightly. He can only watch as his two friends burst out of the ground, landing across from him.

"I shall make a note: Never attempt that again," Sophia looks down at her muddy clothes and dusts herself off. Tails grabs the emerald and smiles as they're already making progress. 2 emeralds in 2 days! At this rate, they'll find the other 3 in no time.

"I sure hope the other ones are this easy to track down!"

Sonic gives him a thumbs up. "Yeah, me too."

"We are doing excellent compared to last time," Sophia grins before she hears something. Sonic has to block himself from the raging winds.

"The wind's getting worse!" Tails calls out and Sophia looks up.

"Oh great," Sonic complains as Eggman makes himself known. Sophia grunts in annoyance, as she knows Eggman himself has a way to track them too. He comes closer, Sonic and Sophia ducking. Tails trips and drops the two emeralds he was holding. The three gasp as Eggman takes them, laughing.

"My scheme worked like a charm! You did all the grunt work and I get all the glory, not to mention the Chaos emeralds!"

"Sonic, Sophia, he followed us here!" Tails realizes.

"I'll see you next time, boys...and your highness. Next time you find a Chaos emerald, that is!" He starts to fly away.

"Hold it!" Sonic declares, him and Sophia chasing after the ship. They jump up and Eggman feels something from behind. He turns around to see Sonic and Sophia hanging on.

"Oh great." He moves slightly to get them off, but they don't fall as they move over to in front of Eggman. Little drills appear from each side from the front and the ship moves into the ground, knocking the two off. The ship is about to escape when Tails throws his friends some rings.

"Here!" They catch them and use their Spin Attack to deflect the drills. Eventually, the power of the Spin Attacks are too much for the drills to handle and they break.

"How dare you!" Eggman yells and the other drill explodes, Eggman dropping the emeralds into a lake.

"We'll have to fish 'em out," Tails stares at the lake, Sophia and Sonic landing right next to him.

"Something is not right," Sophia murmurs as she stares at the lake. The two emeralds glow and they stare as Eggman is laughing for some reason. He had just dropped the emeralds, he wouldn't be laughing.

"You can come on out now, Chaos 4!" Turns out it was part of his plan to drop them. Chaos 4 emerges from the lake, the others' mouths open in shock. Chaos now has 4 emeralds in him.

"What do we do now?" Tails asks in fear. They stare at the creature as it's gotten bigger, which means it's stronger too. Chaos swings his arm, emitting a windy wave to knock the three back.

"You stay here, we'll handle it," Sonic tells Tails, both Sophia and the hedgehog spinning into a ball. They launch at Chaos, but it sinks back into the water. The two land on lily pads. A blue glow appears from underneath them, knocking them off the lily pad as Chaos is now a tornado. Luckily there are more lily pads around, which they use to move around and jump on Chaos' back.

"Aw yeah!" Tails cheers for them. They land near him as Chaos is water droplets, but he reforms back into himself. He swings his arm again and Sophia jumps with Sonic, all of them going underwater. "Ah, Sophia, Sonic!"

"Now keep ducking Sophia and Sonic till they're totally washed up!" Eggman demands and Chaos does so, Sonic struggling to breathe in the water. They feel the wind and Sophia glances at Sonic.

"My friend, I have an idea!" She calls out as they're dunked again. She gasps as Chaos bursts out of the water. "Let go of Chaos and follow my actions!"

"Okay, if you say so," Sonic winks at her and they do so. They do their Spin Attacks.

"Watch out, Chaos 4!" Eggman warns as he starts to catch on. The two friends charges at Chaos at high speed, causing him to sink into the lake, unable to reform.

"That finished it off for sure!" Tails exclaims, the two landing on either side of him.

"Well Eggman," They look up at their foe, Sonic smirking. "Chaos had a meltdown."

"Yes, I am afraid he is all washed up," Sophia grins and Tails high-fives her at her pun.

"It's not over!" He uses a beam to suck up Chaos into his Egg Mobile. "This round you got a lucky break but next time you'll just get broken! Count on it, Sophia and Sonic!" He then escapes.

"Dream on, Eggman!" Sonic declares to the sky but they gasp as they see his Egg Carrier.

"Thanks again for the Chaos emeralds! Keep up the good work!" He laughs as he enters the ship and leaves the area. Sophia growls in annoyance, clenching her fist. Honestly, if she had a jewel for every time Eggman got on her last nerve, she'd just give up and give all of them to Rouge.

"Dr. Eggman will be more powerful now cause I dropped those emeralds," Tails looks down, guilty and ashamed. "I'm real sorry, Sonic and Sophia."

"Forget it," Sonic tells him. "We'll get those emeralds back."

"You are not at fault, Tails," Sophia gives him a gentle smile, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I am just grateful he only has four of them and not all 7..."

* * *

In Station Square, Amy is taking a walk. Suddenly, the environment turns dark and Amy is confused, as it's not close to nighttime. "That's funny, the sky's getting dark, but there wasn't anything in the forecast about a storm." She looks up to see the Egg Carrier flying above. She gasps as everyone else sees it too. She sees a tiny plane and someone going after it. "The X Tornado and Sophia..."

"Stay on him, Tails," Sonic says and Tails fires at it, the ship returning the attack. The X Tornado moves past the lasers, Sophia soaring over them.

"They're closing in," Eggman notes as he sees them on his screen, "Now I can't miss." The doctor grins as he pulls a lever. A cannon fires rapidly at them.

"I'll have to knock that thing out!" Tails exclaims, Sophia flying next to him.

"We will have to knock it out," Sophia and Tails grin at each other, flying above the lasers. Sophia prepares a glowing pink orb in her hand, Tails locking in on the cannon.

"Missiles away!" He fires five missiles while Sophia throws the orb.

"Chaos sphere!"

They destroy it, but it causes an explosion with something falling out of the Egg Carrier. Amy is the only one who notices it.

"Something just fell out of Eggman's ship. Wonder what?"

She gets her answer as the object lands on her head. "Ow!" She and the 'something' land on the ground. It's a little blue Flicky, a bird native to Amy's world, with a blue gem hanging around its neck. "My head's not a landing pad..." She looks and sees the cause, cupping the Flicky into her hands. "You poor little thing! Are you hurt?"

The Flicky chirps quietly in response. Like actual birds, they don't speak English.

"Let's finish 'im!" Sonic declares.

"Ready when you are, guys!" Tails exclaims.

"Prepare to fire ignite cannon! I want them knocked out of the sky!" Eggman shouts, grinning at the thought.

"Affirmative, doctor. Charging sequence proceeding," Decoe gets to work.

"Barrier shield activated. And our shock systems are online," Bocoe finishes.

"Let's blow the X Tornado and Sophia away..." The cannon fires a yellow blast at them, which hits one of the right wings.

"He hit our wing!" Tails yells and Amy looks up as the plane's wing is smoking.

"Sonic!" She shouts, trying to catch up with it, but it disappears through smoke. Eggman laughs at his success.

* * *

All Tails could see was black. His eyes are closed as he has a bandage wrapped around his head. Then he's in a forest, alone.

 _"Sonic! Sophia! Sonic! Sophia!"_

 _He hears a rustle and turns around, screaming as an E-12 Behemoth is walking right towards him. Tails takes off into a run, but the robot manages to catch up to him. The X Tornado, before it was upgraded, comes in and destroys the robot._

 _Sonic and Sophia are in the plane, smiling. Tails looks up happily._

 _"Sophia! Sonic!"_

 _Sophia holds out her hand as Sonic flies near Tails. He reaches out and takes Sophia's hand, the princess pulling him in._

 _"You take over," Sonic pulls Tails into the pilot's seat, him and Sophia getting out of their seats._

 _"Where are you going?" Tails wonders as Sonic stands up front._

 _"It's more fun up here!"_

 _"Apparently so," Sophia points down at an army of the robots approaching._

 _"Guys, what do we do now?" Tails asks._

 _"Dive right at 'em!"_

 _Tails looks unsure, as they could damage the plane. He glances at Sophia and she nods, silently telling him that she agrees. "Okay..."_

 _When I'm with Sonic and Sophia, I feel like I can do anything!_

 _He dives straight for the robots._

Tails slowly opens his eyes. _Guys, we did it! We stopped the robots!_ Then he realizes that he's back at the Thorndyke residence, in the living room to be exact.

"A dream...?" He sits up slowly. "But where am I?" He gasps to see Chuck sitting nearby, holding a cup.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," Tails looks at the bandage on him. "Where are Sophia and Sonic?" The last thing he remembered was crashing.

"They're fine," Chuck assures him. "Your piloting skills saved all of you from serious injury or worse," He glances at Sophia and Sonic watching TV. The Egg Carrier is on screen, footage having been captured earlier.

"The skies of Station Square erupted in turmoil earlier this afternoon as Dr. Eggman battles the X-Tornado," A reporter says, the TV showing the crowd's reactions. Sonic growls slightly.

"Unfortunately Eggman got away in his ship," Chuck explains Sonic's frustration. Tails looks down, as this was his fault. He let this happen. If he hadn't lost the Chaos emeralds, this wouldn't have happened at all. "I'm afraid the X Tornado sustained heavy damage."

"But we're not giving up, are we, Sonic and Sophia? We're gonna get those emeralds back somehow!" He clenches his fists in determination. Sonic turns around and gives him a thumbs up while Sophia smiles.

"You bet we are!"

Tails returns the gesture.

"Amy and Cream went out shopping. I hope they make it back here without any trouble," Chuck states.

"I'll check on 'em," Sonic offers, standing up.

"I shall stay with Tails to keep him company," Sophia tells him.

* * *

Amy and Cream are walking together, holding some groceries. Cheese and the flicky are with them. "Sonic, Sophia, and Tails were pretty banged up, but they'll feel a lot better after they eat the gourmet meal we cook for them."

"Yeah," Cream agrees, "Now I can try out all the fancy recipes that Ella taught me."

"Right, Cream. It'll be the best meal ever!" Cheese is holding bags with his arms, barely floating off the ground. He sounds like he's complaining. "And Cheese, we'll need your help cooking too."

He agrees happily. Amy then glances at the Flicky. "You recovered from your fall pretty fast, little bird."

"I wonder where it came from," Cream looks up at the sky as she remembered what Amy told her. "And if it has a name."

The bird tries to speak, the two coming to a stop. "We can't understand you," Amy looks regretful.

"We don't speak bird," Cream replies.

"Hey, maybe we should give you a name..." Amy murmurs to herself. "I know! What if we call you Lily?"

Lily looks happy about her new name, meaning she likes it. "It likes that name, Amy," Cream smiles softly.

"Oh, then Lily it is," Amy replies. "Wherever you come from, Lily, I promise I'm gonna get you back home." The happiness and sentiment doesn't last long as Amy sees a green robot with red stripes in front of her.

"Subject identified," He approaches them.

"What's that thing?" Amy wonders, as it's Zero, a robot come to collect Lily sent by Eggman. The hedgehog then lets out a scream and Sonic hears it. He and Sophia had split up earlier to cover more ground.

"Amy!" He recognizes the voice, but when he reaches her, she's already gone, the groceries dropped. He turns and sees Amy being held by the robot, Lily in her hands.

"Let me go!" She yells, Cream on the ground.

"Please somebody help her," The rabbit pleads, Sonic running past her and Cheese.

"Hold on, Amy!"

"Sonic!" Amy holds out a hand, struggling to get out of the robot's grip.

"Mission accomplished," The robot then flies into the air, taking Amy and Lily with it.

"Amy!" Sonic looks up as Amy and Lily plead for him, gritting his teeth as they are captured.


	29. A Robot Rebels

Crazycartoons5488: Princess Tikal knew Queen Valentina and King Elliot, Sophia's parents. Princess Sophia is friends with Princess Tikal.

 **Angel: The whole clan knew about them at that point in time, especially Sophia.**

 **Sophia: They would come bearing gifts for me to signify their alliance with my parents. I do know Tikal and I do consider her a friend.**

Challishanlon99: I can't wait for more and by the way I didn't have any ideas for you to make any stories that involves OCs I was just saying it would be pretty cool if somebody could actually join them that's all anyway I can't wait for more by the Sophia do you have any animals back in your palace or castle whatever you call it if you do, do you think you can tell me if not that's okay anyway thank you for this chapter can't wait for more.

 **Angel: Okay, thank you for confirming that because people keep suggesting ideas for shows I've either never watched or it's something from my profile that I like lately. Don't get me wrong, they'd be fun to do, but not for me to write. I have too much to do enough as it is. I get suggestions for the Big Hero 6 series, Xiaolin Showdown...I don't really get ones for Miraculous since one of my friends is doing it for me, love her *smiles* And my sister doesn't do stories about the franchise anymore or about anything since she quit. I still have a bunch of stories to complete and start. Well...actually, I have worked on a story I mentioned from my profile, a Code Lyoko story. Not sure whenever I'll post that, though. I think I'd have to finish one of my current stories first.**

 **Sophia: Yes, I have had animals in my castle, but I have since set them free and there are currently no animals there. We would keep them in this sanctuary out in the gardens. There were Flickies and Chao, and also a few frogs. This was before I had the chance to meet Sonic. However, most of my friends are animals, therefore I will most likely not keep any more animals around.**

Bajy: Great job! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks! I think most people are looking forward to the Shadow saga XD 4 more episodes, guys.**

SwanGirl24: I hope you're not planning on deleting this story when you're done, cause one author deleted one of her stories once she finished it.

 **Angel: I don't really do that, even when I haven't touched the story for a while. Actually, no, only three times I've deleted a story, I think. But I was still new to the Fanfiction world, and my only regret was deleting a Q &A that I loved doing based off TMNT. So, no, I won't delete this story whenever I finish it. I'm not even halfway through this one yet, anyway...besides, think about how many people will be PMing me if I delete this one ^^'**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Sonic, Sophia, and Tails discovered another emerald, but it was soon devoured by Dr. Eggman's Chaos creature. A fierce battle followed, and the X Tornado and Sophia went down in flames. But thanks to Tails' expert piloting skills, our battered heroes survived a fight on. Unfortunately, Eggman wasn't finished making mischief as he seized Amy and her new friend Lily. For once, Sonic and Sophia arrived too late. Now their speed isn't enough. This time they'll have to think fast if they're going to catch up with Eggman._

Knuckles is staring at a waterfall in Angel Island, frowning. _I was supposed to guard the Master Emerald, but now I only have one piece of it. What's the use of going on? It's over...I failed._

He has another vision of the shrine he saw. _The shrine was in flames, a worried Tikal looking on. She gasped in horror._

Knuckles gasps and snaps out of it. He looks at the shard he got. The echidna had to stop, it wasn't going to solve anything. Sophia would say to continue on, to do something about it. "Standing around feeling sorry for myself won't make things right. I couldn't stop from the Master Emerald from being destroyed, but I can gather what's left. I wasted enough time moping, I'd better get on with the search." He runs forward, climbing up a rock with his fists. Maybe then Sophia wouldn't see him as a failure. Of course, if she ever heard of that, she would deny it, but he knew better.

* * *

The palm trees separate as the X Tornado is prepared. "Readdy for takeoff, guys?"

"Ready!" Sonic tells him, Sophia nodding. The plane takes off into the air, opening up the wings.

"I only hope they'll be able to find Amy," Chuck says in worry. "With Eggman and those crazy robots of his, who knows what could happen to her?"

"I'm sure that Sonic and Sophia won't give up until they bring her back here safe and sound," Mr. Tanaka tries to assure him.

"Sure," Chuck closes his eyes.

"Do you think she's okay?" Cream asks in concern.

"Don't you worry, Cream," Ella looks down at her. "I'm sure she's just fine."

Rose looks out the window in worry for Amy and Sophia. No matter what, she wouldn't move from that spot. This was normal, though. Whenever Sophia's at school, she'd find Rose greeting her first...that is if she wasn't asleep.

"You shouldn't be trying to take on Eggman so soon," Sonic eyes Tails' injury.

"I feel fine, I can handle 'im, Sonic," Tails winks at him.

"Sonic, if anything should happen, we are there," Sophia explains to assure him.

"You're a great pilot, Tails, but I better do this alone," Sonic goes to open the window. It was his fault that he didn't get there in time to save Amy. He had to make it right.

"Wait, Sonic. We're a team. We have to figure out where Eggman took Amy. It'll be easier with three of us looking. Amy's probably in danger and there's no time to lose. Let's all look, Sonic. I know we can find her."

"I guess we do have a better chance working together," Sonic agrees.

"It is better to have allies with you than to stand alone," Sophia smiles, as she could understand Sonic's hesitation. After all, she'd eventually have to rule her world all alone whenever her parents gave her the throne...or when she had an heir, which wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Right! We're a team. But if you're staying on the plane, how come you're outside?" Tails looks out the window, where Sonic is indeed outside. Sophia looks confused as she didn't even see him open the window.

"It's more fun to ride the X Tornado outside in the open air!" Sonic answers, Sophia laughing.

"Okay, you better hold on tight," Tails tells him.

"Yeah," Sonic winks with a thumbs up. The X Tornado speeds up. "Hold on, Amy. We'll find ya."

"I shall try my hearing abilities to locate the Egg Carrier," Sophia closes her eyes as her ears act like a satellite.

* * *

Big and Chris are still out looking for Froggy at a lake. Big throws his fishing line into the water. "Can't you go fishing later, Big?" Chris wonders, "We have to find Froggy fast, before Dr. Eggman figures out he swallowed a Chaos emerald."

"It may not seem like it, Chris, but I know just what I'm doing," Big states confidently, "Trust me."

"Okay," Chris answers hesitantly. He hears something and looks up at the X Tornado passing by them. "The X Tornado! I hope Tails is okay." He had heard about Tails' injuries.

Big and Chris wait while somewhere underwater, the Egg Carrier is sitting at the bottom of the lake. Amy is locked in a dungeon with Lily.

"Hey! Eggman!" She calls out, "Let me outta here!" Nothing happens and she sinks to the ground. "Oh, what's the use?" Lily chirps and she sighs. "I was all set to make Sonic a gourmet meal, but Eggman had to spoil it. I spent weeks practicing all the recipes Ella gave me."

 _Sonic looks happily at all the food. "I could've made my way into his heart by going right through his stomach." Amy is smiling as she has her apron on._

"When Sonic and I start getting close, something always seems to keep us apart. But Sonic always does manage to come through."

 _She then remembers a time when Sonic was running and she was trying to catch up to him. Sonic sped on a mountain on one of his runs, Amy running after him. "Hey, Sonic, wait for me!" A Behemoth suddenly came in and landed in front of her. She screamed until Sonic sped through the robot. He landed in front of her and swept her into his arms, jumping into the air as the robot was destroyed behind them. Amy looked up at him in awe._

Amy puts a hand to her heart at the memory. "Sonic's never let me down before and I know he won't let me down now." Lily chirps and she flies into Amy's hands. "Just wait and see, Lily. Sonic'll find us here and come to our rescue." She hugs Lily close. "Sonic, if you can, please hurry."

"Give it here!" Bocoe shouts. Him and Decoe are arguing with each other on who gets to test the microphone. These were new robots, so one of them had to assure their authority.

"No, you give it!"

"I want to test the microphone!"

"I got here first!"

"Let go!"

"You will have to wait your turn!"

"Give it!"

"Testing one, two. Testing, hello, hello," Decoe speaks into the mic.

"Can you hear the sound of my voice?"

"Testing-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Eggman shouts at them. "Now, E Series robots, please listen carefully to the following instructions. If you will turn your attention to the screen behind me, you will see a rather unusual froggy. You will notice our little amphibian friend is sporting of all things a tail. That is what makes him so special. Your mission is to get the jump on this froggy and bring it back here to the Egg Carrier. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Yes, Doctor."

"Yes, Doctor."

"Yes, Doctor."

"My plans to end on catching that froggy. Go now and don't fail me!" He declares, pointing at them. The robots all leave the room without question to complete their mission.

* * *

Knuckles swoops in and enters a temple. At first there's nothing there until he sees a column with more shards of the Master Emerald. He jumps up and lands at the top, looking at the center shard. He reaches out and takes it. As soon as he does, he's sent back into the past again.

 _"Where am I?" He looks around and gasps, seeing the same shrine that was on fire. "What's that?" He runs up to it. Tikal is there, with a group of Chao. He gasps as he recognizes her._

 _"I'm very frightened, Chaos," Tikal voiced her worries. "Help us, the invaders are coming, we must leave!" It's silence for a minute. "Yes, I understand. We may leave, but you must stay here." The Chao looked at each other in concern before surrounding her. "Don't worry, I promise everything is going to be fine."_

 _They cheered happily, looking at each other before chanting. Tikal smiled at them as the water rippled slightly. One of them took her hand, leading her up the steps. She giggled down at her friends, looking at all of the Chaos Emeralds. "The Chaos emeralds..." She made it to the top, to the glowing Master Emerald._

 _"Now I know who brought me here, it's you!" She exclaimed in realization. "There's something important that you want to tell me." There is more silence. "I understand. The servers are the seven Chaos. The controller...serves to unify the Chaos. The controller serves to unify the Chaos..." She suddenly gasped. "It is you. You control the seven Chaos emeralds!" She blinked slowly in awe as Knuckles watched the whole thing._

Now he understood the whole phrase and why he kept hearing it. He's sent back to the present, in front of the same shrine.

"I see..." He murmurs, "This is where they led her, to the altar, where the Master Emerald was. But why? Why? Who is she, anyway? Maybe...is she trying to tell me something?" Perhaps she was still alive and trying to communicate with him since he's an echidna and he watched over the Master Emerald. "Yes, it must have something to do with the Master Emerald. If I could only figure out what it means." He runs up all the way to the top, where the shards lay. He also wonders what this has to do with Sophia. Did she know the echidna girl? Is that the real reason why she asked him to look over the Master Emerald? If she does know her, then why did she never tell him? She's lived long enough to know the echidna clan, after all, likewise with her parents. Tikal's father mentioned them and if he did the math, Sophia was already alive and more than likely knew about her. Maybe she could give him an explanation as to what happened.

Knuckles holds all the shards he got back and lifts them up in the air. They all join together and form into a cluster. There's a flash and the Master Emerald is almost complete. But there's one huge chunk that's still missing.

"It's almost restored. One piece left. I'll just have to keep looking." He gasps as he sees something and looks closer. The Master Emerald is showing him an image of the Egg Carrier. "That's Eggman's ship! Why would the Master Emerald show me this? Maybe it's a warning. Eggman must be up to something dangerous." He growls, narrowing his eyes.

* * *

Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon are still searching for Froggy. "Must find Froggy."

"Froggy here somewhere."

"Must bring Froggy home."

"Froggy not easy to find."

"Must keep looking."

"Find Froggy," Gamma stands up. "Make Doctor happy." He then just happens to see Big and Chris as they're in the area. A dark green frog hops up and Epsilon grabs it, obviously not looking at it first.

"I found Froggy!"

Delta holds up a dark green one with an orange star on it. "No, I found Froggy."

Beta holds a light green one that has a dark green circle on its back. "No, I found Froggy." Gamma looks nervous as he doesn't have a frog yet. The robot couldn't go back without a frog. He checks around the grass for any frogs, but nothing.

Big blinks as he waits for Froggy to take the bait. Soon after, Gamma hears, "I found Froggy! There he is! Look, Chris!" Big holds up the frog, and Gamma turns around. The cat knows its him because Froggy has the tail. "I found Froggy!"

"Hey that's great Big," Chris smiles at their success. Gamma snatches him away and they turn to see him getting away.

"I found the real Froggy."

A red blip for Gamma turns on, meaning that all four robots have found a frog. "Look, Gamma has found a frog as well, doctor," Bocoe reports.

"That makes a total of four Froggys."

"Bring them all back here immediately," Eggman demands and the four robots run off. Big and Chris chase after them.

"Come back!"

"Froggy!"

Eggman's ship surfaces from the water, making the two friends stop in their tracks. The robots wait for the door to lower before they walk on the path. Chris turns to Big.

"Let's follow 'em! Hurry!" They run onto the pathway as it goes up, but they manage to sneak in.

The robots are arguing about which frog is the real one since Eggman would probably reward that robot by keeping it alive. After all, most of his robots were either destroyed by Sophia and Sonic, or he'd take them apart himself if they manage to come back. "Mine is the real Froggy."

"No, mine is."

"No, mine is the real one."

"The doctor will be so proud."

"The doctor is approaching," Decoe tells them, hands on his hips.

"So settle down, you freaky frog nappers!" Bocoe scolds, since by production wise, they were way older. Eggman approaches the E series robots as they stand in a line. He looks at the first one, cringing at the normal ones.

"What's this? You dare bring back these crummy croakers!" He growls as none of them even looked close to Froggy. "No, no, no!" He screams, placing his hands on his head. "You clunky cods! This isn't the Froggy I wanted! Do you see a tail anywhere?! You're lucky I don't have you flattened to scrap metal!"

"Sorry," Beta tells him, Eggman gritting his teeth in anger. The only one he hasn't looked at yet was Gamma's frog.

Big and Chris peek around the corner for security, but they couldn't figure where they were going if they tried. As soon as they got inside, they had lost the robots. "It's like a maze in here, they could be anywhere!"

"Yeah, but we can't stop now," Big looks sad, "They got Froggy!"

"Come on, let's go this way!" Chris runs to his right, Big following after him.

"Alright, you nickel-plated ninnies, listen here!" Eggman clenches his fists. "I am NOT looking for your average everyday amphibian. I am seeking a very special Froggy with a tail that's long and pointy!" He looks down at Gamma's frog and looks in surprise. "Wh-Wh-Wha? This is it! My little Chaos Froggy! Yes," He picks up Froggy, "There's my baby! I just knew you would do me proud, Gamma!"

"Yes doctor," Gamma nods and Eggman laughs in triumph. He glares at the robots, who all sweat nervously. Obviously, he wouldn't let this go unpunished.

"You're useless! Get out of my sight!" He exclaims, pointing, "Bocoe, destroy them all except Gamma!" Bocoe and Decoe look in dismay.

"Yes, doctor." He presses a button, closing his eyes. The three robots are caught in a blue beam, Gamma looking on in sadness. They start to disappear before they're gone, destroyed.

"If you have to go, I guess that is the best way," Decoe comments sadly.

"No thanks," Bocoe crosses his arms, should he ever go that way. "I want to rust away."

"Gamma," The robot turns around to Eggman. "I'd like to talk to my little birdie friend. Bring her to me."

"Yes doctor," He walks away slowly, thinking about what just happened. He wanted to obey Eggman because he wants to live, but at the cost of his brothers...?

Big and Chris are still walking around the ship. "Maybe the robots hid Froggy somewhere down here, Big," He suggests, but Gamma is heading right towards them from around the corner. Chris shouts in surprise at the robot, but he just walks past by them. He didn't even stop to investigate the noise or anything. The two stare at him in confusion that he didn't do anything before shrugging. Gamma thinks about his new mission, coming to a stop in front of the doors.

He couldn't do this...could he? The doors open and he sees Beta being modified."Beta!" Something hits his foot and he looks down to see Beta's parts. He thinks about the bird and what could happen to her. After all, Beta was already being modified. He looks at a doorway, looking back at his brother before the doors close behind him.

Amy is still holding Lily and a shadow looms over her. She opens her eyes and looks up to see Gamma standing behind the cell doors.

"Give me the little bird," He tells her.

"No way!" She hugs Lily protectively. "I won't let you take her, you hear me?!"

"You must. The doctor commands it," He explains.

"Well, he can't have her!" She says stubbornly. She doesn't know why Eggman wants her, but she wasn't going to let her new friend get hurt.

"Hand it over."

"Now you listen to me!" Amy starts off, "I'm not afraid of you and I'm not afraid of him either!"

"You are not afraid?" Gamma asks, as he definitely was. He's the last E series robot still alive. If he disobeyed the doctor, he'd get modified like Beta...

"No way!" Amy denies, "And even if I was, I still wouldn't let him hurt an innocent bird! I know you have a job to do, but I'd be extremely grateful if you could please let Lily and me out of here."

"No," Gamma denies, as Eggman would be REALLY angry. So angry that he'd get demolished. "Not possible," He backs away from them. "Against regulations. Must obey doctor. Must obey doctor."

"But why?" Amy wonders. "Just because he taught you to be mean doesn't mean you have to be." She felt that this robot didn't want to be bad compared to the rest. Lily flies out of her hands. "Lily!" She flies in front of Gamma's eyes and Gamma stares at her. She was silently pleading for him to let them go.

"Overload..." Gamma holds his head, "Overload."

"What's wrong?" Amy asks in concern. He simply looks up.

"Go. Go!" She looks at him in confusion before he shoots at the bars, freeing Amy. "Go now! Leave here."

She looks at him in shock at his actions. "No time. Must go, now." Lily chirps at him gratefully. "Go now! Hurry!" Lily flies to Amy.

"You're really not like all those other robots, are you?" Amy notices and smiles, holding out a finger. Lily lands on it. "Most robots are mean, but he's not like that, is he, Lily? Thank you, we'll never forget you." Gamma moves back away in surprise at her kindness. No one ever thanked him before...not even Dr. Eggman.

"Bye!" Amy runs off.

"Bye..."

* * *

The Egg Carrier flies over the mountains, where Knuckles happens to be. "That was Eggman! I've got to stop him!"

"Yo, Knuckles!" The X Tornado descends down to him and he turns around to see Sonic and Sophia. "Going my way?" He winks and Knuckles smiles, Sophia offering a hand to him. He takes it as the plane speeds by him and she pulls him up.

"Your highness, I need to ask you something important," He tells her seriously.

"Knuckles, I am afraid that this is an inappropriate time," She enhances her hearing. "The Egg Carrier is close by, Tails!"

Knuckles grunts in frustration. He needed to find the right time when things have calmed down.

Back on Eggman's ship, he laughs at his success. "Things are really hopping now that I found my little Froggy!" Bocoe gets a notification on his screen.

"Dr. Eggman, the X Tornado!"

"What?!" Knuckles, Sonic, and Sophia are standing on the wings as Tails approaches the ship. "Well don't just sit there! Blow that tiresome tornado to Timbuktu!" Eggman orders, the ship immediately firing missiles at the plane. Tails manages to destroy all of them, sweating nervously as he flies above. Sophia flings her hand, firing a few Chaos spheres. Tails grits his teeth, the others trying to hang on tight.

"Alright, let's show our foxy friend some fireworks!"

"Yes, doctor."

"Yes, doctor."

Bocoe and Decoe both press a button.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Tails turns around to the two. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just fine!" Sonic calls out, Sophia nodding. "Hey Tails, check it out!" Sonic notices that the Egg Carrier is moving around. Tails turns the plane around so they can get a good look.

"Okay," The wing of the X Tornado got blasted off, falling. "Go on and give me your best shot! This time I'm ready for ya!" Tails declares, as he wasn't going to let Eggman defeat him again. The front starts to power up. "Time for a little transformation! Hang on real tight, you guys! This could get a little tricky!"

"What?" Sonic asks in confusion.

"What did he say?" Knuckles turns to Sophia.

"I believe he said to hang on tight," Sophia tells them, since she could hear him perfectly through the engines.

"X-Tornado, transform! Battle Armor!" Tails shouts as the plane starts to glow. The Egg Carrier fires, but it doesn't hit the plane at all.

"What?!" Eggman exclaims as it missed, because it managed to hit the plane the first time. The plane floats up into the air and then reveals itself in Battle Mode. The plane actually has its own arms. "What's this?! How dare they? Transform the Egg Carrier!"

"Yes, doctor."

"I'll show those feather brained flyboys not to mess with me!" Eggman yells, pressing a button from his station. The Egg Carrier transforms into its own Battle Mode, Tails gasping in surprise. The others scream as they're hanging on. The Egg Carrier looks larger than it did before, if that was even possible.

"I have to wait for exactly the right moment," Tails says as the Egg Carrier fires at them from everywhere. "Well, here goes." Tails moves the plane out of the way, a protective shield forming. When a missile hits one, it doesn't affect the plane at all. The arm lifts up to reveal a sword, which slices the missiles incoming in half, destroying them in mid-air.

"He's blowing our missiles to smithereens!"

"Gotcha! How do you like me now, Eggman? Come on tough guy, bring it on!"

Sonic taps the window next to him. "Cool it, Tails. Let's not make things worse, okay?"

"Eggman is capable of extreme measures when provoked," Sophia explains before smiling, "Though you are doing an excellent job." He rubs his neck sheepishly at his sudden attitude and at her praise.

"Okay, sorry. And thank you!"

"They're coming in for a landing," Eggman notices as Tails has gotten close enough, "Let's give them a warm welcome, shall we?"

"Yes sir!"

"Yes sir!"

Fireworks appear in the sky and confetti goes off, with some robot cheerleaders cheering their arrival. "Yay, yay, hip hip, hooray! Yay, yay, hip hip, hooray!"

Sophia stares down at the welcome party in confusion, as Eggman would never do that for anyone, let alone them.

"Who could ask for a warmer welcome than that, ey, doctor?" Decoe asks, Bocoe facepalming.

"You fool!" Eggman shouts at him, "I was being sarcastic! Now switch into Battle Mode immediately!"

"Hang on," Tails warns as the engines go faster, "Almost there." He gets to the platform, "We made it!"

"Let's bring it in for a nice, smooth landing, Tails," Sonic tells him and Tails' eyes widen as he yelps, remembering something.

"Oh no!"

"What is the matter?" Sophia asks in concern.

"You'll have to settle for nice and bumpy! We don't have any wheels!" He forgot to put in the wheels for Battle Mode, and it was too late to switch back.

"WHAT?!" The other three exclaim nervously as they look at each other. The plane crash lands on the Egg Carrier, with smoke coming from it...


	30. Head's Up, Tails!

**Angel: Three more episodes until the Shadow Saga! I haven't even started it, and I'm still excited! I'm on episode 32, though, so I will be writing it soon.**

Challishanlon99: They're going in for a crash landing I hope they be careful anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more by the way I have a question for you do you like mythical creatures and by mythical I mean like Griffins Dragon stuff like that but if you don't want to talk about that that's okay but thank you for letting me read this chapter can't wait for more

 **Angel: I watched American Dragon: Jake Long when I was a kid, so I think the answer is pretty obvious XD I don't remember ever watching the second season, though...probably because of the fact that they ended the show early. There were actually plans for 2 more seasons. Anyway, yeah, I love mythical creatures. One of my favorite shows, TMNT, even had the turtles turning into Dragons in one season, and I was so happy that it happened I re-watched it several times.**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia miss her best friend Princess Tikal so much. I hope she can see her again.

 **Angel: Is Tikal even a princess, though? Her father is the chief, but I don't think he was royalty. It's kinda like with Pocahontas or Moana.**

 **Sophia: Pocahontas is considered a princess in a franchise.**

 **Angel: I know that, but back then, Indians weren't kings even if they were the leader of a tribe!**

Bajy: Awesome job here! Chris and Big are on the hunt to rescue cute little Froggy. I wonder if Sophia's parents knew the echidnas along with her? I do wonder what will happen next? Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Technically, if they knew Tikal's father, then they did know the echidnas.**

 **Sophia: It is true. They would often gather for social purposes. Knuckles is very loyal to them.**

GreenD109: Pretty good chapter and good display of the X-Tornado Battle Mode even though they made a loud bumpy crash landing. You know, I gotta ask, is it often hard making new chapters of your stories on a weekly basis while having personal matters outside?

 **Angel: No, not really. Well...one of my stories is taking a while for me to write because of how long it is. Honestly, I make myself a schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I do TMNT stuff if a new episode of Rise of the TMNT came out or if it's for a current story I'm working on, and then I play a game on my computer so my fingers can take a break. Tuesday and Thursday I do Sophia X for writing and posting. I used to post either Tuesday or Thursday, but I've changed it to just Thursday so that I can finish future chapters early. I usually write half an episode on Tuesdays. As for personal matters, there's not really that much to say. I'm only doing four classes right now and I'm doing well in them.**

Jake: Cool chapter looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: Thanks! I just look forward to finishing this Saga...seriously, why did it have to be six episodes?!**

 _Last time on Sophia X, after a high-flying battle, Tails transformed the X Tornado into Battle Armor Mode and headed straight for the Egg Carrier with Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles in tow, to rescue Amy from the clutches of Eggman._

 _"Hang on!" Tails called out after he had destroyed the missiles. They had gotten closer to the Egg Carrier. "Almost there."_

 _"Let's bring it in for a nice, smooth landing, Tails," Sonic replied and Tails shouted in horror._

 _"Oh no!"_

 _"What is the matter?" Sophia asked in concern._

 _"You'll have to settle for nice and bumpy, we don't have any wheels!"_

 _"What?!" The three exclaimed and the plane crashed onto the Egg Carrier._

After they crash-landed on the ship (no injuries whatsoever), they split up to carry out their missions. "Let's go!"

"Right!" Tails nods in agreement and they take off.

"Later guys!" Sonic speeds past them with a smirk. Eggman sees them from his screen.

"Quick, launch attack!" He grits his teeth.

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir."

They fire missiles at them all, with Sonic moving past them. "He's turning back!" Knuckles calls out as Sonic is running back towards them.

"Tails," He skids to a stop. "You okay?"

"Uh huh!" Tails smiles widely at his friend's concern. He removes his bandage.

"Come on!" A missile is headed right for his direction, which seems to hit him as soon as he turns around. The smoke clears and Sonic is fine, to Tails' relief. Sophia steps up to them as she waves a hand in front of her face.

"I'll meet up with you later," Knuckles grins at them. "Now's my chance to search for the rest of that Master Emerald!" He jumps down a hole.

"But Knuckles!" Tails calls out.

"Don't sweat it, Tails. You two and I can look for Amy. Let's go before they launch another attack," Sonic assures him. Sophia smiles at the hole.

"Knuckles can protect himself, Tails. Amy is our priority right now." She speeds after Sonic and Tails spins his...well, tails, to fly after them.

"We missed them, doctor!" Bocoe exclaims in dismay.

"Now what?"

"They won't get far," Eggman smiles confidently. Elsewhere, Gamma is remembering Lily's look. How much she wanted to be free from here. He couldn't have that like she could, not as long as Dr. Eggman needed him...

"Oh Gamma!" He looks up at the speaker. "Report to the control deck immediately. I have a job for you."

* * *

Amy is running through the hallway until she comes to a stop, panting. She's now out in the opening, but she can't go anywhere else unless she had wings. "Now if we can only find a way out." They're suddenly approached by Decoe and Bocoe.

"We've got you."

"Yeah." They sweat nervously as Amy has pulled out her hammer.

"I don't think so!" She declares, as she was not going to be captured a second time.

"Please, calm down," Bocoe tries to make her stop.

"Back off," She threatens, about to swing, but a hand grabs the hammer. She turns around to see a laughing Eggman.

"Going so soon?"

"Oh Eggman!" They all look up to see Sophia, Sonic, and Tails. "Don't you think you oughta pick on somebody your own size?"

Amy has tears in her eyes as she finally sees him. Her eyes are sparkling in happiness. "You did come...GET OUT OF MY WAY!" She hits Eggman, then swings and hits the two robots. She slams the wall, making Sonic, Tails, and Sophia land on Eggman.

"We got ya. Give up?" Sonic replies.

"I guess so..." A robot claw suddenly grabs Lily.

"No, Lily!" Amy cries out as the claw came from Decoe.

"Let her go, Decoe!" Sonic demands, but Eggman stands up, knocking them down.

"Boys, keep your eyes on the birdie," Eggman tells them, smiling.

"Yes, doctor." Eggman pushes Amy out of the way.

"Refrain from harming that Flickie," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"Now then," He grabs Lily. "Let's have it," He reaches out to her. "You won't be needing this." He snatches the terrified Lily's necklace. "Nice birdie." He removes the gem on it to reveal a blue Chaos Emerald!

"Look, it's a Chaos Emerald!" Tails exclaims in shock, Eggman chuckling. Amy gasps in shock since she didn't know Lily had it.

"Lucky me. Give back the bird."

Decoe holds out Lily to Amy. "Lily," The bird chirps and Amy nuzzles her, chuckling in relief. "You're safe." Gamma appears from the hallway and into the deck.

"You called, Dr. Eggman?" Amy gasps as she knows that voice and turns around to see him. "What is your wish?"

"It's you!" Amy exclaims in realization as Eggman laughs, pointing at Sophia and Sonic.

"How about a bit of target practice?"

"Yes doctor," Gamma turns around to deal with them, Amy gasping in horror as she holds out a hand.

"No!"

"Aim for the blue and pink one," Eggman orders.

"Gotta catch us first," Sonic says confidently.

"Yay! This should be fun!" Bocoe and Decoe exclaim. Sophia's eyes turn red and she aims her lasers at them. They yelp, jumping away. Sophia always found them annoying at times like this.

"Go for it," Sonic challenges.

"Ready. Aim-"

"Don't shoot, robot!" Amy calls out. "It's Eggman that's making him act this way." Sonic turns to her in confusion. "He's really nice!" Gamma readies his weapon and fires at Sonic and Sophia, who jump away all over to the other side. Sonic runs away from the ammo. "Robot!" Amy's cries do nothing as Gamma flies in the air and is still firing. Some of them hit the ship.

"What's going on?" Chris asks as he looks up.

"Beats me!" Big replies.

"Please, stop shooting!" Amy begs as she runs as fast as she can. Sophia looks between the robot and Amy and decides to do nothing. She could see the good in Gamma like Amy can and understood why she wanted to protect him. Sonic just grins as he's still being chased. "No!" Amy looks at an explosion. Sonic jumps over the flying rubble.

"Just missed me that time." Gamma points his gun at him and Sonic pulls the debris so that it's in front of him like a shield. He kicks it to Gamma and it splits in half. He kicks it again and Gamma is hit, falling onto the ground. Sonic runs up to him to finish him off, but skids to a stop. Amy is standing in front of him, arms held out.

"Leave him alone, Sonic," She tells him calmly.

"This doesn't concern you, Amy. Stay out of the way!" Sonic warns her. Sophia steps up to him from behind, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Sonic. I believe we should listen to her." She gestures for Amy to continue.

"You can't hurt him!" Amy exclaims, "He doesn't mean to be bad." Sonic looks at her, unsure. "He set us free." Tears come to her eyes as she pleads. Sonic smiles, nodding.

"Okay. If you say so," He gives her a wink and a thumbs up. If Amy said he was good, then he believed her. "A friend of yours is a friend of-" There's suddenly an explosion that goes off behind them. Tails looks around as he realizes what's going on.

"Hey, guys! The ship! I have a feeling we're losing altitude!"

"What is happening?" Eggman demands.

"I don't know, doctor!" Decoe exclaims.

"I think we're falling!" Bocoe explains.

"Impossible," Eggman denies, running through the hallway.

"Wait for us!" His two robots run after them and Tails notices it.

"Eggman's running away. Maybe we should follow 'em," He glances at Sonic and Sophia.

"No sweat, we'll take care of 'em," Sonic starts off.

"Find a way to get Amy and Lily off the ship, Tails," Sophia orders him, Lily landing on her finger. The princess smiles and rubs her finger on the bird's head. Amy is looking over Gamma.

"Mr. Robot, can you hear me? Are you okay?" She questions, but there's no answer.

"Shouldn't we stick together?" Tails asks skeptically.

"We don't have much time to lose, Tails. Hurry up," Sonic insists and Tails looks unsure of his decision.

"But..."

"Come on, Tails, old buddy," Sonic smiles at him, "You're my right-hand man." He chuckles, grinning.

"And do not forget my personal mechanic," Sophia looks down at him and Tails bites his lip. He had to do this, he had to contribute.

"Okay!" He finally agrees.

"Atta boy!" Sonic and Sophia jump over them, running to stop Eggman.

"He's really hurt," Amy points out as she hasn't taken her eyes off Gamma.

"Let's go, Amy," Tails calls out.

"We can't leave," She answers to his surprise. "Mr. Robot?" His systems turn on. "Hey, he's awake!"

"Oh..." his eyes turn green.

"Oh thank goodness, you're alright. You were knocked for quite a loop. I was afraid you might never wake up," Amy says in relief.

"You saved my life," Gamma seems to remember what happened.

Amy smiles down at him. "I was glad to do it. Just returning the favor."

Tails spins his tails and holds Amy. "Goodbye again!" Amy calls out. "Thank you for everything!" Tails then leaves with her and Gamma stares to where she was.

"Thank...you." He flies away. He never thought that he'd help a prisoner, but he was glad he did it, no matter what Eggman might do to him.

* * *

Chris opens the door to a room where Froggy is trapped in a cage and in some glass. "That's him! That's Froggy!" Chris opens the doors further.

"Let's hurry!" When they're about to get him, an explosion causes the floor in front of them to break. "What was that explosion?" The table holding Froggy tilts and he struggles to get out.

"Froggy can't get out!" Big looks at him in concern.

"Just stay calm."

* * *

"Hey!" A voice calls out to Tails and Amy. They look down to see Chuck waiting with his car. "Tails, Amy, down here!"

He takes off with them in his car, Tails staring after the road. "It's a good thing I followed you."

"Sonic and the princess are still up there," Tails says in worry.

* * *

Knuckles is digging around the ship when he hits something. "Ow! What the-" He rubs his head as there's a hole in the ceiling. He glances at the bag that's holding the last shard of the Master Emerald. "Now that I found the rest of the Master Emerald, I'm outta here!" The ship starts to tilt to the right as Knuckles starts trying to find a way out. There's a red glow moving in front of him and he gasps sharply.

 _Knuckles is looking down at himself at a lake...near a fire. "Not again. This is getting ridiculous." He turns around and sees an injured Tikal. Some of the Chao are unconscious. They're on the ground in front of the shrine._

 _"Hey, are you okay?" He runs up to her and sees her open eyes._

 _"I-I did my best to stop them, but Father and the others would not listen to me. I...I don't know what to do," She closes her eyes, starting to cry. Something black and white appeared and Knuckles gasps, looking up wide-eyed._

 _"What was that?" He looks around and they both look up with a gasp to see the Master Emerald glowing._

 _"Who are you?" Knuckles demands from Tikal, but she stands up and starts running. "Hey! Come back!" She doesn't listen and when he reaches the top, he has to cover his eyes from the light._

"What's happening?" Knuckles murmurs as he's back in the present. "There must be some reason why I'm being shown these things."

* * *

Big paces around as he's panicking. "Calm down, Big. Relax," Chris tries to calm him down. "Try not to panic."

After a quick drink from Eggman's vending machine manages to calm his nerves. "Feeling better now?"

"I think so," Big answers.

"Well that's good."

Big uses his fishing pole to allow Chris to try and reach Froggy. "Be careful," Big warns him and moves the pole closer. Chris' hand is barely touching the surface. He misses his chance as he hangs onto the pole.

"I almost fell, I don't know if I can hold on any longer! I'm sorry, Big, it's just no use, I can't reach him from here!"

Big struggles to hold onto the extra weight. "Don't give up. Maybe it might be easier if I hold you out a little bit more." He pushes forward and Chris reaches out his arms. He manages to grab the cage.

"Got him!"

"Alright! Hurry, let's get out of here!"

They run out into the deck, only to run into Chaos. "Oh no!" Eggman flies next to his creature in his Egg Mobile. "It's Eggman!"

Eggman chuckles at them, Chris gasping at them. They just stand there, not knowing what to do. "Well, well," Eggman sees Froggy in Big's hands. "Trying to get the jump on me, eh? Chaos, this freaky Froggy has a most unusual tail if you catch my meaning." Chris and Big look down nervously at Froggy. Chaos approaches them.

"Quick, let's make a run for it!" Chris exclaims, and they turn around to try and get away. Chaos is faster, however, as he jumps in front of them, causing Big to crash on the floor. Eggman steps up to Froggy. "Put him down!"

Eggman is holding a scared Froggy. He chokes the Chaos emerald out of him. "And now the amazing Eggman will do some magic!" He throws a napkin over his hand, and when he removes it, there are two emeralds in his hand, the other one that he took from Lily. "Two emeralds! And now to make them both disappear!" He throws the two gems and Chris gasps as they go to Chaos. There's a bright glow that makes Chris cover his eyes. When it stops, Chaos is now Chaos 6. "Now I know you had a big lunch today, Chaos, but I hope you saved room for some yummy dessert. Enjoy," He drops Froggy.

"No!" Chris yells and Big takes off running.

"Hang on, Froggy, I'll save you!"

"Stay back, Big!" Chris warns him. Big jumps onto Chaos, but his whole body is hit against the exterior instead. "That'll work," Chris comments as he had another approach, running up to the cat. He climbs onto him and grabs Froggy. "I got you, Froggy."

"Well, Chaos?" Eggman asks expectantly. Chris shouts as an arm from Chaos is approaching him. "Gotcha!"

Big, Froggy, and Chris are now trapped inside Chaos. Chris watches as Froggy's tail disappears from his body. Chaos 6 starts to shake as he gets his tail back from the frog. Eggman chuckles before there's an explosion behind him. "Huh? It's Princess Sophia and Sonic!"

"Holy cow, that's Chris in there!" Sonic exclaims as they see him.

"We will rescue you, my friend!" Sophia calls out, Chaos 6 reaching out to them with his tentacles. Sonic dodges one before Sophia pushes him away from the others.

"We're coming, Chris!" Sonic shouts as he lands on one of the arms. He slides down it, Sophia flying after him. Eggman shouts in surprise and Chris smiles at their arrival. They land on top of the body, trying to reach out to Chris. Unfortunately, they're spit out and Chris looks in shock, Eggman sighing in relief.

"Now Chaos, let's whip them into shape!" Eggman points at Sophia and Sonic who are lying on the ground. Chaos 6 extends its tentacles into the air, the two friends feeling a shadow looming over them. Sophia quickly grabs Sonic and runs out of the way, only for the two to be pinned down. Sophia tries to move, but she can't. With 6 emeralds, even she couldn't fight it despite her durability.

"Ha ha! Tenderize 'em with your tentacles, Chaos!" Chaos 6 is about to attack them again.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Chris calls out in worry.

"Hold on, Chris," Sonic answers, "We'll get you out, just hang tight." He realizes that nothing has happened for the past minute or so. "Huh? What the-Hey Knuckles!"

Sophia turns around to see Knuckles holding the tentacle that had them down. They gasp in shock, wondering where he came from. He turns his head over to them. "Don't worry, we'll get them out of here."

"Yeah, how?" Sonic asks curiously.

"I'll give you two a hint," Knuckles chuckles in glee as he shows them his fist. Sonic sweats nervously.

"Shovel claw, huh?"

"You got a problem with that?" Knuckles asks in defense.

"Nope, no problem here," Sonic denies, Sophia placing a hand on her cheek.

"Oh dear..."

"But if you get too close to that thing, it might suck that claw right in," Sonic warns, giving Knuckles a look.

Knuckles gasps as he sweats. He wasn't expecting that answer. Knuckles looks back to Chaos. "We gotta figure out some way to get through. There must be a weak spot in somewhere in that overgrown jellyfish!"

Sonic stands up on his feet as he gets an idea. "Hey, hold the phone there, buddy! Do you guys see what I see?" Sophia and Knuckles eyes the sac substance underneath Big.

"That's it!" Knuckles grins at the two, punching away the tentacle. The three run up to Chaos 6.

"Ready, Knuckles and Sophia?"

"Ready!" They both answer in unison, Knuckles holding up his shovel claw while a glint comes from Sophia's waist. "Let's go!" They jump up into the air. Knuckles grins, holding his claw into the air.

"Now! Shovel Claw!" Knuckles exposes the weak spot. "Go for it!"

Sonic runs up to the weak spot while Sophia quickly pulls out her sword. The hedgehog crashes into Chaos 6, Sophia slicing the spot in an equal half. The water falls down, defeating Chaos 6. Eggman yells at his defeat, Chris coughing as the three are all wet.

"Hey Froggy?" Big asks as he holds his friend. Knuckles picks up a Chaos emerald.

"There should be one more emerald around here." He starts to leave, holding his bag. Sonic speeds in front of the three former captives.

"Hey Chris, you doing okay?" He smiles with a thumbs up. Chris nods in response.

"Only problem is, how do we get off this thing?"

Sonic sees something in the distance. "We'll use the X Tornado!" He sees Eggman trying to escape with oars.

"Doctor, wait!" Decoe and Bocoe run up to him. "Don't leave us here!"

"Where do you think you're going?" Sonic demands.

"None of your business!" Eggman retorts back.

"Watch out, doctor!" Sonic jumps, holding onto the Egg Mobile.

"Let go, you hideous hedge-rat!"

"Sonic," Chris says in concern.

"Don't worry. He can take care of himself," Knuckles tells him.

"He always has," Sophia smiles at Chris.

"Sure is neat, huh Froggy?" Big asks as he's in the X Tornado.

"What's he doing?" Knuckles questions in confusion, Chris waving his arms.

"Don't touch anything, Big!"

"What if he tries to fly that thing?!" Knuckles exclaims as Sophia starts to run towards the plane.

"Big, wait for us!" Chris shouts as the plane starts.

"Uh oh, I got a feeling we're in big trouble, Froggy!" Knuckles and Chris start running too.

"Stay where you are!" Chris yells, but the plane flies off.

"Don't!" Knuckles screams.

"Big, come back!"

Sophia sighs at their dilemma, pinching her nose. Big was a good friend, but sometimes his listening wasn't the greatest...

"Sophia." She glances down at Knuckles who looks at her seriously. "I need to talk to you. Alone."

"Alright..." Sophia replies slowly, glancing at Chris before she follows Knuckles. They stop a few feet away from Chris. Knuckles gestures for her to sit down and she does.

"Do you know...an echidna girl?"

Sophia's eyes widen. They soften and she closes her eyes. "I know of one. Tikal...my parents told me the story of what happened to their clan, but I never had a chance to meet them. Whenever they visited Mystic Ruins, I had to watch over the castle for the safety of our land. Whichever questions you have, I may not be able to answer them accurately."

"Hmm," Knuckles closes his eyes. Sophia would never lie, so he believed her. "Why didn't you tell me about what happened?"

"My parents informed me her father was a horrible person!" Sophia opens her eyes, looking lost. "They were risking my safety by informing me about his ways! I was sworn by my honor and duty as a princess to never tell anyone! There was nothing I could do, Knuckles. Tikal's father was hungry for conquest during his rule and that was his own downfall! If I could, Knuckles, I would have stopped him myself. Just thinking about his abuse of power sickens me to this day. Not a moment went by that I did not think of Tikal...she was a treasured friend. I met Tikal when she arrived to visit us once and she would come to see me." She should've done more. She should've suggested that the clan would leave the temple in peace instead of violence...but she didn't.

"I understand," Knuckles nods slowly. He didn't mean to make her upset, so he decided to change the subject. "So why is it that I'm being shown visions? Every time I'm near an emerald, I'm shown the past of their time."

"I honestly do not know," Sophia shakes her head. "Perhaps there is more to Chaos than we know of. I only know brief details. I was still young...or took on the appearance of a young girl. It was many years ago. But the emeralds can be unpredictable at times and as you know, I do not know the extent of what they can do. I am sure that it must be important if they constantly show you the past."

"...Thank you, princess," Knuckles bows his head. "I'll find the answers I'm looking for. And I'm sorry that I overstepped my boundaries."

"Knuckles, there is no need to apologize. If I were in your shoes, I would have done the same thing."

"Where is everyone?" Decoe wonders.

"Search me."

"Oh well."

Decoe and Bocoe bail out, using parachutes to fly down safely. "No use hanging around here."

"You can say that again."

* * *

Amy is back home safe at the Thorndyke Mansion with Lily. "I hope Sonic's okay. I wish we didn't have to leave him behind," Amy murmurs as she's sitting on the stairs. Lily looks at her in concern. "I know you're sad too," Amy swings her legs back and forth. "That mean old Eggman took your Chaos emerald away, didn't he?" The wood around where the emerald was opens up to reveal a picture of Lily with two Flickies, one pink and one grey.

"Is that...your brother and sister?" She wonders and Lily chirps in response, tears in her eyes. "Did Eggman catch them too?" Lily nods as her answer. "And when you were rescued, you had to leave them behind, didn't you?" Amy asks as Lily could understand how Amy felt. She had to leave behind people she cared about too.

"That's so sad," Amy looks down at her dress as she couldn't imagine leaving behind a family member. Lily looks down in despair.

"Lily!" Amy suddenly stands up. "Follow me!" Lily stares after her in confusion. "We're gonna find your brother and sister!"

Lily flies after her happily.

* * *

Sonic has fallen off Eggman's Egg Mobile, having landed face first into the dirt. He spins around his legs as he tries to get out. He tries to get out and he gets out his arms. He uses his arms and legs to try and get free. He attempts to spin around his legs, knocking down some trees in the process. He's finally out as he rubs his head.

"Talk about a headache. Boy, that's the last time I hitch a ride with Eggman."

He looks up as he finds himself in the Mystic Ruins.

* * *

 _Who would've thought?_ Jerome Wise lifts up a dumpster door. _A couple of weeks ago, I was an advisor to the president. And now look at me, picking through slimy dumpsters for my next meal. How low can I go?_

Since he lost his job, he couldn't pay the bills for his home, and therefore he was evicted. He hasn't been able to find decent work since then. But he knew he was lying, as it's really been around seven months. His life was a mess...

And all because of Princess Sophia!

How dare she rat him out to the President? He was only trying to help the President get re-elected...and maybe gain a little fame himself, but she couldn't handle it because she was jealous of him and his success, so she got her revenge by acting like she was doing the world a favor. It wasn't enough for her that she's royalty. Nooo, she wanted the recognition she thought she deserved, but nope! Sophia didn't know what she was dealing with. She stole his whole life away! She didn't care about anything, she just wanted her fame!

Eggman just happens to appear and Jerome hears the Egg Mobile, turning around. "Huh? Eggman!"

"Who are you?" Eggman asks.

"You might not remember me, sir. I was an advisor to the president!"

"Oh, is that so?" Eggman eyes him as Jerome is dirty. "And what are you doing these days besides not bathing?" Jerome looks like he hasn't bathed for the past week or so.

"To tell you the truth, not much of anything. If you could help me out, I'd appreciate it."

Eggman didn't think Jerome had anything to offer him, but this was an opportunity. "I have just the thing you need to put a spark in that humdrum life of yours."

"I'll take it, I'll take it!" Jerome shouts quickly, as he wants revenge. He wants Sophia to pay for what she did to him.

"Here, try this," Eggman drops something from the bottom of his Egg Mobile.

"Thank you, thank you sir, thank you!" Jerome runs up to the tiny black box, laughing as he could see it now. Sophia begging to be spared while he was living the high life.

"The pleasure's mine," Eggman smiles as the box turns red and expands itself. Jerome looks up nervously as the box has transformed into a huge missile! Some of the citizens can see it from the buildings.

"Action!" Scarlet Garcia is already there to film it.

"This is Scarlet Garcia, live from Station Square where an unidentified missile has been discovered."

Chuck and Tails gasp at the news.

"It's sure been nice knowing you all, bye bye!" Eggman presses a button and people scream as the missile launches into the air. "So long, Station Square," He laughs evilly as he escapes. The missile starts flying past the city.

"What was that thing?" Tails uses his tails to fly and sees the weapon in the distance. "Oh no!"

"It's going to blow!" There's a crash. The missile has landed in the middle of the highway.

"It came out of nowhere! That thing could blow up any minute!"

Tails lands near the site, smiling in relief. "It looks like no one was hurt." Bokkun suddenly appears out of nowhere, flying above the crowd.

"Now listen up! I got a message! And it's from Eggman, so you folks better listen good!" He pulls out a small TV. Eggman is on the screen.

"Well, Well. I hope you all enjoy my surprise. I had a blast putting it together and you'll have a blast in about two minutes, when my missile goes off." As soon as he said that, the crowd separates in a hurry to get away. "And now my trusty assistant Bokkun will begin the final countdown. Bokkun?"

"Uh," Bokkun looks nervous. "Countdown?"

"Start counting."

"Okay. 120, 119."

"If Sonic and Sophia were here...they'd know what to do," Tails murmurs, but as far as he knew, they weren't around to help him this time.

 _"Hey, no sweat, pal!"_

 _"We can do this!" They jump towards the missile._

Tails gasps quietly, turning around as another crowd starts to gather. They're all staring at him, wondering what he would do as Bokkun is still counting. "What are you all looking at me for? There's nothing I can do about this." He sighs, looking away. "I wish...they'd said I should try. They'd say I could do anything I try. Alright, I'll give it my best shot! Here goes," He flies up to the missile.

"It looks as though Tails is attempting to defuse the bomb," Scarlet says as the news is still going live.

Tails looks at the wires from the panel. "If I could only figure out which is the right wire." He starts sweating, still hearing Bokkun counting. "If I cut the wrong one, this thing will detonate." He looks up at Bokkun. "And I...I don't have much time."

"82...81..."

Tails groans as he feels insecure. He didn't know what he was doing without his friends, remembering when he first met Sonic. "Sonic...Sophia."

 _Tails was walking through the forest, crying silently as he held his broken invention. "Sonic's always been there for me. He's taught me so much. Maybe now it's time I learned to stand on my own two feet."_

 _Sonic gestured to Sophia, who smiled. "Tails, meet Princess Sophia. She's a friend of mine."_

 _"The princess?!" Tails gasped in shock, kneeling. He had to respectful. "It-It's an honor to meet you, your highness! Thank you so much for what you've done for our home!"_

 _"It is a pleasure to meet you," Sophia greeted, curtsying. "Sonic has told me so much about you."_

 _"Hah," Tails rubbed his neck sheepishly and she saw something on his work desk._

 _"May I ask what this is?" She took in her hand, examining it._

 _"Oh, uh, that's just a model!" Tails exclaimed nervously. "It's not finished yet."_

 _"Fascinating..." Sophia glanced at Sonic before smiling at Tails. "How would you like to be my royal mechanic? I believe your skills will be useful towards the advancement of our world."_

 _"Me?! Oh wow, that's such an honor, but..." Tails looked at Sonic, who gave him a thumbs up._

 _"Don't worry, Tails. If I know Sophia, she'll be nice about letting you do it whenever you want!"_

 _Tails smiled at his approval and shook hands with Sophia. "It's a deal!"_

Tails looks up at the panel. "I know a lotta technical stuff or else Sophia wouldn't have made me her mechanic. I should be able to define this thing in no time." He starts moving around his screwdriver, trying to figure out what to do. "Now let's see...it can't be that one. Hmm..." He waves it around. "I got it!" He cuts the red wire with his pilers and Bokkun turns around at his exclamation. Nothing happens, which means he succeeded!

"I did it!" Tails shouts happily and hears cheering. He looks down to see the crowd clapping for him. Not Sonic or Sophia, but him. "Thanks everyone." He rubs his head sheepishly at their praise, feeling someone tap him on the shoulder. He turns around to Bokkun. "What is it?"

Bokkun surprisingly shakes his hand and flies in the air, grateful that he could stop counting. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, well you just wait till I tell Dr. Eggman. HA!" And with that, he leaves. Tails stares after him, letting in sink in that he saved Station Square. He did so well, a robot from Dr. Eggman shook his hand!

"I really did it...didn't I?"

* * *

The X Tornado lands on an island, Sophia, Knuckles, Chris, Big, and Froggy lying on the ground. Sophia had managed to catch up to the plane.

"Everybody okay?" Chris sits up and Knuckles starts to walk. "Where are you going, Knuckles?"

"I've gotta find a way back to Angel Island. Good luck, Chris and Sophia."

"Hey, where are we?" Big looks around.

"In Mystic Ruins, I think," Chris replies and the tip of the X Tornado lands in the sand. "Whoa, that was close!"

"It almost crushed us!"

Chris laughs nervously. "I guess we're just...lucky."

"Lucky?" Big asks as Froggy croaks. Chris notices something.

"Hey, look." He sees something glowing near the X Tornado. Chris looks down in the sand to see a white emerald, but not just any emerald. "A Chaos emerald! I think it's the 7th one!" He picks it up and runs after Knuckles. "Hey, Knuckles!"

Big and Froggy stare after him, Sophia sighing slowly. "I shall go retrieve him so that I may fly the plane back," She glances at the X Tornado. Of course, Sophia knew how to fly it in situations like this. She flies after Chris.

"See ya, guys," Big says as he watches them leave. "I'm sleepy...what do you say you and me go home, Froggy?" Big starts walking in the water and Froggy croaks in agreement. After all that's happened with these two, a nap sounded like a great idea. All that excitement tired them out.


	31. Revenge of the Robot

**Angel: As I am writing this commentary, I have officially started the first episode to the Shadow Saga! This was one of my favorite sagas in the show so I am really excited for this. It's so refreshing to be able to watch this and then write it! Really, it is because I was getting tired of this saga that I spent weeks on. Six episodes is pushing it for this one. Anyway, YAY! Finally starting Shadow Saga!**

Challishanlon99: Aww Sophia you're so nice I wish we could meet and we can be friends anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more and by the way I make my own stories I was wondering if we would read some but they're not online they're on this app it's called Wattpad I make a lot of stories and I was wondering if you would be my friend if not that's okay I don't want to make you angry anyway thank you for the story.

 **Sophia: I appreciate your kindness and I thank you all the same.**

 **Angel: I'm not really that active on Wattpad anymore since I'm mostly doing stuff for Fanfiction. I only really check it if my friend's drawings are updated, because she is an amazing artist and she's done some TMNT stuff for me in the past. There were a few things that made me angry during the development of this story. For example, the constant comments that I should write it back then when I ended TMNT 2003 and to make a statement about it. The fact that I have no experience in it is what got to me. Sure, I'm flattered, but I mostly do TMNT stuff. And also the Chaos saga...dislike it. But now, I just tolerate it...unless I get pressured to do another story I wasn't planning on doing. Then I'd be pissed. As for being friends, I don't know if you're talking to me or Sophia XD**

Crazycartoons5488: Tikal is going to be happy to see Princess Sophia again in Flood Fight. Tikal can hug Sophia and say goodbye to be the only friend she cared about.

 **Angel: Heeeey, Tikal cared about the Chao. Those are friends too! T^T Just look at Cheese.**

Bajy: Great job here! Now we're about to come to the finale of the Chaos Saga, can't wait to see how it ends. That was wild and epic this chapter was! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Technically, this is the second to last episode of the saga, but yeah, next chapter's the end! I'm so relieved...**

 _Last time on Sophia X, our heroes crash-landed on the Egg Carrier to search for Amy and the rest of the Master Emerald. Eggman caught Amy snatched a Chaos Emerald away from her feathered friend, Lily. Meanwhile, Chris and Big rescued Froggy, only to find themselves in the clutches of the Chaos creature. But Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles showed up, and they were de-slimed in no time. Eggman dropped a ticking time bomb in the middle of Station Square, but Tails used his technical know-how to save the day._

 _What's next? Find out now on Sophia X!_

It's foggy in Station Square as Chris is running across the bridge. He's holding the white Chaos emerald he recovered earlier.

"I've gotta get this emerald to Knuckles somehow." He comes to a stop. "But how can I?" He doesn't have a way to contact Knuckles or Sophia to ask if she would know. She'd probably say that Knuckles likes to do things his own way without help (most of the time). Chris looks up as the news helicopter passes by him into the fog and gets an idea. "I know, we'll use the X Tornado."

* * *

"Good afternoon," Scarlet Garcia is live inside the helicopter, "This is Scarlet Garcia reporting to you live from inside the SSTV News Copter. Citizens of Station Square are breathing a collective sigh of relief today after narrowly avoiding a surprise attack by the notorious Dr. Eggman." Tails, Cream, Cheese, Mr. Tanaka, and Chuck are watching the broadcast as well. Cream and Cheese are eating donuts. "Yesterday residents were thrown into a state of panic when Dr. Eggman aimed a missile into the center of the city. A missile housing a ticking time bomb that threatened to explode at any moment."

"Aren't they going to show Tails?" Cream wonders while eating.

"The situation seemed hopeless as tension mounted and terror spread throughout the city." Sam Speed can be seen helping the citizens evacuate the area. Then they show the footage of Tails stepping into action. "However, thanks to the quick thinking of Mr. Miles Prower, known to his friends as Tails, the danger was ultimately averted and calm was restored. City officials have announced plans to honor Mr. Prower for his outstanding bravery."

Tails smiles at the footage. "Congratulations, my friend," Sophia smiles down at him. She had returned earlier after her talk with Knuckles and her attempted search for Chris. Parts of it still haunts her, but...she'd redeem herself by stopping Eggman and Chaos. It was the least she could do for Tikal and her clan...the only way to get through the past was to make a difference in the present. As for finding her friend, she lost him in the fog and she had no choice but to go back home since she has no way to contact Knuckles about what happened. But she was sure that Chris would turn up...

"I didn't know your real name was Miles, Tails," Chuck comments with a smile.

"I like Tails better," The fox admits sheepishly. Miles was just too plain for his liking. Mr. Tanaka adjusts his glasses, looking down at Tails.

"I agree. Tails is much more colorful."

"Thanks Mr. Tanaka," Tails replies, a sweat drop near his eye.

Ella is looking out the window. "Are all these strange people outside here to see Tails?" She turns to him. There's a whole crowd out there right now.

"They are going through what you would call 'celebrity fever.' " Sophia puts quotation marks at the last two words, giving Rose a donut. "I believe they wish to thank him for his bravery from the day that has passed."

"Maybe you might want to lay low with us for a while, Tails, and catch up on your rest," Chuck suggests, as too much attention on any of them would be a bit overwhelming. They learned that the hard way in the past.

"Yeah, we haven't seen you in a long time," Cream speaks up, Cheese cheering. Tails mostly spent his time in Windy Valley nowadays.

"I can't stay, Cream," He frowns, "I'm supposed to look for the X Tornado today."

"I know," Chuck hits his fist against his palm. "Just leave it to me, Tails. I've got the perfect idea."

* * *

The gates open and the crowd gasps in shock. Ella pushes a baby carriage, winking. Sophia is walking behind her, waving. "Hello." They look confused to see them. "Pardon us, time to walk the little one."

"Hey lady, you sure you're not hiding Tails in that thing?" Someone calls out and she gasps nervously. They knew full well that there was no human toddler living in the Thorndyke Mansion. Lindsey and Nelson only had a son, and the youngest one there was Cream, who's well past the toddler age. "I think you're pulling a fast one!"

"We demand to see what you've got in there!"

"Show us, show us, show us!"

"Everyone, please refrain your shouts," Sophia calls out, nodding at Ella.

"Well alright, I will show you, but he's very shy," She removes the cover to reveal Mr. Tanaka sucking on a pacifier. They all scream in shock, Mr. Tanaka making baby noises. "Isn't he a handsome little pumpkin pie? He looks just like his daddy, but I say he has my eyes." They walk off without another word.

* * *

Ella and Sophia have stopped in an alley. "Come on out, Tails, the coast is clear," She lifts up her skirt, Tails standing below her.

"That was pretty close, Ella, but we fooled 'em!" He looks at Mr. Tanaka in the carriage. "You make a great baby, Mr. Tanaka."

"Glad to be of help, Tails," Mr. Tanaka replies, making another baby sound. Sure, he probably embarrassed himself back there, but he is a butler, and butlers are made to serve and please the household.

"It was no hindrance," Sophia bows her head. "I have been planning to go out by myself for a period of time now. Amy informed me of this bakery that she stated I would like," She smiles at the thought as Rose cheers from her bag, waving to the others. "I shall return home shortly."

"Bye!" Tails waves to them and takes off. While he was honored by the citizens wanting to celebrate him, he's not used to the attention. He'd much rather let Sonic or Sophia have it. He just wants to be alone and deal with the missing X Tornado.

* * *

Gamma lands in a desert, thinking about Amy and the words she said. "He doesn't mean to be bad. It's Eggman that's making him this way!"

He's so conflicted on who he is now. If he doesn't serve Eggman like he's built to, then what was his purpose? "Eggman. Dr. Eggman. My Master." He can remember seeing Beta being modified. "Beta, Delta, Epsilon."

 _"I won't let you."_

 _"You saved my life."_

 _"I was glad to do it. Just returning the favor."_

Amy was probably the only one he knew that was nice to him. "Friends." He remembers Lily and her siblings...his siblings were destroyed.

 _"Thank goodness you're okay, I was afraid you'd never wake up."_

She was the only one who cared for his well-being. Not even _Eggman_ cared like that. He gets a flurry of memories from his database, the last one stopping on Eggman. He's definitely not the friendly type, not like Amy. He didn't care like Amy did, or did nice things for him. He had his siblings destroyed, which is what the opposite of a friend would do. "Eggman not friend. Delete. Delete. Must help friends. Must help them."

He now has a new mission: to find his brothers and rescue their animals. And with that, he flies away from the desert.

* * *

Sonic is walking through the forest in Mystic Ruins when he stumbles upon a temple that has been abandoned and has a giant tree on top of it. Knuckles and Sophia had discovered it previously, but it's Sonic's first time seeing it. A red ball appears, circling around him. That's never happened before with previous visits...

"What the?" The ball goes inside the temple and he gasps in shock, quickly following after it. He looks around at the dark surroundings, stepping into a room that is barely lit. At the end of it is a waterfall, which the ball passes through. Sonic hesitantly steps through it, not noticing a group of Chao staring after him.

Sonic follows the entity down some stairs and into another room where water is falling. In front of him is a picture with a dragon on it. The ball phases right through it.

"What is this?" He murmurs, as he's never seen anything like it, and examines it further. "A sea monster? Kinda creepy," He crosses his arms.

"When anger and sadness overflow like a mighty ocean, beware the great calamity," A female voice speaks and he looks around, seeing no signs of anyone.

"Is someone there? Come on out, I won't hurt ya." Instead of an answer, the picture lights up and he has to cover his eyes. He's sent into the past, with the same shrine on fire like Knuckles saw with his visions.

 _"Hey, what's going on?" Sonic demanded, looking around. "Where am I?"_

 _Tikal was hugging some Chao, in front of the Master Emerald. He gasped and took action, running up to see the unconscious Chao._

 _"It's awful," Tikal sniffed, "How could Father do something so terrible?" She sobbed, looking up with a gasp as she turned to the Master Emerald. "No!" She stood up and ran over to it. "I must stop them!"_

 _There was another flash._

Sonic is now standing in front of the temple. "What did I just see? It couldn't have been a dream..." It felt like something so much more. Suddenly, Eggman in his Egg Mobile flies right past him. "It's Eggman! What's that fat head floating around here for? Well, there's only one way to find out." Sonic takes off after Eggman, quickly losing sight of him as Eggman passes into a base. "Time to pay a little visit." He spins into a ball, using his speed to barge in.

The alarm goes off and Eggman sees him from his control room. "How rude! Doesn't that hedgehog know how to knock?"

Sonic turns around, giving a thumbs up before the camera is destroyed. "I'll have to teach our little friend some manners," He presses a button. "There."

Some lasers are fired at the hedgehog, but he speeds past them like it was nothing. "Wow, you know how to make a guy feel welcome."

"Have some more hospitality," Eggman presses another button, which traps Sonic in a high speed conveyor belt inside a tunnel. The doctor snickers, pressing yet another button. "Here, Sonic, a ball." He releases a big metal ball, Sonic spinning into a ball. Sonic is blasted against it, hitting every single spot until he hits the exit. "I'll get you and the princess one of these days!" Eggman shouts, slamming down his fists.

"Oh well, guess I'm just too fast for ya!" Sonic replies smugly, turning the corner. He runs into Bokkun, who laughs.

"Ha, I scared ya! I scared ya! I scared ya!"

"You scare anybody, Bokkun," Sonic tells him.

"I got another super important message from Dr. Eggman himself," Bokkun holds up a finger. "You better pay attention if you know what's good for ya!" He pulls out a TV from his bag and it turns on to reveal Eggman.

"Alright, Sonic, the time has come for me to settle my score with you once and for all! I think we need to have a man-to-hedgehog chat in the lower chamber. My assistant Bokkun will show you the way. Make it snappy."

Bokkun whines at this. "I have to do everything around here!" He starts crying as he flies into the air and when Sonic arrives, Eggman is in a giant red robot with spikes called the Egg Viper.

"This better not be another trick, Eggman," Sonic threatens.

"I'm through with tricks for today. Now listen well, hedgehog, because I've had just about enough of you. I have been trying to establish my eggsquitively evil empire, but you and Sophia have been nothing but a thorn in my side. Every brilliant plan I put into action has been systematically stymied by you and your kindergarten cohorts! You wrecked my wretched plans far too often, but you won't get in my way again, do you hear me?" He sounds very furious.

"Your threats aren't gonna scare me off, Eggman. You really think you can get rid of me?" Sonic narrows his eyes at him.

"I don't think I can, I know I can. And I'll start by finding your partner in crime and ending her myself!" The panel closes him off from further speaking with Sonic, who stands in his way. He couldn't let Eggman leave to find Sophia. A laser is fired at him and he jumps out of the way as the laser comes closer. He leaps into the air. "You seem a bit jumpy. What's wrong, can't take the heat?" Sonic lands in front of the robot.

"I can take whatever you dish out!" He goes into spin mode and goes to attack, but misses. The robot flies into air and disappears. "Coward! What's the matter, had enough?"

Something shines from the floor, making Sonic look down until the Egg Viper appears from below, surprising the hedgehog. He lands on the ground, being crushed with Egg Viper's tail.

"Nothing like a god game of squash!" Egg Viper slams its tail down further, Sonic gritting his teeth. He manages to get up, destroying the tail before destroying the robot. This causes an explosion and a huge fire. Eggman manages to escape, however, using his Egg Mobile. "You will pay for this, Sonic!" He declares, flying up to the ceiling entrance. "Mark my words, you'll pay!"

The base is destroyed and Sonic looks at the damage. "Man, I gotta get out of this place and fast." He goes into spin mode once again, flying out of the base, leaving it to explode.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gamma is flying around to look for his brothers. He does a scan. "Searching for E series robots. Data received. Location: Windy Valley." He turns left to go and find them.

Amy is walking around with Lily, looking sad as they've found no trace of Lily's siblings so far. "Your brother and sister must still be on the Egg Carrier. There's gotta be something we can do." She sighs as she sits on the ground. Froggy suddenly appears in front of her.

"Egg Carrier? What's that? I never heard of it."

"That's where Dr. Eggman's hiding Lily's family," Amy says with closed eyes.

"Oh yeah!" She gasps, opening her eyes. "You mean up in the sky where they took Froggy? Sure, I know that place!"

"Oh," She leans in towards Froggy, thinking he spoke. "Did you just say something?"

"No," She looks up to see who was speaking. "Froggy doesn't talk. That was me! Hi little girl!" Big makes himself known. She gasps at him.

"Who are you?"

"My name's Big, cause I'm big, and this little fella's Froggy cause he's a frog," Big smiles, "He's my pal."

"Nice to meet you, Big. I'm Amy," She introduces herself happily.

"Hey Amy, is that the Egg Carrier over there?" Big turns around and they see the Egg Carrier on the sea.

* * *

Gamma is still looking for his brothers when he sees Delta tied to a rock in Windy Valley. The robot sets him free and catches him, landing on the grass safely. He reaches out his hand and the tip of his fingers turn into wires, plugging themselves into Delta. Delta is then re-programmed to delete Eggman's data, so that Gamma's brothers can be free like him.

"Must re-program Delta. Delete master."

A bunny emerges from Delta, releasing it into the wild. "Master deleted. All data erased. Shutdown has been completed. Delta safe. Epsilon location detected. Must delete master."

He has found Epsilon, deleting Eggman's data from him as well. "Master deleted. All data erased. Shutdown has been completed. Epsilon safe. Beta location unknown." He turns to see a carving of Eggman. "Gamma must find Beta." He fires at the carving, blowing it up into pieces. Then he remembers that the last time he saw Beta, he was being modified by Eggman. "Beta still in Carrier." He takes off to the Egg Carrier to go delete Eggman's data from him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Amy and Lily are rowing themselves to the ship. "Don't worry, we'll get your brother and sister out in no time, Lily."

They've snuck inside, walking around as Lily is on Amy's arm. "Who knows, Lily? Maybe the nice robot freed them just like he freed us. I bet they're flying around looking for you right now, but we'll find them no matter what."

Gamma has arrived to the Egg Carrier as well, to find Beta. "Searching for data. E-series robot. Data located." He blasts the door open and walks through it.

Amy walks around. "This place is so big! I don't know where to start looking." Lily chirps in dismay. "Oh, don't be discouraged, Lily. We won't give up no matter how big this old ship is, will we?" Lily chirps in agreement and Amy turns left. Suddenly, Zero comes in out of nowhere, with Bocoe and Decoe popping up next to him.

"Where are we, Bocoe?"

"I don't know, but I think I've got a dent in my database," Bocoe replies.

"Am I malfunctioning or are we back in the middle of the Egg Carrier?"

"I think it is the Egg Carrier," Bocoe answers, but it doesn't make sense to them, since they escaped the Egg Carrier not too long ago.

"But how is that possible, Bocoe?"

"Simple. You see, the Egg Carrier emits a very strong magnetic current. That current with the laws of gravity can become-" He stops as he sees Amy standing right in front of him since she had turned the corner. "Oh boy, is that who I think it is?"

"It's Amy!" They say in unison. She shakes as they glare at her.

"Quick, grab them before they get away again!" Decoe orders and she grabs Lily in her hand, running away.

"Hold on tight, Lily!"

"Come back here, you!" Decoe demands as the three robots chase after her. Amy sees a room in front of her and jumps inside. She closes the door with a button. "Open this door! You're not allowed in there!"

"What's this place?" The room has a large structure in the middle, with lights surrounding it. She's never seen this kind of room, especially not from Eggman.

Gamma is walking through the fog, as the Egg Carrier has been abandoned for a while, and finds Beta. But he looks different, as he has been drastically modified. "Beta!"

Amy looks at the schematics of Beta's transformation and at Gamma's, as she can see what's powering them: Two other Flickies."Look, Lily," She blinks, "They're in the robots. Quick, let's get out of here," She presses the button, Decoe and Bocoe barging in as they had planned to ram the door. They crash onto the ground and Amy gasps sharply, turning around as she sees Zero looming over her. "Don't even think about it, mister!" She swings her Piko Piko hammer, hitting Zero and making him crash onto Eggman's robot henchmen. She runs off to go free Lily's family.

Gamma succeeds in deleting Eggman's data from Beta. "Data erased. Shutdown complete." He hears a noise and rubble falls down from the ceiling.

Amy hears it too, looking up. "What do you suppose that awful crashing sound was?"

Standing in front of Gamma is a newly re-configured Beta. "Beta!"

Beta doesn't listen and opens fire on Gamma. Gamma moves out of the way.

Lily and Amy can hear the explosions from below, trying to block out the sounds. Lily flies up the stairs to see what was going on.

"Lily, no! Come back!" Amy shouts, running up the stairs. Gamma is jumping away to avoid the lasers.

"Stop, Beta! Eggman bad master!" Gamma yells, "Destroy friends! Eggman enemy!"

"Gamma not master," Beta tells him, as he's still loyal to Eggman. "Eggman master. All enemies must be eliminated."

Beta won't surrender as he continues to attack Gamma. "Beta mustn't shoot! Gamma friend!"

"Gamma not master. Eggman master. All enemies must be eliminated."

"Wait!" Amy calls out as she arrives at the scene. "Wait! Be careful!"

Gamma and Beta both fire at the same time, both of them remembering who exactly was inside them. Beta falls onto the ground, being engulfed in flames. Amy gasps in horror before a bubble holding Lily's brother emerges, freeing him. If the robots get destroyed, it does no harm to the animals inside them.

"Free now. Gamma mission accomplished," Gamma shuts down and falls in front of the flames, and the same thing happens to him.

"Oh no!" Amy shouts before Lily's sister is released. The Flickies fly above the damage, looking at each other happily. Lily chirps at Amy as the hedgehog is smiling. Lily flies up to her family and they all fly around each other. Amy looks up at the reunion before she remembers Gamma, running up to him.

"You've done so much for Lily and me." Tears appear in her eyes for her friend. She's heartbroken for his destruction, but it was the only way for Lily to be with her family again. "Oh, Mr. Robot...I'll never forget you." She can see Gamma and Beta holding hands.

The Flickies fly out of the Egg Carrier, with them nuzzling each other as they're finally reunited.

* * *

Sonic is lying down on grass in the forest at Mystic Ruins. "Hey Sonic!" He sits up to see Tails and Sophia running towards him. "What's up?"

"Hey Tails, Sophia, glad to see you're okay."

"Yes, quite," Sophia smiles at him.

"Yeah, and Amy's okay too," Tails states as he comes to a stop. The two are sitting on the ground, looking up at the sky, which is getting darker. "Must be a storm coming."

"I hope it is not serious..." Sophia murmurs to herself.

Elsewhere in Mystic Ruins, Knuckles is strolling along when he sees lightning. He stares at the thunderstorm in Angel Island. Something hits a section, causing smoke to appear. Eggman is flying around in his Egg Carrier.

"Blast that Sonic! I've got to find some way to get rid of that furry freak and the princess forever!" He meets with Chaos. "Chaos!" Chaos turns into a circle, while the Master Emerald stands alone on a platform. It is clear that there is more to come...


	32. Flood Fight

**Angel: Finally, the last episode of the Chaos Saga! I know I've complained about it before, but I'm gonna say it again, halfway through this arc I hated doing it because it was so long. Plus the story didn't really interest me. With the Metarex Saga, that's a different story since it's fun and it's the whole season 3.**

Challishanlon99: Sonic, Sophia, Tails lookout for Eggman and please be careful as for the last question I want to be friends with all of you guys but if you don't want to be my friends that's fine I'm just an autistic girl but that doesn't matter anyway please be careful I don't want anyone to get hurt please be careful I would feel very bad if any of you got hurt anyway thank you for this chapter

 **Sophia: We will try our best to make sure everyone has the upmost care during this battle. And we would love to be your friends.**

 **Angel: Yeah, I have lots of fans that are also my friends, whether they're guests or have profiles. Too bad I've lost touch with some of them. And it's Sonic and Sophia, they got this XD**

Crazycartoons5488: Sonic and Sophia save the day again yeah.

S **ophia: Of course. *bows head***

Bajy: Great job here! The next chapter's gonna be totally epic I just know it! There's still more to come for our heroes as they will soon face a literally tsunami of chaos! I know that for certain, how it will all end in this chaos saga for our heroes? I'll just have to wait and find out. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: There'll be lots more to come! I think the Shadow Saga is the fourth one, so I'll have four more to go!**

SwanGirl24: What is your creative method?

 **Angel: Great question! But if you're talking about this story only, this all really started because Starfire wanted a Sonic X fanfic with an alien princess involved and I just went from there. I take inspirations from the Starfire from Teen Titans for personality with Sophia. When it comes to Sophia's outfits, I just look around franchises for inspiration like video games or if I remember from something I watched when I was a kid. As for Sophia's past, I took some inspiration from Megamind, but then I decided I didn't want Sophia or her family to crash-land on Sonic's planet, so I came up with the idea to have Sophia be from a destroyed planet. When it comes to writing episodes, I usually watch them first if I don't remember what happened (since I used to watch it). If I do remember, I just try to have Sophia implemented in a way that it would make sense to the setting and the universe...s. But if you're talking about other stories that I do, I use the same method: Imagination and plot convenience.**

Guest: Okay when I read about Sophia's other form that she says she can't show I bet it's something bad and dangerous that's why she told the gang about it I'm pretty concerned about that and hope nothing like that will happen anyway can't wait to see the next chapter later

 **Angel: Sophia's alien form will eventually shown, but not until much later. Like, a LOT later into the show. But if you need a hint *cough* episode where Sonic turns into Dark Sonic *cough cough*. There's no reason for her to use it now. I'm not even halfway through this story yet and I need time to figure out how frightening it needs to look.**

Frances, Helen, and Danny are playing basketball at the school yard. Frances scores a basket and cheers, the other two protesting. Sophia is reading on the grass, biting her nail nervously as she thinks about Chris. He hasn't turned up ever since she lost him. Mr. Stewart is not too far away, talking into his wristwatch as he's relaying a message to the government.

"Report Charlie calling homeroom. Christopher Thorndyke is still absent from school, but Sophia is here and hasn't said a word about his absence."

"Get the ball, Frances," The basketball hits Mr. Stewart's foot.

"Mr. Stewart," She calls out. He turns around at her voice. "Can you throw me the ball, please?" He picks it up.

"Hey Mr. Stewart, why don't you come and play?" Danny asks and he looks nervous. He hasn't played a sport since...well, since he was a spy.

"Uh, me?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" Frances exclaims. Sophia closes her book and looks up, giving Mr. Stewart a look that says if he doesn't do it, they'll suspect something.

"Alright," He dribbles the ball as he runs up to them, jumping up into the air and shooting the ball through the hoop, surprising the others.

"That was an awesome shot, Mr. Stewart!" Danny says in awe.

"Well, I was an alternate on the practice squad back in college," He rubs his neck, making Helen laugh, which confuses him. "Did I say something funny, Helen?"

"I was just thinking that I'm happy we got you as our teacher," She admits.

"Really?" He asks.

"We weren't sure about you at first, but you're cool," Danny gives him a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Danny," He rubs his neck sheepishly, as he's not an actual teacher. Sophia giggles at them, looking up at the sky. She frowns in worry for Chris. Glancing over to Mr. Stewart, he nods and she opens her wings, flying up into the sky.

"Huh? Where's she going?" Frances asks in confusion.

* * *

"I thought Tails, Sophia, and Sonic would be here in the workshop," Chris murmurs in Windy Valley. He looks at all of Tails' plans scattered around. "Wonder where they are? Maybe they took the X Tornado out and I guess I just missed 'em. Oh, right, Sophia's probably at school...I didn't mean to make her worry. I can't wait to show 'em what I got! Sonic's gonna be really proud of me when he sees I've got a Chaos emerald!"

Sonic and Tails are walking around in Mystic Ruins, encountering a certain friend. "It's Knuckles!" Sophia arrives and lands near them. "And Sophia!"

Knuckles turns around with a smirk, as he seems to be standing in front of someone. "Eggman!" He's lying unconsciously on the ground. They run up to him. "What'd you do to him?"

"Nothing," Knuckles answers. "I found him this way." Tails pokes Eggman's leg with a stick and he looks up.

"Wah, he is alive!"

Sophia yelps as he stands up, glaring at them. "Of course I am."

"What happened?" Sonic demands.

"Chaos turned against me," Eggman explains, Sophia stifling a laugh.

"Good, perhaps then karma will appear more often for you and your dirty tricks."

"How come?" Sonic asks.

"Because...it wants to use the power of the Chaos emeralds all for itself." Knuckles approaches him, grabbing him by the collar.

"Tell us where Chaos is or else!" He threatens, Sonic placing his hand over Knuckles' fist.

"Take it easy, Knuckles!" Sonic warns, Sophia pulling Knuckles away.

"Threats are not the answer at the moment." She leans in to whisper, "Leave the threatening to a lady."

"How dare you threaten me? I'd love to teach you a lesson, but unfortunately, I have to fly." He's lifted in the air, to Sophia's shock.

"He's getting away!" Tails exclaims.

"Okay, start reeling him up," Decoe orders as the two robots are in a balloon.

"The winch is jammed!" Bocoe tells him as Eggman is being held by a claw that was lifting him up to them.

"We can wheel him up ourselves!"

"No way! All that weight will burn out our motors!" Eggman is gritting his teeth while the two argue, having had enough.

"Don't just leave me hanging here like a salami!" He shouts, the two peeking over to look at him.

"Try not to get agitated, the cable could break," Decoe warns.

"Just enjoy the ride," Bocoe tries to calm him down.

"There's no time to lose, my plans for world domination depend on Chaos! We have to track down that renegade right away!" He demands.

"Roger!" They get away, with Eggman hanging from the balloon that's in his likeness.

"If Eggman was telling the truth, we have to find Chaos fast and stop it," Knuckles replies, a little worried about how powerful Chaos would be with all 7 emeralds. "The second it gets a hold of all seven Chaos emeralds, it'll become too powerful to defeat."

"You're right," Sonic says, his arms crossed. There's a white light, making all of them look up. Tails is confused as the light engulfs his three friends. "What's going on here?!"

 _The light appeared on Angel Island in the past, with the three friends emerging nearby._

 _"Quiet," Knuckles looked up. "I've been here before. We're back in the past."_

 _Tikal was standing in front of the clan, who were planning to invade the shrine. The Chao who accompanied here were there as well and Sophia gasped as she saw her echidna friend._

 _"Tikal..."_

 _"Tikal, the clan needs those seven emeralds," Pachacamac stated, "It is the only way to protect ourselves from our enemies."_

 _"But taking the emeralds isn't the way! Please stop! You'll regret it forever. Queen Valentina and King Elliot will come up with another solution!"_

 _Sophia closed her eyes as she wished she could get up and tell them herself, but that would mess up the timeline._

 _"The clan has made its choice and we'll seize the emeralds now!" Pachacamac ordered. "Warriors, attack!" Despite Tikal standing in the way, they charged._

 _"Stop it!" They ran over Tikal and the defenseless Chao over to the ground. When they reached the top, the Chaos emeralds appeared around the Master Emerald, the warriors coming to a stop as they saw what was happening. Chaos suddenly appeared and Sophia was confused as to what was happening._

 _"What is this thing?" Pachacamac asked in confusion. Chaos, who had witnessed what was happening, started to absorb the power of the emeralds. The clan covered their eyes at the light. Chaos then used the power to destroy the clan, as punishment for violating the altar and harming the Chao. After that happened, Chaos had sealed himself in the Master Emerald, instantly. Sophia gasped as she saw the destruction of her friend's clan. She always heard about in stories, but...witnessing it for herself..._

 _"They're gone," Knuckles said, "All of them."_

 _"Not all," Sonic ran up to the unconscious Tikal. "Are you okay?" She lifted up her head and opened her eyes. She looked at the shrine, which had been set on fire because of the clan._

 _"I knew this would end in disaster..." She saw Sophia, who was staring at the shrine in horror. "Sophia...my friend..." Sophia paused, bending down to look at her in the eye. She could only offer a small sad smile._

 _"Hello, Tikal...my dearest friend..."_

 _"Why, Father, why didn't you listen to me?!" She stood up._

 _"Hey, hold on," Sonic called out, as he didn't know the extent of her state. She walked up the stairs, the other three joining her._

 _"You must understand. The servers are the seven Chaos. Our hearts intensified their power, the controller serves to unify the Chaos. The seven Chaos emeralds take what is in our hearts and turn it into power." She suddenly gasped, "But if the heart that wields the emerald is full of nothing but anger and fear...then that power will bring pain and destruction to the world," She clasped her hands and Sophia realized that she was speaking to the Master Emerald, or rather, the soul inside it. "Oh, please, you must stop Chaos!" The Master Emerald glowed brightly and she held out her hands._

The three are finally back in the present, contemplating what just happened. "She's gone."

"Knuckles, Sophia, did you understand what she meant about Chaos?" He wonders, Tails staring at them and wondering who 'she' was.

"We have to stop Chaos from getting hold of the last emerald."

"Hey, you guys!" They turn around to see Chris approaching them with the white Chaos emerald in hand. Knuckles gasps in shock, hesitant. Sophia tilts her ear as she hears something.

"CHRIS, LOOK OUT!"

Chris comes to a stop as the ground is shaking. A burst of water suddenly appears, flying Chris into the air. The water forms into a whirlpool, sucking Chris in. Sonic runs after him.

"Chris!" He jumps into the whirlpool, grabbing a hold of Chris' hand. "Hold tight, buddy!" Chris drops the emerald.

"Just hang on!" Knuckles shouts as he and Sophia run up to the two. They leap into the air and Knuckles punches the vortex. Sophia spins around gracefully, throwing some pink spears.

"Chaos spear!" The spears cut the vortex into halves and Sonic lands safely, with Chris in his arms. The white Chaos emerald that was dropped falls into the water, along with the others. Tails yelps and flies away from the crack as the water shoots up into the air and then disappears. Knuckles looks down at the crack it came from.

"So Chaos has all seven emeralds now..."

"I'm sorry, Knuckles. It's all my fault." He glances at Chris, who feels bad. He was trying so hard to make his friends proud of him, but what he did instead was make things worse.

"That creature is more powerful than all of us. It can't be stopped," Knuckles tells them instead of answering to Chris. Sonic grits his teeth as he doesn't know anything about how powerful it is now.

"But we have to try," He says in determination. They had to defeat it somehow, and they would find a way. Not far behind, a colony of Chao appears behind them, looking worried. No one notices them, not even Sophia.

* * *

Back at Station Square, where it's been relatively peaceful, the citizens are enjoying their daily activities. Suddenly, there's a rumble underneath, gaining everyone's attention. The sewer drain water is moving underneath.

Sam Speed has stopped a speeding driver. "You're doing 50 in a 35 mile an hour zone, but since you did ask me for my autograph, I'll let you off with a warning this time." Columns of water suddenly shoot upwards like geysers, shocking Sam. "Whoa, must be a water main break." More of them appear nearby, frightening the citizens. "Weird."

Cracks appear in the road as the water seeps through it and water emerges from buildings, cracking windows. This creates fissure cracks. Sam escorts the people to a nearby safe building.

"You'll be safe here! Hurry!" A tsunami forms, washing Sam away. One trail of water forms a face...the powerful deity, Perfect Chaos.

* * *

"Staton Square is flooded," Scarlet Garcia reports, with the president, Christina, Rouge, and Topaz all watching the broadcast. "We don't know the exact cause of the disaster yet, but eyewitnesses reported that something went horribly wrong in the city's water system. As you can see, there's complete devastation-oh my! There's something down there," The camera then switches over to Perfect Chaos. "It appears to be some kind of monster!"

"Tell that pilot to fly closer to the monster!" The news station boss orders.

"Counter-attack is impossible," Christina and the president are on the phones to get the military to help out. "Our missile launchers were caught in the flood!"

"What about fighter jets? How many do we have in the area?"

"Throw everything we've got at 'em! As commander-in-chief, I authorize you to do whatever it takes to stop that thing!" Rouge is frowning to herself.

Perfect Chaos slices a building in half.

"Much of the city is now in ruins! The only good news is that nobody has been seriously hurt. But the monster is still attacking us."

Cream, Ella, and Cheese are watching the news, Cheese starting to look stressed. "What are you trying to say, Cheese?"

Rose appears from her spot at the window, looking to be in the same state as Cheese. She would go out and find Sophia, but with the whole city flooded...

"Don't worry, that flood won't hurt you two," Ella tries to assure them.

"Right, we're going up to the mountains where it's safe," Cream says softly, but the two Chao won't let up. Chuck appears in the room.

"What are you waiting for? We have to get out of here, fast!" He insists and Ella turns to him.

"But we can't go yet because Mr. Chris still hasn't come back home," She informs, "Sophia lost sight of him and hasn't seen him since."

"Where are they?" He asks in disbelief.

* * *

"We've gotta stop Chaos somehow," Chris says as they're all in the X Tornado. Sophia had shown them where it is when she was trying to go after Chris. "Faster, we don't have much time!"

Tails nods in agreement. "Better hang on!" He flies faster as Sonic is on the highway, Sophia running next to him.

"If we don't get to the city fast, there won't be anything left to save!"

"We will get there, Sonic, and we will stop Chaos!" Sophia declares.

"The monster is downtown, leaving a wave of destruction in its way." Perfect Chaos destroys more buildings.

* * *

Mr. Stewart and the other teachers are evacuating the students at the school. "Children, we're all moving awful slow here." He looks at his watch. "Roger, this is Chalkboard Charlie."

"We need you back here at headquarters on the double!" He narrows his eyes, looking to see Danny, Frances, and Helen running. "But I can't leave my students!"

"What?! This is a direct order!" Mr. Stewart bites his lip. He couldn't leave and put their safety at risk. "I'm sorry, I didn't copy that. Can you repeat, homeroom?" He hangs up, turning to the three.

"Sir?"

"Are you the last ones?" He asks.

"Yeah, the others went ahead and Sophia hasn't come back," Danny answers.

"That's good, and she'll be back. She and Sonic will handle it. And follow me," He pushes Helen.

"Okay!" They run after him.

* * *

The X Tornado looks up ahead at the damage at the city.

"I'll wait for Chris," Mr. Tanaka states when everyone else at the mansion is preparing to leave. "As a former water polo champion, I can swim both of us to safety when the flood comes." Cheese is still trying to get his point across, but no one listens.

"Alright," Chuck grabs Cheese and Rose, who protest as Cream opens the door. Mr. Tanaka sits down, prepared for anything.

Most of the city is flooded at this point, the buildings destroyed, but not enough to deem unfixable. Someone grabs Sam Speed, pulling him to safety. Sam coughs as Jerome Wise is standing in front of him, grinning at this opportunity.

"Thanks. That was close."

The GUN helicopters fly over the city to deal with Perfect Chaos. "Alright, hope they send that thing down the drain!"

"Commence attack pattern Bravo."

"Copy that SWAT leader. Let's take it down!"

They fire at Perfect Chaos, but their weapons prove no match against watery skin, as expected. "Switch to missile fire now." They fire the missiles, but like last time, it does nothing, shocking them. "No way!" Perfect Chaos then launches the missiles back from his mouth, Sophia and Sonic sliding to a stop. They look at all the damage that has been done. Sonic growls, gritting his teeth at what Perfect Chaos has accomplished.

"My goodness..." Sophia murmurs, putting a fist to her mouth in horror. She's never seen so much...destruction.

"Come on," Sonic grabs her hand and they use the damage to jump, moving as quick as they can.

The missiles destroy the helicopters, surprising the citizens. "We need...Princess Sophia and Sonic."

* * *

Meanwhile, Eggman is preparing to take to the skies with his ship. Everything powers up around him.

"Systems are go!" Bocoe announces.

"Let's take off! A successful evil genius always has a plan B. That's why I have the Egg Carrier 2!" The ship rises out of Windy Valley. "Chaos better watch out, things are about to get really chaotic!" He laughs at his joke. He's planning to get revenge on Chaos for betraying him.

Sonic and Sophia land near a building, watching Perfect Chaos storming through the city.

"That's it, Chaos!" Sonic shouts, "Your destroying days are over!"

"You shall regret this day," Sophia narrows her eyes as they spin dash into the air.

"Hey, look!" Someone recognizes them and they look on happily. Perfect Chaos smacks the two with his tail. Turning back with a glare, they run up a building and jump, only to be picked up and thrown into the air. Perfect Chaos attempts to drown them, but they land on a wooden plank, surfing side by side.

"Guys!"

They look up to see the X Tornado arriving. Chris grabs their hands and pulls them onto the plane. "You alright?"

"Yeah, thanks, Chris."

"We shall survive," Sophia sighs slightly.

"You think...we'll win?" He asks in fear, as most of the city is destroyed and Perfect Chaos is so strong.

Sonic winks at him, Sophia smiling. "It'll turn out okay. But Chaos is more powerful than ever, so we'll need plenty of help. Can we count on ya?"

"You bet!" Chris agrees.

"Alright, let us commence," Sophia declares as he pulls them onto the back of the ship. Perfect Chaos uses spears of water to try and knock down the X Tornado. Tails dodges right past them all, flying past Chaos. Suddenly, a large shadow covers them.

"What's this?" Sonic demands.

"Back off, Sonic and your highness," The Egg Carrier 2 is flying over them. "Chaos double-crossed me! Now it's payback time."

"Eggman! This time he's fighting on our side?" Sonic says in disbelief.

"Fate has dealt us an unusual hand," Sophia murmurs to herself.

"All attack systems are online."

"Blast charges are loaded and ready to fire at your command."

"You're through, Chaos!" Eggman shouts, as he's planning to shoot some heavy artillery. "The price of disloyalty to the Eggman Empire is annihilation! Front missiles fire!" the ship fires the missiles from the front side, but a shield forms around Perfect Chaos, destroying the missiles with the shield's strength. He fires back a powerful laser that destroys the Egg Carrier 2! But the robots and Eggman escape with his Egg Mobile.

"Well great!" Sonic exclaims in shock, "How are we gonna beat it now?"

Suddenly, a bright light appears from the sky, blinding everyone. Sophia looks around before the plane lands on a piece of highway. Sonic jumps off the plane, Sophia landing next to him.

"This just keeps getting freakier and freakier," He states and Sophia steps up.

"Sonic...that light..." Sophia murmurs in realization. "I would recognize it anywhere..."

Sonic knows her too. "You again!"

Tikal reveals herself to them. Sophia covers her mouth in shock. "Since the day my father's invasion, I journeyed across the seas of eternal time with Chaos to help keep its power under control, but something woke Chaos with a plan to use its power for an evil purpose." She sees her friend and smiles softly. "Sophia..."

They hug in reunion, happy to see each other again.

"Eggman," Sonic says in realization. "He must've uncovered a way to revive Chaos somehow so he could use it to take over the world!"

Perfect Chaos emits the Chaos emeralds from its mouth, as he is now drained from their power. Tikal picks up one of them. "Chaos has now drained all the emeralds of their power."

"What?!" Sonic and Sophia exclaim in shock.

"Ever since my clan attacked the temple, Chaos has known only hate and anger. It will use the power of the seven emeralds to destroy this world. We have to seal Chaos back in the Master Emerald before it's too late."

"It won't work."

Sophia and Tikal turn to Sonic. "If we seal it in the Master Emerald, the same thing will only happen again. We have to solve this problem once and for all."

"Yes," Tikal agrees, "But how can we?"

Sonic sighs as he thinks to himself.

"Sonic! Sophia!"

They look up in shock to see Cream arriving. "Look, I have something. For you," She holds up one of the Chaos emeralds. All their friends arrive.

"Cream got the emerald back after Chaos let them all go."

"Hey, Sonic! Sophia!" Amy runs up to them, holding one too. Lily and her siblings fly behind her. Big appears right next to them.

"I finally got back the pretty rock that Froggy swallowed! You can borrow it if you want to."

Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe arrive with Knuckles escorting them, covered in soot.

"Sophia, Sonic, if you collect all the emeralds, you both can defeat Chaos!"

"Here," Knuckles holds out the red one. "You have more experience at being the hero."

"Thanks Knuckles," Sonic smiles all their support.

"Thank you to everyone," Sophia looks at them. "Except you, you go away," She glares at Eggman.

"Eggman!" Knuckles glares at him.

"Oh alright. Take it," He holds out his emerald, since he wanted Chaos to be stopped.

"We need one more," Tails states.

"Guys! Look what I found," Chris runs up to them with the emerald, tripping onto the ground.

"Chris!" The two run up to him to see if he's okay.

"Guys, look!" He holds out the last emerald. They both smile at him.

"We knew you'd come through!"

Chris laughs happily at their praise, with the crowd cheering them on. The emerald in Chris' hands starts to glow. "The emeralds are getting their power back!" One by one, they float up into the air, surrounding Sophia and Sonic. They close their eyes, hair and quills flying into the air as they turn into Super Sonic and Sophia. Tikal gasps, as she's never seen that amount of power before. Super forms weren't common back then, since the emeralds were all always surrounded by the Master Emerald during her time.

"I thought the power of the emeralds could only be awakened by hate and anger."

"There are other feelings that are even more powerful," Knuckles states.

"When everybody gave their Chaos emeralds to Sonic and Sophia, it was because of our friendship. Caring is stronger than hate, and that's how they're gonna beat Chaos!"

The two open their eyes, embracing their forms before flying straight at Perfect Chaos. They get through the barrier as Perfect Chaos underestimated their powers. He then tries using water tentacles, but the friends do a Spin Attack, shattering through them like ice. Having no other choice, Perfect Chaos then uses its powerful laser, Super Sonic and Super Sophia easily dodging it. He focuses the laser on their friends instead, Chris screaming.

Super Sophia steps in and blocks the laser. "Sophia!" Chris cries out, but she's perfectly fine. Super Sonic narrows his eyes as his friend could've been hurt.

"You can't stop us!" He shouts, everyone smiling in relief. Super Sonic and Super Sophia glance at each other, the school children cheering for them. Helen clasps her hands in hope.

"If anybody can stop that monster, Princess Sophia and Sonic can."

"Go Sonic and Sophia!" Danny cheers, the others joining him in the cheering. Perfect Chaos attacks yet again, Super Sonic and Super Sophia stopping it easily. They grit their teeth as the water starts to deteriorate.

"Is that the best you can do?" Super Sonic wonders.

"We shall save this city from your peril," Super Sophia opens her eyes. "For I am Princess Sophia of our world and I will not stand for this!"

Everyone cheers at her declaration, feeling inspired all of a sudden. They leap into the air, punching the incoming laser. They plunge it down Perfect Chaos' throat, making it swallow its own attack. This defeats the monstrosity for good as the two land safely, everyone cheering for their victory. They're turned back to normal, looking up as their friends look on happily. Sophia takes a hold of Sonic's hand and they hold their hands up in the air for their win.

Chaos 0 emerges from a puddle, as he's not entirely defeated. "It wasn't destroyed," Knuckles steps forward. "It survived!" He's about to jump into action, but Sophia places a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Knuckles, wait." Cheese and Rose say something, and then the Chao colony appears from a puddle, flying around Chaos. Rose and Cheese fly in front of it.

"But it doesn't look angry anymore!" Knuckles realizes what Sophia's saying.

"Yeah. If you ask me, Chaos actually looks kinda happy!" Tails states.

"Wow, look at all those Chao," Cream comments.

"Wonder where they came from..." Chris murmurs.

"It looks to me like those Chao are friends of Chaos who came here to see him," Amy explains, and she's right as Tikal steps up to Chaos. She smiles at the being.

"These are the Chao you kept watch over." Chaos looks at all of them. "They're coming into this world now. The Chao will live here in peace, and you can be at peace now too." Chaos looks at her, as he looks like he agrees with her. "Time to go." She holds out her hands and they lift up into the air. "Goodbye, Sophia! May our friendship never be forgotten!"

"Farewell, my friend!" Sophia waves up at her as they both disappear together. They're all happy with the resolution, but...

"Huh? Hey, where'd Eggman go?" Tails wonders, looking around.

"I think he escaped while we were distracted," Mr. Tanaka says.

"Yeah, well he won't get away next time," Knuckles grits his teeth.

"Perhaps we should forget about him for now. He will always return," Sophia glances at Sonic, who hasn't said anything. Chris steps up to him.

"You both did it, Sonic!"

He turns around and smiles, giving a thumbs up. "We all did!"

Chris returns the thumbs up happily.


	33. Project: Shadow

**Angel: Behold, the first episode to the Shadow Saga! I'm really excited for the next episode, as lots of shocking things happen. But since I want to have a head start on episode 35, I won't show the next episode until next Thursday. Sorry! *grins widely* It may be cruel to some of you, but the wait will be worth it, I hope.**

Vortex Lord: Sophia, I wish you the best of luck in the Shadow Saga.

 **Sophia: Thank you, my friend. *bows head***

Challishanlon99: That was a cool chapter anyway I thank you for accepting me as a friend who's really a lot of people don't like me because I'm special needs but anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more please don't stress yourselves I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything I'm just saying by the way Sophia I have a question if you could see any mystical creature what would you want to see? I'm just asking I would love to see dragons I think it would be pretty cool but I think that you're as cool as a dragon and sweet as an alicorn and as brave as anything I ever seen.

 **Angel: *frowns* What? That's not right. Special needs people need to be appreciated too.**

 **Sophia: I would want to see...a griffin. I am amazed by their appearance and would like to know more about them. And thank you for the compliments.**

Crazycartoons5488: Wow this is great I can't wait to see Shadow.

 **Angel: I haven't seen most of these episodes for a while, so I thought Shadow would appear in this one...well, technically he did, but we didn't see him fully until the next one.**

Bajy: Great job! Like I said, epic and awesome! The day was saved! But there will be much cleaning up to do after all that flooding. And there will be more in store for our heroes. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks! And yep, there's definitely more in store. And this is only episode 33!**

Ichabod: As Jaleel White would say, "way past cool!" Sonic and Sophia saved the day-AND the world! But like the coward he is, Eggbelly slunk off during the climax! What a slippery weasel! Boy, I'd like to give HIM his just desserts...

Kenny: Gee, funny you'd know so much about cowards, huh, worrywart? Guess it's true what they say: takes one to KNOW one!

Ichabod: At least I was actually IN a story, jerk, not to mention I had a little character arc planned out for me.

Kenny: Whatever. It was only ONE crummy story.

Ichabod: One so far. These things take time. And it's not worrywart, it's HEATWAVE! And I doubt making fun of a guy who can toast your tush is a smart thing to do.

 **Sophia: Please cease the arguing. There is no reason to insult Ichabod like this, Kenny.**

 **Angel: Hey, I helped write that story, so I take offense to that T^T**

Guest: Good luck with the Shadow Saga series we'll be waiting to see how that goes like.

 **Angel: Emphasis on waiting.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, the Chaos creature devoured the seventh Chaos emerald and transformed into a mammoth monster! A tidal wave of fear flooded Station Square as the city became a watery wreck! A horde of helicopters couldn't topple the towering terror and even Eggman was sent scrambling by the belligerent behemoth. But with the help of their friends and the power of the Chaos emeralds, Super Sophia and Super Sonic socked it to him!_

 _Will Station Square recover from the disastrous deluge? Or is the city all washed up? Find out next on Sophia X!_

Sonic and Sophia are on the streets, inspecting all the damage Station Square took from the recent attack. Rose is with Sophia in her bag for support. They run up a building and look at the helicopters, who are looking at the streets. Sonic glances at Sophia and they run off the building. The citizens are helping out with the cleaning, turning over cars and gathering up all the rubble. The two friends run past all the work when they hear crying, coming to a stop.

"Hey." Sonic looks around as Sophia steps closer to the street, pointing forward to a damaged building.

"I can hear it coming from this location." They run inside to explore.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Thorndyke residence, clean-up duty is also being done there, as their house was part of the damage. Lindsey turns around as a vanity is being taken away.

"Oh, dear! All my lovely furniture ruined!"

* * *

Even at Chris' school there's a helicopter helping out with the cleaning. "Okay, class, ready to carry the rescue supplies to the cafeteria?"

"Yeah!" All the students cheer, Chris frowning a little. He wished he could be out exploring with Sonic and Sophia right now. Surprisingly, Mr. Thorndyke steps out of the helicopter, wearing a helmet for protection.

"Chris!"

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Chris runs up to him in surprise.

"I thought I'd drop in and see how you were doing," He winks, looking around. "And Sophia too. She's not here?"

"I'm fine," Chris states, blinking.

"Sophia is excused from school to help out with what happened," Mr. Stewart explains, shaking Mr. Thorndyke's hand. "I hear she's supposed to be leading a group to pick up trash."

All the kids carry a heavy box inside the cafeteria. "These boxes are heavy," Frances places a box down on top of Chris' and Danny's, wiping sweat off her forehead. "I need to take a break!"

"That's okay," Danny shrugs, "Why don't you go play and let me and Chris finish the unloading?"

Frances places her hands on her hips, unamused by Danny's wording. "I can work as much as you!"

"Our son is lost." They hear and turn to a couple talking to a police officer of the school.

"Did the search party find a little boy?"

"Uh, no, ma'am," The officer answers gravely. The mother starts crying, the three students looking at them in worry. Suddenly, a pink blur and a blue blur arrive, Sophia holding a little boy with brown hair and an orange shirt. He was the cause of the crying that they had heard earlier. The boy had gotten lost during the tidal wave.

"This your kid?" Sonic asks as Sophia holds him out to his parents.

The kid holds out his arms happily. "Jim!" The mother takes him from Sophia. "You're safe!"

"Sonic, princess," They turn to the father. "Thanks a lot."

"You're both wonderful," The mother says, Sonic looking bashful and embarrassed. Sophia giggles at him as the kid looks at her.

"Thank you, princess," He says quietly and Sophia smiles at him.

"Here, little one," She removes one of her rings and holds it out to him so he can play with it. "But be careful, and return this to me when you are finished."

He nods at her request as he understands how important a single ring is to her. Rose flies around the boy, inspecting the ring.

* * *

"When I ran for this job, I thought I'd be tackling the world's problems head on," The president states as he's signing a document. "Instead I'm the most powerful paper pusher in the world." Christina takes the document from him. "I wish just once I could do something heroic, like Sonic or Princess Sophia herself." He recalls when they turned into their super mode to defeat Chaos. Presidents were supposed to be solving the world's problems, but instead he's been sitting at his desk letting agents or heroes do what he can't.

"Here's the bill declaring Station Square to be a disaster area," Christina hands him another bill. He signs it, placing a hand on his cheek.

"Oh well. I suppose somebody has to sign this stuff."

"And this is executive order 1137 dash 8," Christina pushes yet another paper onto his desk.

"You'll have to refresh my memory," The president sighs as he's had many documents before, and will continue to have them. He couldn't remember every single one as he's seen too many in his term.

"A new series of robots will be built that are specially designed to combat Dr. Eggman," Christina explains, which gets his attention. If those robots could possible defeat Eggman, he'd be contributing something good to the city.

"A...good idea." He signs it, getting tired of paperwork. "Am I done now?"

"One last thing," She gives him the last one.

"What's this?" He asks curiously.

"A security clearance. We just hired your new driver and he starts today. He's called Sam Speed. Apparently he lives up to his name."

* * *

Everyone except Sophia and Sonic, of course, are surrounding a car. Lindsey is hugging Chris, as he and Cream have to leave into a new house, due to the mansion's damages and for their safety. "I'll miss you, darling."

"Me too, Mom."

"This is it. Goodbye," Cream starts crying, Tails shrugging.

"What's the big deal?" Chuck wonders.

"Yeah, I promise you'll all be seeing each other again in a month or two. Just as soon as we have everything cleaned up at the house," Nelson tries to assure her.

"Don't forget to send me a postcard," Danny tells Chris, as his friends are there to say goodbye as well.

"For me too, Chris, kay?" Frances asks knowingly.

"I will," He nods at her.

"I wish you could stay, Chris," Helen says, "Things won't be the same here without you or Mr. Stewart around." She looks sad and Chris looks surprised that Mr. Stewart was evacuating too.

In fact, he's driving down the highway right now, and he doesn't look happy about it. "Just when I was hitting it off with my class."

"Aren't Sonic and Sophia gonna come say goodbye?" Chris wonders.

"Sonic had to run," Amy explains, "But he did tell me to say that they'd see you later, Chris. Sophia had to go and help with that clean-up she mentioned."

"Oh," He looks disappointed.

"Don't you worry, Chris," Tails walks up to him. "When you're feeling lonely, just call us and we'll all hop in the X-Tornado and fly over to see ya. Sonic and Sophia can run there for a visit in no time at all."

"I'll still miss you guys," Chris replies.

"Don't worry," Amy crosses her arms. "Two months isn't all that long and time passes a lot quicker when you first move to a new place." She should know, she does own an apartment.

"I guess so."

He takes off into the car, everyone waving and calling out to him.

"Bye guys!" He waves at them, "See ya!"

Cream looks sad, Mr. Tanaka bowing his head as Chuck drives.

* * *

At Area 99, the damages didn't seem to affect them that much as they're working on the series of robots the president signed off of.

"With these robots, we can defeat Dr. Eggman once and for all," A scientist states confidently.

"Yes, our designs are technically superior to his in every way."

A tiny little spider robot is spying on them, sent by Eggman himself, who is watching the live footage. "That's an impossibility. If their robots were better, that would make them smarter than me!" With his tricks and evil plans, surely he was the superior scientist.

"It does look like they made progress, Doctor," Decoe points out.

"If it is true, we will be in big trouble!" Bocoe exclaims in worry.

"Then I'll find out. All I have to do is hack into their main computer, and I'll have instant access to all of their robot designs!" He needs to make sure he knows what he's dealing with. The computer is hacked into, but it needs a password. "I'll log in," He types in something and gets into the computer's files. "Great! We're in." He sees the plans, which seems to be a lot despite having not that much time since it was approved. "How did they come up with all these designs so quickly?" He stops on a photo, inspecting it.

"It can't be!" He looks further as he's sweating, his two robots looking at each other in confusion.

"Dr. Eggman?" Decoe wonders.

"Is something wrong?" Bocoe asks in concern.

"Unbelievable! This can only mean..." He turns around to them slowly. "This world...is the world that I was born in!"

His robots move back in shock before he looks back at the picture of a man with a large mustache and no hair. "This is Professor Gerald Robotnik, who is the greatest scientific genius of his time. He's my grandfather."

"Does that mean there is a connection between this world and the one we came from?" Decoe asks curiously.

"But how could that be?" Bocoe questions in disbelief, as their world and this world are two different Earths. Most humans don't even inhabit their home except for the royal family. Other than that, it's mostly human-like animals, or Chao, or animals like Froggy.

"The two worlds are in parallel universes and share the exact same position in time and space. Each is unaware of the other's existence. But thanks to Chaos Control, we travel between them," Eggman explains, "Let's see if there's any data about my grandfather that can clear up this mystery. Let's try Eggman." Once again he needs a password for this file. Nothing comes up for that name, however.

"Error?" He tries again, but zilch. "Robotnik?" Another error after error, which is starting to frustrate him. "No way!" He then remembers a little girl with his grandfather. "Maria! Yes..." He types in the name and gains access to something top secret.

"You did it!" Decoe exclaims and an alarm sounds from Area 99. Obviously, they would know if someone broke into something top secret.

"It's a hacker! He used an unknown password to get into one of our databases!" A freckled man reports. "It holds a top secret file that nobody's looked at for years!"

"What?! Cut off his access!"

Eggman can no longer look at the file. He didn't even have a chance to read it before he's cut off. "They detected us!"

"Download proceeding," Decoe reports.

"Affirmative. Deleting original file from host computer."

"File deletion proceeding." They're planning to download a copy of the file and delete the original before they wouldn't have a chance to get it back.

"Shut down the entire system and hurry!" The boss demands.

"I'll try."

Eggman sweats nervously, growling. "Download complete in three seconds. Done!"

"Original file deleted now."

Eggman sighs in relief. "Hacking sure is hard work. Now, let's look at that file." He scrolls down and gasps at his discovery. "This is...my grandfather's diary!"

 _Thunder could be heard. "I've done it! My greatest design is now complete! The ultimate creature, Shadow." Dr. Gerald Robotnik was typing away in his diary. "My enemies think they have defeated me, but Shadow will carry out my orders without question. Now it sleeps, but one day it will be reawakened! Shadow..."_

"Will bring total destruction." Eggman chuckles at that, as he liked destruction. "I'll awaken Shadow for you, grandfather!"

* * *

"I need your help, Rouge," The president states inside his car. He has been informed of Eggman's attempt to gain the file. "Now, I don't know much about Project Shadow other than the name. There was a file, but it was impossible for us to read the data."

"And why's that?" Rouge wonders as she's sitting between Topaz and Christina.

"It was password protected. Unfortunately, the file was created by the same scientist who developed Project Shadow and he never told anyone the password. That was 50 years ago."

"But, somebody did figure out the password and stole the file from the laboratory," Rouge guesses.

"Not only did they download the file from our system," Christina starts off, "But when that was finished, they went ahead and deleted the original file from our computer."

"That sounds just like something Eggman would do," Rouge points out.

"It was him," The president says in realization, closing his eyes. Rouge nods at his understanding.

"So then what's our mission, sir?" Topaz wonders, "Do you want us to check out Project Shadow for you?"

"No, we already have an agent assigned to that duty," The advisor explains.

"I want you to find out why Dr. Eggman is so interested in Project Shadow and what he's planning to do with it," The president tells them. He's silently curious if Sophia knew about this project.

"Okay," Rouge agrees with him and Christina presses a button.

"Our passengers are leaving. You can stop the car here," She says, the driver turning around to reveal himself as Sam. He gives her a thumbs up.

"I know the president wouldn't want me to break the law, miss, so I'll wait till I can pull safely to the curb." He drops Rouge and Topaz off.

"Alright, Rouge, where do we start?" Topaz wonders, looking smug at what Rouge would do.

"First we have to get Eggman to meet with us," Rouge replies.

"Fat chance! He isn't exactly fans of ours," Topaz informs her.

"You're right," Rouge places a finger underneath her chin, since they wrestled with him once to get an emerald. "So we'll have to find some bait to lure him in. Which means we'll need a Chaos emerald."

Topaz blinks slowly at her, as they have no idea where to find one, much less get someone to give it to them if it was Sonic or Sophia.

* * *

Chris moves the curtain as he looks at the new city he's in. He can see all the citizens walking around, trying to get to where they're trying to go. He sighs at the situation he's in, walking away. Ella seems to be making salad in the dining room when he walks in.

"Hello Chris," Cream greets, "Would you like to have some tea?"

Chris sighs as he sits down. "No thank you." He didn't feel like having tea.

"What's the matter?" Cream asks as she notices his mood.

"Nothing. I guess."

"You'll get used to it here," Ella tells him, sensing that he's homesick.

"Maybe." He sighs again, Cream and Cheese glancing at each other in worry.

With Chuck, he's on the roof, noticing Chris sitting at the entrance. "What's wrong? Homesick?"

Chris pauses for a few seconds as he thinks about the mansion, his parents, his friends... "Sort of."

"It always takes some time to get used to a new place when you move," Chuck states as they're in Chris' new room. "But I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends here. Now you know how Sonic and the others felt. Think about it, Chris. When Chaos Control sent them to this world, they found themselves far from home. And they didn't know anybody around here. But did they sit around moping?"

Chris' eyes widen in realization. He remembers Sonic running as usual, Tails tinkering with the plane, Amy swinging her hammer like it was nothing, Knuckles watching over the Master Emerald, Cream and Cheese dancing in front of the TV, and Sophia when she found Rose. One thing he can remember from all of them is that they acted like their normal selves. In fact, it was like they were back home, despite being in a different world.

"You're right! They didn't give up, and I won't either, Grandpa."

"Atta boy!" Chuck gives him a thumbs up.

* * *

Sonic and Sophia are still out in Station Square as they look at what Chaos had done. They hear crying, again, and stop.

"What now?" Sonic looks around and Sophia walks forward towards a rock. "I'm sure glad to have a friend with super hearing. Don't worry, we'll save ya!"

Sophia holds up a hand and flings her wrist, firing three pink spears. "Chaos Spear!" They break the rock into pieces.

"Kid, are you okay?" Sonic asks as he can't see past the smoke.

"Yeah, I'm not hurt." It's actually Bokkun. They gasp when they see each other.

"You?!" Sonic exclaims in shock, Bokkun yelling and waving his arms in panic. He stands up, clenching his fists.

"You rescued me?! I'd have gotten quiet if I'd known you were gonna help me!" He shouts, Sonic holding up his hands.

"Perhaps you should be more grateful. If we had not been in the area, you would not have been saved," Sophia huffs, placing her hands on her hips at the robot's attitude.

"We apologize." Bokkun cringes at that. "We're gone."

"Wait," Bokkun holds up his hands. "Don't go!"

They look at him weirdly. "Why not?"

"Because before you two go, I wanna tell you that I'm not gonna say thank you for saving me!" Sonic rubs his ear, sweating a bit. Sophia glances at Bokkun at his rant. "From now on, if you hear me crying for help, turn around and run the other way, cause if you ever try to rescue me again, you're gonna be sorry!"

"We-We know what you're trying to say," Sonic says, Sophia nodding.

"And before we leave," Sophia bends down to him, patting him on the head. "You are welcome." And with that, they leave him behind.

"But you can't say I welcome, cause I didn't thank you!" Bokkun shouts after them, touching his head lightly at Sophia's soft touch. "Aww, the princess is so nice and understanding..." He starts crying again at her kindness.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rouge and Topaz have been walking to Eggman's new base. "I still don't see how getting a Chaos emerald's gonna help us accomplish our mission," Topaz states.

"It's simple," Rouge smiles at her plan, "If we wanna trick Eggman into talking, all we have to do is bring him something he wants more than anything." Topaz stares at her, wondering to herself if this would really work. After all, Rouge did use to be a jewel thief and the Chaos emeralds were no exception. "I guarantee you this idea's gonna work like a charm."

Topaz looks at her tracker and comes to a stop. She looks up as Rouge looks at the device. "It's that way."

Rouge looks in her direction and the only thing she could see up ahead is all the trees and bushes. But the tracker is high-tech and accurate, so she wasn't going to question it. Without it, they wouldn't have a way to find Eggman.

* * *

"Hello, I'm Scarlet Garcia. I'm a reporter with the affiliated Station Square," Scarlet is introducing herself to a group.

"We know who you are. Your report on Cahos was an outstanding piece of journalism! Can I have your autograph?"

Scarlet gasps as she's never heard that. "Thank you." A man opens a door for her. "Everyone here is so friendly."

The man laughs. "Your reports are terrific. Which is why our news director here wanted to-uh?" They're both confused as they see a man standing at the window. "Oh there you are, Franklin. Scarlet Garcia is here to see you."

"Hello," Mr. Stewart turns around, but he is under disguise.

"Scarlet, this is Franklin."

"Ah," Scarlet snaps out of it, as she already suspects that something is up. "Hi." She steps up to him.

"He just joined the channel as news director."

"That's great," The two shake hands. "Very nice to meet you, Franklin."

"We have a lot to talk about, Miss Garcia."

The escort has left the room, leaving the two sitting alone. "There's an important story here, Scarlet," Mr. Stewart starts off. There's a file that she's looking at: Project Shadow. The same one that Eggman had stole earlier.

"Project Shadow?" She asks in realization.

"Yes. You're familiar with the story?" He questions.

"I...am." She has a connection with this certain project because...

"I understand your late father was also a journalist and that he investigated Project Shadow years ago."

"I'd appreciate it if you get to the point," She snaps, as she didn't want to think about her father and how he died. He's the reason she wanted to become a reporter.

"It's simple. Somebody's kept the real story about Project Shadow a secret for years. And I need a reporter with guts to find out who and why," Mr. Stewart explains, as Project Shadow was never really explained, especially not to the public. Not even the people at Area 99 remember since it was so long ago. They didn't know what it was about or if it was even a success as there hasn't been any new information for years. And because no one bothered to check the files, they didn't remember who started the project.

"No way!" Scarlet denies and he leans in closer.

"I want to know! And so do you. Aren't you curious? Wouldn't your father be?"

She frowns sadly as she looks down at the title. She didn't know what she would find, and she's not sure if she wanted to find it.

"I'll watch your back and risk my life to make sure that you're safe. I promise you, Scarlet. Trust me. We can do this together."

She pauses, not sure what to do.

* * *

Rouge is in her spy outfit, carrying the Master Emerald with rope. "This is much better than a measly Chaos emerald," She groans at the weight. "But it sure is heavy." At least she has a better chance of baiting Eggman.

"HEY!" She turns around to see an angry Knuckles running towards her. "Bring the Master Emerald back here!" She continues flying and he growls. "I'll stop you!" He leaps into the air and punches a rock into pieces. One of them hits her in the face and she drops the emerald, landing in a bush.

"Rouge!" Topaz exclaims, one of her feet hitting a blue Chaos emerald. She looks down at it.

Rouge groans as she sits on the grass. "Hey Rouge!" She glances towards Topaz to see her holding an emerald. "Look, I found a Chaos emerald!"

"Fine," Rouge flies towards the Master Emerald. "I'll keep this one."

"Not so fast!" Knuckles stands near her, fists clenched. Topaz groans, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Why does everything have to be a problem?"

"Don't you know what that is? You're trying to take away the Master Emerald!" Knuckles yells at her. "You're putting us all in danger! The Master Emerald keeps the power of the seven Chaos emeralds from going out of control and you are going to help me take it back."

"First you'll have to catch me," She sings, getting away.

"Come back here!" He shouts, kicking her to a tree. The mask comes off her as she lands on the ground. "Got ya." Rouge glares up at him and he recognizes her. "You're...that bat!"

Rouge opens her wings and takes back the Master Emerald. He didn't understand what she was going to do with it, but he knew what he had to do. He had to stop her before something worse could happen. "Just wait."

* * *

At a prison, all is quiet until there's an explosion. "What's wrong?"

A lighthouse looks around as a wall has been breached, meaning something broke in. "Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Hostile force has penetrated Prison Island. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. Secure all entryways. Emergency lockdown procedures are effective immediately." All of the doors close. "The intruder is heading for the research area. Security units in the area, standby for an assault. All other units, prepare to counter-attack. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill."

There's an explosion in the hallway and the intruder is revealed to be Dr. Eggman, who laughs. "This more fun than hacking! Let's see..." He looks around. "According to that computer file I stole, Project Shadow is this way. If it's as destructive as my grandfather claimed, then I can use it to rule this world and no one can stop me!"

"Wait up for us, Doctor!" He turns around in annoyance as Decoe and Bocoe walk up to him.

"We are going to attack the lab with you!" Bocoe explains, both of them determined to help. Eggman stares at them.

"No thanks, I'd rather go it alone," He flies forward, the robots running after him. He prefers to do the destruction himself.

"But I am lean! And mean!" Decoe calls out.

"I can take any robot's hard drive!" Bocoe brags.

"Give us the chance to prove ourselves!" They stop in their tracks as something is blocking their way. It's a large robot that looms over them. Bocoe and Decoe hug each other, shaking. Eggman looks unfazed by it, grinning as he scans its blueprints.

"So it's Laser Hunter."

It's named that for a good reason as it fires a huge laser from its chest. "Shield up." Eggman presses a button and a yellow shield blocks the attack. Of course he had a shield for his Egg Mobile. "My turn now." He fires several lasers from his Egg Mobile, destroying the robot. He laughs at how easy this is. "I think his hunting license just expired!"

* * *

"He's where?!" Christina exclaims inside the president's car. She drops the receiver to explain. "Dr. Eggman is attacking the secret lab on Prison Island."

The president sweats a little, as he knows what's there.

* * *

A security robot attacks, Bocoe and Decoe running away in fear. Eggman destroys them, glancing at his so-called 'mean' robots. "Stop cowering. Let's go."

"Wait for us, doctor!"

"Do not leave us!"

"Here we come!" They run after him as they didn't want to be fired at again. Eggman flies down a hall, where a robot is hiding around the corner, ready to strike.

"I wonder why no more robots are attacking," Decoe notices the silence.

"We must have defeated them all," Bocoe looks around. Eggman knows this kind of trick, though, as he's done it to Sonic and Sophia before.

"Not quite yet. There's one hiding up ahead." Despite that, they continue walking and the robot reveals itself, firing lasers at the ground, but no one is standing in the spot. The Egg Mobile flies over it and the robot looks up to see Eggman and the robots. Eggman destroys the robot by slamming the Egg Mobile down. "Another crushing victory!"

Bocoe and Decoe run forward, looking around for any robots. There are none, but they're in a room where there's a capsule in the middle. However, all the equipment is dirty. "This room could use a good dusting.

"The machinery has not been used in a very long time," Bocoe notes, as it looks like this room has been abandoned. "Are you sure this is the right place, doctor?"

"According to the records, the shadow creature is sleeping in that machine," Eggman explains and they stroll over to the capsule, but they can't see inside it. Eggman steps down from his Egg Mobile. "Time to wake it up. First I enter a fake user ID and then I enter the password," He spells out Maria's name. "I'll give it some juice with this Chaos emerald and we're all set!" He places down a white Chaos emerald in the control panel and the machine powers up. Some steam is emitted as they're surrounded by the white smoke, and the container starts to glow. It starts to open until finally, the door opens. Something from inside stands up and Eggman gasps.

"You! It can't be!" The person looks to be...

A hedgehog...


	34. Shadow Knows

Challishanlon99: Oh I'm so excited for the next chapter anyway I wanted to ask Sophia and the others what do you guys think about special needs kids and would you be friends with one I'm not trying to be rude or anything I'm just asking anyway thank you for this chapter and good luck Sonic, Sophia, Amy, Knuckles, Chris, everyone and I can't wait for the next one and please be careful.

 **Sophia: Special need kids are people like us, though we do wish they live happy and healthy lives. And thank you for your well wishes.**

 **Angel: In high school, special need kids would come and learn with us. They'd also listen in and we'd help them during our classes. So I had a lot of interaction with them before I moved out of Florida. I don't think I keep in touch with that school anymore, so I imagine that they'd be in college or doing whatever. Personally, I think that they're people and they need to be acknowledged. Heck, they would even help take money from other students when I had to help sell coffee for community service hours with my sister. It was fun *smiles***

Crazycartoons5488: Princess Sophia and Sonic go to Space Colony ARK. To save Chris.

 **Angel: Well...we'll just have to wait and see what happens, because this episode and the next to come have major spoilers.**

Bajy: Great job here! Enter the Shadow Saga! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Heck yeeeeeeeeah, Shadow Saga is best saga T^T Metarex Saga can go away, nah I'm just kidding XD**

Bajy: Will Sophia be with Sonic to rescue Chris on the ARK? Or will she be with Chris on the ARK as Sonic will go to save them?

 **Angel: I can't answer either of those without giving away anything major.**

Ichabod: And at last, Shadow has been found. Looks like Sonic and his friends are in for a whole new bushel of troubles. Especially with the G.U.N. organization on the rise...

Ichy: And in Turtle-related news, it was quadruple trouble for the green teens and Amelia when they had to fight 4 villains...and deal with one lame worm, all while being stuck together. Honestly? Wish I could've been there to see it happen. But alas, there will come another battle...and maybe I'll find a chance to get involved...

 **Angel: *sighs* Intervention time. I don't really wanna say this where people can see it, but...you need to move on. I'm sorry I couldn't find a place for Ichy, but I'm tired of hearing this all the time. I already used him once, and I am writing for stories 5 days a week. No offense, but please stop bringing it up. I have never heard anything like this from anyone I've used OCs for. Just be grateful he was in a universe at all. Stop trying to guilt-trip me, because almost every single time you review, I have to hear about this. No! Stop bringing it up! I didn't forget what happened, I don't need a reminder! If you can't move on, then you can't move on, man. Go think about your actions and your words because it is what it is and I can't change that. I just can't. And also, review for what's in Sonic X, not Rise of TMNT. I don't need that here.**

"Attention control." A helicopter is flying over the city. "We are currently heading south. Suspect is in custody."

"This is control speaking. We verified your position. Handle suspect carefully. He's a slippery little guy."

The suspect...is Sonic! He's handcuffed, surrounded by GUN soldiers. "You're awful quiet."

"So what?" Sonic retorts back.

"Well from what I heard, you caused quite a ruckus over at Prison Island the other night. Now we can't get two words outta you," The guard explains.

"Guess I'm not feeling too chatty," Sonic glares at him and he stands up.

"You better watch that smart mouth, hedgehog, or you'll be running laps in a ten by nine cell."

Sonic smirks at the thought. Then some noises are heard. "What's going on up there?" Sonic opens the door to the plane, free as he knocked out the guards. He jumps onto the wing.

"I gotta get the jump on these fly guys."

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? Come back!" Despite the protest, Sonic jumps out of the plane, spinning around with a spare piece of metal as a skateboard.

Some kids are skating in a dome when Sonic comes in from the sky, skating to the other side. "Sorry dudes!" He leaves them in shock.

"Suspect located," GUN at this moment are trying to track him down.

"Deploy robots immediately."

"Roger."

Sonic speeds down the streets, stopping as he looks up to see GUN robots coming right towards him. "I am out of here!" He runs in the other direction. The robots start shooting lasers at him and he jumps out of the way. One of them hits a traffic light, destroys a car, and damages buildings. "Whoa! They mean business!" he runs into an alley and goes into the sewers, diverting the robots away.

"Could I possibly think any lower?" He asks sarcastically as he walks, thinking to himself over what's happened. _What am I running away from, anyway? I mean, I haven't done anything wrong, have I? I just wonder what it is they think I did._

* * *

Meanwhile, Chris is walking to school, alone. Sophia said she'd come for a visit soon, but today she has other things to deal with when he asked her over the phone. She didn't say what exactly, and it was a little suspicious. It was like...she knew something that he didn't. Something probably even the President knew, but it seemed like she knew that something was happening today. "Hey Chris, I heard you come from Station Square," A boy says.

"Uh, yeah," Chris says, as he must've heard about the flood.

"Have you ever seen Sonic the Hedgehog up close? And Princess Sophia?"

"Uh, Sonic and Sophia? Well, sorta." Chris looks up as he thinks about his friends. Sonic didn't even say goodbye...

"What's he like? Is he really that fast? Is Sophia really a princess? She's really strong?"

"You bet he's fast! And Sophia really is a princess. Her parents are still away...They're faster than anybody. And they're nicer than anybody, too..."

"Wish I could meet 'em," The boy replies. "But who knows? If we're lucky, maybe we'll both get to meet him someday. Well I gotta get to class. Later!" He leaves Chris to himself.

"See ya!" Chris waves after him, looking up at the sky. He...had heard about Sonic's arrest. _Did Sonic really do all those things he heard about? And why only Sonic? Nothing was heard about Sophia at all. If she knew about it, wouldn't she stop him? No one even knows where she is..._

* * *

The president is being transported as Christina reads a report. "Mr. President, it appears our undercover operative has settled into his new mission and will have all of the resources necessary."

"Good work," He says in approval, "And what about the flood?"

"Well, sir, I've read the full report over the last few days. There was some damage, but from what I can gather, none of the citizens were harmed in any way. Sophia has been a great help with the clean-up."

"And what about Sonic? Is there any new information?" The president wonders.

"I'm afraid it doesn't look good. And with a crime of this magnitude, sir, I'm not sure the government should get involved," She states, unsure if they could really handle the situation.

"I don't know. This just doesn't sound like him. Sophia would've noticed and informed us..."

"I agree with you, sir." The president turns around in confusion as Sam is still his driver. "Sonic would never do such a thing. I think he's been wrongly accused, Mr. President, and I think you should do something about it." Sonic may be faster, too confident, and smug, but a thief? Never. Not after all he and Sophia have done to protect and defend Station Square from Eggman's attacks.

"Just drive," The president orders.

"Either way, I don't feel it would look good for us to be involved," Christina states her pinion. "We should wash our hands of him."

"Do you really think so?"

"I do, sir," She answers, the car suddenly coming to a stop. She lands on the floor, looking up at Sam. "Are you crazy?! What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to do my job. Just driving," Sam replies smugly.

* * *

At a museum, which is closed, there sits a green Chaos emerald underneath a glass case. A hedgehog stands in front of it and the alarm is heard going off. The hedgehog gets away, but is surrounded by the security bots.

One of them locks him as a target, but he simply smirks. The robots fire lasers at him and he jumps out of the way of every single one. He holds out his hands as fire appears, taking out every single robot. He runs off as fast as Sonic.

Clearly, Sonic has another speed rival...

* * *

At the White House, the President is being informed about the robbery. "Mr. President, I have some bad news. Sonic was just seen at the National Museum of Art attempting to steal the Chaos emerald!"

"It can't be!" The president exclaims in shock. Sonic would never steal.

"My men are awaiting your instructions, sir."

"We have no choice. Find him and place him under arrest," The president orders, as he couldn't let a potential criminal roam the streets.

"I beg your pardon?!"

They turn to the entrance to see Sophia standing there, shocked. "You wish Sonic to be arrested? Whatever for?" She steps up to the desk.

"He stole a Chaos emerald from the National Museum of Art," Christina tells her gently, as she knew that Sonic was a good friend to her. "You haven't heard?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog. You must be mistaken," Sophia states seriously and narrows her eyes as she doesn't believe it. Sonic was a hero to all. He was her first friend when she landed at Sonic's world, or what it was before. There was no way that he would ever steal. If anything, she suspected Rouge, but she was working for the government now.

"I'm sorry, Sophia, I know you two protect Station Square together, which I am grateful for, but I have to take action."

"NO!" She slams down her hands on the desk, shocking everyone in the room. "You only wish to arrest him to get rid of this situation! Having a hero arrested will not do anything but leave you with guilt and I am sure that he did not do this!"

"Go on," The president waves to his informant.

"Yes, Mr. President. I'll alert all divisions immediately, sir."

"You cannot do this to him!" Sophia exclaims as he walks away. "Sonic would never steal after all he has done! And I will prove it!" She walks away, slamming the door. The president and Christina sigh, as she has a point. But they couldn't take any chances.

"Attention all division commanders," The informant starts off. "Sonic the Hedgehog has gone underground. "Let's go get him!"

The robots take off into the sky to search for the hedgehog.

* * *

At their apartment, Ella, Mr. Tanaka, Cream, Cheese, Chris, and Chuck are watching TV when the news interrupts. "And now a breaking news story. I'm standing in the main pavilion of the National Museum of Art, where earlier tonight, a thief broke through security and stole a priceless Chaos emerald. Authorities found these images on tapes confiscated from the Museum Security cameras."

They show the footage of a black hedgehog that has red streaks on the back of his quills. He breaks the case holding the emerald and the alarm is sounded. His face is barely shown, but he does have white chest hair. He runs away, the others shocked.

"Was that Sonic?!" Chris exclaims in surprise.

"It can't be! Sonic would never take something that didn't belong to him," Cream defends, Cheese agreeing with her. They've known Sonic for as long as they can remember, and he would never do something like this.

"Yeah right," Chuck denies it, "That was Sonic on those security tapes."

"It can't be!" Chris yells at him as everyone else gives him angry looks.

"He was framed!" Mr. Tanaka and Ella shout.

"That's right!" Cream agrees with them.

"Uh," Chuck sweats nervously as everyone is ganging up on him. "Maybe it wasn't him. I guess you can't always believe your eyes."

"Surprisingly enough, authorities have determined from this footage that the thief is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog," The reporter continues, "According to reports, Sonic has destroyed numerous government tanks and fled to an unknown location."

"But there..." Chris pauses, worried, "There must be some kind of mistake. Sonic wouldn't...ah," He sighs at all the information he's been told.

"Of course he wouldn't, Mister Chris," Ella tries to assure him, "I'm sure there are some explanations. Sophia is probably out there trying to help him right now."

Mr. Tanaka nods at him, Chris stepping up to his window. He presses his hands against the window, trying to decide who's right and who's wrong. He doesn't understand anything today...

 _Sonic, Sophia, what's happening?_

* * *

Sophia is running as fast as she can down the highway to the National Museum of Art to get some answers. "There must be an explanation for all of this. Someone is trying to frame my friend...but who? It has to be another hedgehog with all of this confusion in the air..."

She jumps off the highway and lands on a lamp post, looking out to the city as her hair flies into waves behind her. "Even if it is another hedgehog...how can this be? I only know of Sonic and Amy as hedgehogs..."

She had a feeling...she didn't know what exactly she would be expecting, but somehow, something felt very familiar here...all of this was very strange, yet for some reason it reminds her of her childhood, which is also strange considering how she grew up on a different planet.

"My friend...I will find the answers I am searching for...and all of this will be over..."

She leaps down towards the city with a determined look on her face.

* * *

A laser shoots through the bars to the sewers. The robots flood the sewers and all other entryways as ordered. The robots go through all of the entrances they blasted through.

In the sewers, there are some homeless people down there are talking about the recent theft. They have a campfire going for light as the sewers are very dark at night. "What are you, crazy or something? Sonic ain't no thief."

"I wouldn't make this up!" Jerome insists, "I saw it on a TV in a repair shop window! Would I lie to you? No! I tell you, they saw him steal the thing. Princess Sophia is in on it too! She probably told him to steal that emerald for her own benefit! She is royalty after all, she's probably framing him."

"Hey," The man says in defense, as Sophia would never do something like that. She's too kind.

"And not only that, they caught him breaking into Prison Island just last night, red-handed. Probably trying to steal government secrets. See, this all goes back to the princess! Why else would he do it? Because she's a part of government! She's probably trying to sell them online for more money!" He didn't actually know that, but it was more than likely true. The other homeless men growl at him for his lies.

Sonic suddenly runs by as the robots chase after him, shocking all of the men.

* * *

Sophia lands in front of the museum, stepping up to the guard. "I wish to view the footage of the recent events."

"Oh yeah, what for?" He crosses his arms and she looks a little miffed at his attitude.

"You listen to me," She clenches her fists. "I am attempting to clear my friend and his name of this wrongdoing. Sonic the Hedgehog would never steal a Chaos emerald and whoever is doing this is trying to frame him. I am not sure why him only, but know this, you incompetent and disrespectful fool of a man. If you wish to stand in my way of clearing his good name, I will move you myself, whether you like it or not."

He nods slowly, gesturing to the entrance with a nervous smile. "My apologizes, your highness. You can go right in."

She walks past him and he faints, scared.

* * *

Sophia is now standing in the security office, looking at all the cameras. "Please rewind your devices to when the theft occurred."

The guard nods and does so. She watches it for five seconds. "Stop." He pauses to when the face can barely be seen. "It is certainly another hedgehog as Sonic does not have any chest hair that I know of..."

The guard presses play and she tells him to stop again when she can see the quills. "Sonic is blue, not black and red. Surely this is enough to clear him if they did not look so much alike...who is he?" Sophia murmurs to herself. She had to find out more or else it wouldn't hold up...The guard hands her the tape and she thanks him, walking past the same guard she scolded.

"This hedgehog...I have never seen anything like him before...and yet I feel like I know this person...but at the same time, I do not."

* * *

A car is driving down the street to Prison Island, coming to a stop at the entrance. Scarlet Garcia and Mr. Stewart are the ones inside.

"How did you manage to get permission for me to visit Prison Island?" Scarlet asks, as it's not easy to get inside, especially since the break-in. Security has gotten more tighter than before.

"Well, let's just say I have connections in high places," Mr. Stewart states, which intrigues her. He shows his ID to the camera, which allows them access inside the building.

"Who are you exactly?" She wonders and he turns to her.

"Just a fellow newshound, that's all," He answers, driving inside Prison Island.

Inside, they question the warden. "Have you ever heard of a government operation called Project Shadow?" Scarlet asks, as she's recording the conversation.

"I'm afraid that's top secret," He denies, "However, after last night, I'm not sure how much longer it will stay secret," He pulls out a remote. "Take a look," He presses a button and they turn to the screen on the wall. "This is security cam video from last night. As you can see, Eggman and the hedgehog broke into the system. And they're trying to steal the Project Shadow file."

They see Eggman standing alone in the room where he found the project, only to be confronted by a security robot. "This video tape makes it clear as day. Sonic is no longer concerned with the safety of our citizens and has decided to join forces with the enemy. He had us all fooled, didn't he?"

"What happens next, sir?" Mr. Stewart questions, as he's wondering why Sophia didn't notice this or if she knew. Probably not considering there is no information about her since the past day. Not a single mention from the news and yet Sonic is getting attention...

"Quite simple. We arrest him and try him for high reason. Didn't Sophia tell you all this? I told the same thing to her 20 minutes ago."

Scarlet and Mr. Stewart both gasp in unison. "Sophia? She was here?"

"Yes, you just missed her. She was quite distressed when I told her the news. She insisted on giving her the tape, but I couldn't. So I gave her a copy of the tape so she wouldn't come back and she left. I believe she is trying to clear Sonic's name. But we all know that the truth is clear."

The two glance at each other, wondering why Sophia would take a tape with incriminating footage if she heard about Sonic's arrest...

* * *

In the city, Sonic escapes with the sewers with robots pouring out from underground after him. He uses the manhole cover to knock them all down. "That was easy."

A light appears from above as a larger robot appears. Sonic gives a smug look. "Can't hang around, big guy, sorry. I'll give you a ring sometime," He holds up a ring. "What do you say?"

The robot starts firing at him and he jumps around to dodge them all. He leaps into the air, the ring shining in his hand. He goes into spin mode, but he misses the robot.

"Now that's what I call a tight squeeze."

The robot turns around and fires missiles at him. Sonic runs up a building as the missiles fly after him. He jumps off and lands on the robot, jumping away just in time so that the missiles hit and destroy the robot.

"That guy's gotta work on his aim a little bit!"

There's suddenly a flash from the robot and Sonic gasps, turning around as he's never seen something like that from a robot before. Someone appears on top of the robot.

"What the?!"

It's the same black hedgehog that was briefly shown on the news. His black fur has red accents, but they're mainly on his quills. He has a different spike arrangement than Sonic. They're slightly stiffer and slightly upward. He has red eyes and wears white gloves on his hands. His boots are white and black-red jet-boots of some sort.

"Believe me, I must say it's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face, Sonic," he speaks in greeting. "We do look alike, it's uncanny."

"Wait a minute! So it's you that's been getting me in all this hot water lately!" Sonic exclaims in realization. "Imposter!"

"Sonic!"

The two hedgehogs turn to see Sophia floating towards the ground. "I finally found you. I have evidence that-" She sees the mysterious black hedgehog and gasps, dropping the tapes. He sees her and gasps as well, everyone silent as the two stare at each other in the eyes. The hedgehog looks like...he's about to cry. But Sophia doesn't seem the same as she tilts her head at him.

"You...you're the other hedgehog..."

"...Sophia...it's you..."

Her eyes widen as he knows her name, despite her never meeting him. Not that she knows of. "What?" She murmurs in confusion as he sounds like he knows her personally.

Sonic yells as he goes to attack the hedgehog, but he disappears. He looks around, confused as Sophia tries to figure out what just happened. _He...knew my name? How? I have never seen him before and I do not know him...I wonder what happened...that look...it seemed as if he...missed me? How can he miss someone who does not recognize him? I certainly would know if I had met another hedgehog..._

Mr. Stewart stares at the picture of the hedgehog at Prison Island. It certainly looks like Sonic. _Still, there's something strange, different about it..._

Sonic steps off the robot, glancing at Sophia. "Why didn't you tell me about him? I would've liked to know!"

"Sonic, I swear, I do not know him or why he said my name like that," She denies seriously. "If I had seen another hedgehog, I would inform you!"

He looks at her as she's dead serious. _I believe her, but how does he know her? How can this be? She doesn't know him, why did he say her name like...like he has memories of her?_

A shadow looms over them and they look up to see the hedgehog standing on the roof. "I assure you, Sonic. I'm no imposter. I possess far too much power to be anything but the real thing." He then looks at Sophia. "And I do not wish to harm her in any way."

 _So that's why she wasn't framed..._

"Well if you're so powerful, let's see you prove it," Sonic challenges, turning to Sophia. "You stay here."

"No," Sophia denies, "I arrived here to help you, and help you I shall. I wanted to get some answers and this..." She glances at the roof, "Hedgehog has some things that I wish to know."

"You don't remember me?" He wonders, "We were friends, Sophia. I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. Surely you know me now?" His voice tries not to crack.

"What?" Sonic murmurs in confusion.

"No, I do not know you. I am sorry for the confusion, Shadow, but I would know if I were friends with another hedgehog," Sophia calls out and he clenches a fist, trying not to shake. _How does she not remember? All of those cherished memories...or me?_

Sonic runs up the building, followed by Sophia, but Shadow disappears again by the time they land. They hear laughing and turn around to see Shadow at the top of another building.

"Hey, not bad. I'm almost impressed. How about a little race action?" Sonic speeds down to the street, Shadow glancing at Sophia. She can sense that there's a look of longing and despair on him, surprised. It was like a part of his soul was just ripped away from him...all because she doesn't know him? Those supposed memories must be important to him...

So why doesn't she remember? She thought she lived her life on Sonic's planet, not wherever she met another hedgehog.

"Well? Since you're a speeder, you might as well join us," He tells her, jumping down and leaving her with that. Sophia glances down, wondering if she should actually do it. Maybe if she did, she might find out more...like how he knows that she has super speed.

She follows after the two hedgehogs as the three speed down the street. But instead of running, Shadow is gliding using his boots.

* * *

"You're kidding!" Chuck is on the phone. "Unbelievable. Well, be sure to call us right away if anything else happens." He hangs up, glancing at Chris who is looking for an explanation. "That was your father. Apparently Sonic's been spotted battling a government robot on Downhill Street! And Sophia's been stealing tapes with incriminating evidence!"

Chris immediately stands up, running past them. "Chris, where are you going?" Ella wonders, Mr. Tanaka leaning in.

"I will follow Mr. Thorndyke," He runs after the boy.

"Slow down, I'll come with you!" Chuck calls out.

* * *

Sonic and Sophia are running side by side, Shadow gliding to the left of Sonic. Shadow moves to the right slightly, Sonic jumping so he's on Shadow's left side.

 _He's tougher than I thought he was! But still, how does he know Sophia? And if he does have those supposed memories, how come she doesn't?_

"Ha! Think you can beat me?" Shadow asks smugly. Sonic just glances at him, trying to pull the lead by speeding up. "Not quite." Shadow manages to catch up with them, glancing at the princess. She can see this look in his eyes that she doesn't understand.

Chris, Chuck, and Mr. Tanaka are driving down the street when they see Sonic and Sophia running. Shadow quickly disappears, Sophia wondering how he's doing it. Her speed, his teleportation, it all seems so familiar...is he connected to her powers? After all, she doesn't know where she got them...Sonic comes to a stop before Shadow kicks him from behind, knocking the hedgehog down.

"What just happened?"

Sophia turns around sharply, pulling out her sword in one swift motion. Shadow just grins at it. "Ah, that little thing again...you haven't changed a bit, Sophia."

"I know not of what you speak," Sophia narrows her eyes, but she doesn't attack. She doesn't want to hurt him because he hasn't harmed her in any way, but...all his talk is confusing her. For some reason, she wanted to know more. A camera appears from above, watching the three.

"Sonic's a bit overwhelmed, isn't he? The princess too, it seems. I certainly can't blame them, I felt rather confused myself when I encountered Shadow for the first time." Eggman then gets a flashback to what happened on Prison Island after his discovery.

 _Eggman was almost done getting the capsule open. When he did, Shadow sat up slowly. "What?!" Eggman backed away in shock. "It's that hedgehog! How dare you deceive me, you speedy little slimeball?!" He then noticed the black and red fur, knowing this possibly couldn't be Sonic. "Wait, you're not Sonic."_

 _Shadow stepped out of his capsule, standing in front of Eggman as the fog cleared. He bent down to his knees. "My name is Shadow. You've awakened me from a state of suspended animation and I am very grateful. To show my gratitude, I am at your command. I only ask for one thing in return: that you let me see my old friend...Sophia."_

 _Eggman stared at him as Shadow was pledging his loyalty and his mouth opened in shock as he let that last sentence sink in. This could work in his favor..._

 _He turned around as a security bot was walking right towards them. "Bad timing as usual."_

 _"Wait," He turned to Shadow. "I will show you my power, Doctor." Shadow leapt up in the air and punched the robot._

Sophia gasps as she drops her sword. She looks at Shadow who says nothing. What did she just see? Did she...did she just see a dream of Shadow and Eggman meeting...?

"You've met your match, Sonic! Compared to Shadow's fancy footwork, you're slow as an amount of molasses! And now that you two have gotten a bit better acquainted, you're sure to see that for yourself!" He declares, hoping Shadow will once and for all defeat Sonic. "And you've made Sophia grow weak at the knees. She's not even attacking now. Who's to say she'll ever be the same after this?" He laughs as Sophia's hands are shaking.

Shadow stands over Sonic as Sophia is shaking, not sure of what to do. He had walked right past her. If what he was saying was true, did she really interact with him at a time that she never knew? What if...what if everything she knew was false? How on Earth could she possibly know someone that fast, strong...

Shadow holds up a green Chaos emerald.

"He's got a Chaos emerald!" Chris narrows his eyes and Sonic stands up.

"Where'd you get that Chaos emerald, you phony freak? Hand it over!" Sonic demands, running over to Shadow, who disappears before the hedgehog can get to him. Shadow reappears behind Sonic.

"You can do better than that, Sonic. If you don't light a fire under those feet, you'll never get this emerald back!"

"Shadow...was it?"

The two glance over to Sophia, who looks conflicted. "If you are my friend as you say...then surely you understand that this is wrong..."

Shadow closes his eyes, not wanting to look at her. "This is personal, Sophia." Sonic leaps up into the air and flies towards Shadow, who disappears yet again.

"He really is faster than I am!" Sonic shouts.

"But that's not speed," Chuck calls out, "He's disappearing!"

"Whoa," Chris comments as they've never seen this type of power before.

Shadow is now standing on top of a lamp post. "That's not all. I'm full of surprises."

"Grandpa," Chris murmurs and Shadow holds up the emerald.

"Chaos control, now." The emerald glows and with that, he disappears yet again.

 _He can cause Chaos Control with just one Chaos emerald? Who is he, and where did he come from? And how come he knows Sophia, but she doesn't know him? He won't attack her, so he must have fond memories of her._

Shadow suddenly appears next to Sonic, who swings his leg for a kick. Shadow dodges it and starts punching Sonic repeatedly in the stomach before hitting him in the face. He kicks him again.

"Leave him alone!" Chris and Sophia shout in unison.

"Like to fight dirty, don't ya?" Sonic asks as Sophia runs up to Shadow.

"Consider yourself fortunate. If I'd have used my full strength, you'd have been much worse off than this." he looms over Sonic and Sophia steps in front of him, swinging her arm.

"Chaos spear!" She fires four pink spears at him and he jumps away, staring at her. She's panting, sweating a little. "Cease this attack. Now!"

"...Many years ago, Professor Gerald Robotnik endowed me with the power of Chaos Control. And I taught it...to a student. One with, shall you say, immense powers that were never explained how she got them." Sophia gasps as she realizes who he's talking about... "A normal creature like yourself doesn't stand a chance against me," He explains.

"Don't underestimate us normal types," Sonic retorts and Shadow huffs slightly as he can hear the police sirens.

"I have a feeling I should make myself scarce. Goodbye, Sonic. It certainly was a great pleasure. I'll be taking a little gift with me." He grabs Sophia's hand. "Chaos Control, now!"

"Sophia! NO!" Sonic shouts as she disappears with him, his friends gasping. The police cars show up, leaving the only trace of Sophia the tapes she was supposed to show Sonic.

"Sonic, we've got you surrounded. You're under arrest, put your hands up." Sonic stands up as the vehicles surround him.

"No way! You can't arrest me! I didn't do anything!" Sonic protests, "Honest! You gotta let me go, I have to save my friend!"

"I'm gonna give you to the count of five to surrender." The chief looks at his watch. "Ready? One. Two."

Sonic growls at them not listening. "Turn yourself in, Sonic!" He glances at Chris in shock. "You're already in trouble. Just do what they say. Sophia can handle herself with him, you know he won't harm her."

Sonic grins slightly as he realizes the plan. "Please, Sonic." Chris looks like he's about to cry, but it's all an act.

"Your time's up, buddy. Now let's move, we got a special cell over on Prison Island with your name on it."

"Did you just say Prison Island?" Sonic asks curiously, as there was a break-in there...maybe that's where Shadow came from. That's where this all started, after all...

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Really? You mean that's where you're taking me from here?"

"That's where we usually take criminals," The chief explains.

"Okay Chris, I'll do it," Sonic turns to the boy. "I'm gonna turn myself in! Alright, guys, cuff me. I'm all yours." He sits on the ground. "Only...just take it easy on the wrists, fellas." You might use Chaos Control, friend, but I'm gonna have to get out of this without tricks. I'll do it, somehow. And when I do, we'll meet again and I'll get my friend back!

Sonic is taken away, his friends staring in shock. He turns to Chris. "Don't worry about me, Chris, I'll be out before you know it, buddy. Sophia will be okay, she can take care of herself with Eggman!"

"I hope so." This time Chris is crying for real. At the sake of Sonic's well-being, he insisted he turned himself in...and for what? Measly information? He just hoped that Sonic would get out safely. The chief takes the tapes that Sophia 'borrowed' and the helicopter takes off. Shadow is staring after it, holding Sophia over his shoulder. She's unconscious due to the power of Chaos Control, which she's not used to.

 _I won't let anyone stand in my way. Least of all you, Sonic. Maria...Sophia..._ He glances at the girl next to him.

Back at the base, a popper goes off, confetti falling over the hedgehog. "Yippee! We did it, we did it!" Eggman shakes Shadow's hand. "That hedgehog's in the hoosegow thanks to you, Shadow! And we have a bargain chip in case he decides to cross me again!" He glances at Sophia on the ground.

"He is practically busting his buttons," Decoe comments.

"That jacket always was tight around the tummy," Bocoe replies.

"Remember, doctor, you must still obtain five more Chaos emeralds in order to use the Eclipse Cannon," Shadow reminds him. "But when you do, it will give you ultimate power and make you master of the universe."

"Sounds good to me!" Eggman cheers. "And now to hash out the rest of our dastardly strategy. Let's see..."

Bokkun suddenly comes into the room. "Doctor, I have a message for you this time." He throws the TV into Eggman's hands. The message is from Rouge.

"Hiya doc. Long time no see. I was wondering if we could get together to discuss a little business transaction."

"A 'business transaction?' " Decoe asks in confusion.

"I would not trust her, doctor," Bocoe states, as he could sense that Rouge has a different motive.

"Who asked, you boltbrain? Fetch her right away!" Eggman replies.

"Uh oh."

"Here we go," They can hear ticking and the bomb goes off, Bokkun laughing.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"Don't blame me," Bokkun replies, "Lots of stuff on television bombs!" He laughs at his joke. Shadow glances over to Sophia, who is trying to open her eyes. He bends down over to her, placing his hand on her hair.

"Shadow...why...?" She murmurs as she feels weak from all the power she experienced. She could feel everything getting darker...

"...You'll understand in time. Sleep now." He moves her eyes so that they're closed and she falls into a deep sleep.

* * *

Rouge lands inside the base, holding some flowers. "I just hope this little scam of mine works." Eggman skids to a stop in front of her, scaring the bat a little. He has smolder on him.

"I didn't expect you so soon."

"Good evening, doctor. I have a little something I'd like to show you," She puts her hand into the bouquet, pulling out the blue Chaos emerald.

"A Chaos emerald...!"

"It's all yours, Eggy. If you agree to my conditions. All you have to do is be a good boy and play nice and I'll tell you where the others are. What do you say, doc, do we have a deal?"

Shadow huffs at her, turning around back to Sophia. Rouge doesn't notice her...yet. He already doesn't like her.

"That depends. What do you want?" Eggman wonders and Shadow has a flashback to a blonde girl with blue eyes...not only that, but also a young Sophia.

"Pleasure before business. Who's this charming friend of yours?" Rouge glances at Shadow, looking down to see the princess. She gasps, but says nothing, biting her lip. "I'm Rouge the Bat, what's your name?"

"It's Shadow." He turns around to her. "Shadow the Hedgehog." There's this look in his eyes that makes Rouge gasp. She looks down towards Sophia, who doesn't seem to be waking up anytime soon.

"So, where'd you get the princess from?"

"Princess?" Shadow asks in confusion, glancing at Sophia. "Huh...she's my friend...or, at least, that's how I remember her. But she doesn't remember me at all. Perhaps something happened during her years..."

He sighs in thought, leaning against Sophia as he feels the softness of her hair. He places his hand on top of hers, concerned about what could've happened to her. Sophia slightly hums, moving her hand so that she's holding his. She's so out of it, she doesn't even know what she's doing. Rouge stares at them, wondering their history...

 _Sophia..._

* * *

Back on land, Chris and Mr. Tanaka are boarding a yacht, wearing disguises. Ella, Cream, Cheese, and Chuck are staring after them in worry.

"Don't worry, you guys, we'll be back soon. But...this is something I have to find out for myself."

"We understand, Chris. You two take care of yourselves," Chuck states, Chris looking up at Mr. Tanaka.

"Why do we have to dress like this, Mr. Tanaka?"

"I am inspired by my boyhood hero," Mr. Tanaka explains, gesturing to himself.

Tails flies over on the X Tornado, Amy sitting behind him. "Come on! We got to get to Prison Island in a hurry!" She's growing worried by the second for Sonic and Sophia. Her hero is stuck in prison, and she had to break him out of there. Not only that, Sophia is in Eggman's clutches, who knows what he would do?

"What a bossy..."

"What did you say?!" Amy stands up, getting angry. Tails stammers, a little scared.

On Prison Island, Sonic sits in an underwater cell with odd writing on the wall. _What a day...who'd have thought I'd be thrown in jail for something I didn't do? I better think fast and use my time wisely. And figure out who that Shadow was. And what he wants. And how Sophia doesn't remember him, but he does in a fond way...I just hope that he stays true to his word and doesn't hurt her...when I get out of here, I'll rescue you, Sophia._

 _My friend..._


	35. Sonic and Sophia's Big Break

**Angel: I'm not sure what I'll be doing for Thanksgiving, since my family here in Georgia didn't really make plans. Plus I'm only off for the whole week, so I have certain restrictions when it comes to trips back home. Sometimes when they go to Florida, I have to stay home so that I can go to my classes or that I don't miss a day. Either way, I'm updating this on a Tuesday only this week so that I don't have people asking me what's going on and in case I actually do have plans for Thursday. Now let's get to the responses because there is a LOT.**

Vortex Lord: Oh no. Sophia, I hope you'll be alright.

 **Angel: It's Sophia, she'll be fine XD**

*Ichy's body proceeds to fade away as he leaves*

Ichabod: ...I guess he's gone for good; I suppose I'll miss him even though we didn't know each other too well. *coughs* But one thing I will NEVER understand is...how did GUN mistake Sonic for Shadow? He's black and red, Sonic is BLUE! I think these guys might be colorblind, or just really dumb.

 **Angel: *rubs temple* If I have to talk about Ichy one more time in my life, it'll get pointless and I don't need the reminder shoved down my throat! Changing the subject, I think they were just confused about what was going on since they didn't know about Project Shadow. You have to remember that everyone was confusing Shadow for Sonic because they've never seen a hedgehog like him—well, everyone except Sophia. So, I think the confusion was because of a lack of information, and it was understandably justified.**

SwanGirl24: Sorry if I'm bothering you with this, but if you do decide to keep Shadow alive, you could have Sophia make him a knight and will Sophia's parents be introduced along with Cream's mother?

 **Angel: It's not really a bother, ask me anything! Well, not anything. It takes a lot to bug me depending on why certain people are annoying me. Especially if it's for a stupid reason. Anyway, I know what I'll do with him, but I'm not going to spoil. You'll have to wait! As for Sophia's parents, yes, they will be, but Sophia's reaction will be not as you expect. There be spoilers afoot.**

Guest D: So, Shadow somehow knows Sophia. That's going to take some explaining. While on the subject, Shadow poses an interesting question about the show's future. Sonic and the others went back to their world because Sonic's presence on Earth was causing the two worlds to merge. But here's the thing, Eggman's grandfather was from Earth, which means Eggman is also from Earth, and he's been on Sonic's world for definitely longer than Sonic and friends have been on Earth. Shadow is just as powerful as Sonic, and Chris went to Sonic's world to visit. The worlds should've merged, because of Shadow that time, but they didn't. All of this means that someone was wrong about the worlds merging, or they intentionally got rid of Sonic, Eggman, and the others. The separation of the gang and their human friends was needless. They could stay on Earth, and with a little modification, the Metarex saga could happen with them never needing to go back to their world in the first place. They don't have to leave. Sorry if I rambled, I just never liked how Sonic and the others had to leave Earth and their friends behind. Just something to consider whenever you get past the Sonic Battle arc.

 **Angel: ...Huh. Wasn't expecting to get this one. I'm unfamiliar with the 'going home situation' right now since it's been a while since I actually watched it, so I need a reminder. As for why the worlds weren't merging, maybe there's a set of rules that we don't know about. Maybe humans like Eggman don't really affect the process, or someone, like Shadow, who wasn't actively living life on Earth. He wasn't physically moving around on Earth, so maybe he or Eggman are exceptions to the rule. Not everyone in Station Square affects the worlds merging, just Sonic and the others. Shadow wasn't on their world and he's definitely not from it, so I can understand why he didn't do anything to the worlds. Or maybe it's just a really slow process, I don't know. I'm just assuming since I haven't seen the episodes regarding it for years now. And I don't think the Chaos emeralds could even modify the process, it's not like they can physically see it. Personally, I loved the Metarex saga, and no offense, but if they stay on Earth, how would they know that the Metarex is a threat? As far as I can tell, they have no knowledge of Station Square since it's an parallel universe. So how would Sonic and the gang KNOW about their threat to space if they still stayed there? Think about it, if they weren't in space, their planet's egg would've been stolen a long time ago. So, yeah, I probably won't consider them staying. Sorry, but Metarex saga still brings up some danger, and they need to stop them.**

Crazycartoons5488: Shadow took Princess Sophia. Eggman grandfather meet young Sophia in the past why?

 **Angel: I...am really confused about the second part. If you're referring to Sophia seeing Eggman releasing Shadow, it was a vision, she wasn't actually there. She doesn't know about Eggman's grandpa.**

Natalie: Ohh yay things are getting good

 **Angel: I admit I've been a little lazy in my writing, but only because I want this story to be finished.**

GuardianDragon98: Plot twist! I never imagined Shadow and Sophia would have a history. Wonder if Maria also knew the Princess...

 **Angel: Hypothetically, if Shadow knows her, then Maria would too.**

Bajy: Chaotic ain't it? I was most certainly not expecting this at all. Great job here! How does Shadow know Sophia but she doesn't remember him? And how she was able to see into the past during that fight? I'll just have to wait to find out in the next chapter, the next chapter is gonna be great I can feel it under my bones! XD This is exciting! Excellent job as always my friend! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: More will be revealed...and you might have a good feeling about this chapter, so thank you!**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia and Rose are going to say goodbye to Chris and everybody and they have to go back to their home and take care of her kingdom in Sonic's world in SONIC X Ep51 – Friends 'Til the End

 **Angel: Stop predicting episodes, it's getting old and a little annoying for me.**

Guest: Princess Sophia and Rose and the rest of Sonic's friends are going fight Eggman and wait for Sonic in SONIC X Ep52 – A New Start

 **Angel: *pinches nose with a sigh* Again with the predicting? Why do people try to do that?**

Challishanlon99: Oh please be okay Sophia and Sonic please be careful both of you please be careful I don't want anything bad to happen to you guys anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more i really love the story so much by the way Sophia, Sonic, I have a question wouldn't it be cool if you can walk and run on water Sonic I know you're afraid of water but wouldn't' it be cool if there was a way for you to run on water really fast like you do on land? But so that you don't get wet I think it would be pretty cool to think about it in case you ever want to go to Hawaii you can just run there without ever getting wet anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait to hear from you guys again.

 **Angel: Sophia's not here with me since she's with Shadow right now, but she'll be fine. We've all seen her defend herself. I think I can safely say that she would try to walk on water if she wanted to.**

 **Sonic: Water and I have a complicated understanding, but sure! I'll try anything!**

Guest: Wow I wonder what will happen next and how does Shadow know Sophia I hope she'll be okay

 **Angel: She'll be fine XD And I can't answer that.**

Natalie: Dunno if I already asked this or someone else did but who would you have voice Sophia? And can't wait to see the past of Shadow and Sophia and are you going to keep him alive?

 **Angel: I would like to think that Starfire would make that decision, since Sophia's still not mine. But if I were to choose, I would pick Tara Strong or Hynden Walch. And you will see what happens in the last episode of this arc.**

Guest892: This story is brilliant. Please keep going.

 **Angel: Heh...don't really have much of a choice, but thanks.**

Guest: Princess Sophia and Rose having a tea party with Amy, Cream, Cheese, and her mother and can't stand Eggman in SONIC X Ep52 – A New Start.

 **Angel: *bangs head against the wall at the predicting* Just end me...end my life XD**

Guest: Princess Sophia and Rose are going to be happy to go home and say goodbye to everyone that he kingdom need her.

 **Angel: *still banging head***

 **Amy: Here, use my hammer.**

 **Angel: Yassssss!**

Guest: He faced both Super Sophia, Super Sonic, and Super Shadow in a battle in space, but was killed by the Princess and two hedgehogs, who then returned the ARK back into orbit with Chaos Control.

 **Angel: Who the heck is he?**

Sapphirerose13: Just a few more chapters left until we meet Team Chaotix who are trying to find Cream and Sophia so they can meet their parents who missed them and can't wait to see how the king and queen will look like.

 **Angel: I haven't even started it yet, I'm on the last episode of this arc.**

Guest: Peak this is very unique and mysterious about this chapter I wonder what will happen and see if Sophia will be okay and I wonder if Shadow knows how she got her powers from

 **Angel: I think it was revealed in this episode...? Or maybe the next one, I forget. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the next one.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, a case of mistaken identity set our speedy hero on the run. His trouble doubled when a robber ripped off an emerald and camera showed a hedgehog making the heist. To add fuel to the fire, Princess Sophia took the footage. As the Project Shadow investigation continued, Sonic and Sophia made a shocking discovery. Sonic, Sophia, and Shadow went head-to-head in a brutal battle with the chaotic finish._

 _Trapped by government forces, Sonic surrendered, and was taken to Prison Island. But not before Shadow made off with Sophia in a shocking kidnapping! Will his friends find a way to free him and rescue Sophia? Or will Sonic and Sophia be locked away forever? Find out on Sophia X!_

Sonic is kicking back in his cell, looking rather relaxed. He doesn't seem fazed by the fact he's in prison at all.

"Sonic's in the underwater isolation cell. It's impossible to escape from there and even if he could, where's he gonna go once he breaks out? Prison Island is surrounded by the sea, there's no land for miles and everybody knows that Sonic ain't no swimmer. We got guards keeping lookout in the towers 24 hours a day. And the laser alarms will go off the second they detect the slightest movement. The entire prison is wired with surveillance, metal detectors, and sound monitors. Not even a fly could escape from here." Howard Watcher, one of the guards, is announcing this as he's watching the security cameras.

"This place was built to hold the toughest crooks in the world, but in all the years that Prison Island's been in business, there hasn't been one single solitary breakout. Hope Sonic likes it here, cause he ain't leaving!" Howard laughs, looking very proud of the island's achievements. Their security was made to hold any prisoner, after all, and after someone already had broken in, they didn't need to take any chances.

"Don't think of pulling any funny stuff while I'm on duty!" Howard points dramatically at the hedgehog, who's just sitting around like he usually does. "Cuz I've got my eye on you, Sonic!" He laughs again, the other guard staring at him.

 _I'm sure Sonic is innocent. But there's nothing I can do to help him._

"Oh well," Sonic says to himself, "If I can't get out of here, I might as well kick back and relax." He then frowns in worry as he remembers the past events with Shadow. _Sophia...hang in there._

* * *

A boat stops in the middle of the water, as Mr. Thorndyke and Chris are inside. "We are still quite far from Prison Island, but we can't take this motorboat in any closer because of their radar. Their security systems are so advance that they would spot us long before we ever reach the coast. And if they do detect us, they will send out armed boats to intercept and arrest us."

Chris turns to him, as there doesn't seem to be any way to get there without the guards detecting them. "So what are we gonna do?"

"Luckily I thought to thwart their system. It is high tech, so we will fool it using my low-tech solution."

A swan-like paddle boat lands in the water. "They'll be looking for motorboat, but this paddle boat will let us duck under their radar."

"Hm," Chris murmurs, as he wasn't so sure about that.

* * *

Later on, they're paddling the boat. "I don't know about this, Mr. Tanaka," Chris states, "I feel kinda goofy."

"We can make it. We just have to paddle faster." Mr. Tanaka speeds up his paddling, but that makes the boat tilt up, almost losing its balance. But it does work in making the boat faster as Prison Island is in their sights.

"Sir, somebody is heading toward the island." A guard notices the boat from the tower.

"Really?" Another one looks out using his binoculars, but Chris and Mr. Tanaka are too small to be seen from their view.

"It looks like a giant duck, sir."

"That's no bird, it's a boat! Somebody's trying to sneak onto the island. They think they fooled us, but I'll make sure they're sunk before they reach land!"

"Do you really think a paddle boat poses that much of a threat?" The first guard wonders, as that boat looks pretty harmless.

"Who knows? It's better to destroy 'em first and ask questions later."

Suddenly, Eggman appears and emits a supersonic wave, disrupting the communications around the island. The guards watching the screens get static.

"Sound the alarm!"

"We can't, the system's going haywire!"

"Pull the cellblocks!"

"It's an attack!"

Eggman chortles as he makes his move.

"He did it! He's back on Prison Island!" Decoe cheers.

"Dr. Eggman rules!"

"Alright!" Decoe and Bocoe high five each other. Shadow huffs at them and enters a room. It's circular shaped and silver, but other than that, there's not much there. He looks at the middle of the room and turns on the lights as Sophia is sitting there. Her hands are cuffed to the ground, which prevents her from using her powers due to the modifications Eggman made. Even if she could escape, there are security cameras watching the room. Sophia makes no indication that she knew the lights were on.

Shadow steps up to her, staring at the girl. She's looking at the ground, silent.

"Hm." The noise makes her look up and she looks hungry, tired, and groggy. "So this is you at your lowest point..."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Sophia asks as she doesn't look fazed by his tone at all.

"No. Like I said to you before, I have no evil intentions with you."

"Perhaps you should look up the definitions of evil and friend," She spits back. If she was friends with him, she wouldn't let him do things like this. She makes her left hand into a fist, glaring at the ground.

"Hmph," Shadow smirks slightly. There's the spunk he grew up with. He didn't miss that at all. "What happened to you? So confident and strong...and yet all of that is an act."

"Act? No. Real? Yes."

"You can't even break out of here. Deep down...you'll remember," He disappears and then reappears with a plate of food. It's a sandwich, salad, and ice cream sundae along with a milkshake. "And until then, you need your strength."

Sophia stares at it as her stomach grumbles. She can't remember the last time she ate anything, let alone real food. She must've been there for days now. And yet every single day, Shadow would come in, whether she was awake or not. Sometimes she'd stay awake so that Eggman didn't try anything, but so far nothing. He didn't even brag to her or anything. But Shadow...Shadow came in and would watch her sleep, and she knew it was him because of his fur. And she memorized the sound of his shoes. He wouldn't mock her, until now, he would ask how she was doing and if the shackles hurt. Sometimes she was silent, and sometimes she would talk to him. Right now...he was her only way through the outside world. So much care for her, and yet she still doesn't remember him. No flashbacks, no memories, nothing. Shadow didn't seem to care anymore, but she kind of did. She could tell that he wants her to remember him so bad.

Whether or not she could trust his word remains to be seen. He is working for Eggman, after all...but that food is tempting and she is really hungry. If Shadow wanted to taunt her, why would he bring her food? She sighs in defeat and nods slowly.

Shadow looks at her hands, realizing she can't really eat her meal. He's about to reach for the utensils, but it lifts up into the air.

"No need." The spoon full of the ice cream goes into Sophia's mouth. Her forehead is slightly glowing pink, as if she's concentrating some power that she shouldn't have.

"Maybe you are stronger than I realized..." Shadow murmurs as she's feeding herself and yet those restraints were supposed to prevent her using her powers. They were supposed to prevent from using them, right?

"I have no clue how it is possible, but...some things are just meant to happen."

Shadow ponders over her words as he stands there, watching her eat.

"Thank you, Shadow," Sophia whispers once she's done with the ice cream.

"For?" The hedgehog raises an eyebrow.

"Caring. I have a feeling I will be here for a while..."

Shadow looks at her. She...actually thanked him. And she sounded genuine...grateful.

"It seems so."

Shadow could let her go...but he wanted to see what would happen. Maybe within time and effort, she'd remember something about him. And then they could be friends again...but he did care about her safety. Being malnourished...tired...confused. It's basically torture and what has he done about it? Nothing. He hasn't done anything.

"Why are you doing this for Eggman? He is not who he says he is."

Shadow thinks about the question. Eggman freed him. Whether he was good or not didn't matter. He set him free...and he gave Shadow his wish. He wanted to see Sophia. Granted, she doesn't remember him, but he didn't care. Maybe Shadow could do the same as Eggman didn't leave him there...he didn't do the same actions he's doing with the princess. This...wasn't right. He places his hand on top of her head, fondly caressing her hair.

"I need to see who you really are."

And with that, he leaves the tray on the floor and exits the room...but he looks at her for a second before he drops the green Chaos emerald. It rolls onto the ground in front of the princess, leaving a confused Sophia.

Rose appears from her purse, looking at the shackles. Sophia shushes her, but when Rose tries to get them free, she can't, as she's not strong enough to pull them out. She sags at her failure and she nuzzles Sophia.

"Do not worry, my friend. We shall escape from here..." She looks at the emerald. _Shadow can use Chaos Control with one emerald, right?_

* * *

Eggman has his hands behind his head. "I wonder if I'm pushing my luck breaking into the place a second time."

"Perhaps." He looks at his screen as Decoe is talking. "The security on the island has been upgraded since your last visit. You must be careful. When they restore communications, they will send robots to stop your team."

"Their robotic designs are greatly improved. With their new defenses, it will be almost impossible to enter that compound again!" Bocoe warns.

"Well nothing is going to stop me from breaking in and taking those Chaos emeralds!" Eggman declares. "Shadow said I need to obtain all seven emeralds in order to operate the Eclipse Cannon." Without all 7, it won't have as much power.

"Are you sure it's worth the risk, Doctor?"

Eggman grins evilly. _Once I get that cannon working, I'll be unstoppable!_

Suddenly, Rouge and Shadow land in front of him out of nowhere. "Okay, Eggie, fill me in."

"According to Rouge, the Chaos emeralds are stored in a vault inside the compound. I must have them."

Rouge smirks at him. "No problem. Just leave it to me."

"Do not trust her!" Decoe exclaims.

"She wants it for herself!" Bocoe shouts, but Eggman cuts them off.

"They get on my nerves. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we? In the first phase of my plan, I'll go around the island wrecking havoc and drawing the guards from the posts, clearing the way for you two to enter the compound. Shadow moves in, he'll blow up the whole island by sneaking into the weapons center and setting off all the ammunition stored there with this miniature detonation device." Eggman throws the device into Shadow's hand. He stares at it before nodding.

"Meanwhile Rouge will proceed to the warehouse where the Chaos emeralds are locked away and remove them. We will meet up at the rendezvous point and make our escape. We have exactly 30 minutes. If you run into trouble, you're on your own."

They both nod in unison. "By the way, Shadow, how is our friend doing? Is she all nice and full?"

"Yes, doctor. She's resting."

"Good. I plan to keep her around until I find something useful! Let's go!" They take off, Shadow running and Rouge flying after Eggman.

Missiles are fired at the base, causing an explosion. Robots are sent out to deal with Eggman, but he destroys them with red lasers and heavy artillery from his Egg Mobile. He laughs as he flies into the forest. "Peek-a-boo!" Two more missiles destroy the robots at the front. Eggman then gets rid of three, ducking past yellow lasers. He flies past a tower while all of this destruction is going on.

The X Tornado arrives on the spot, noticing the smoke. "What's going on?" Tails murmurs.

"It looks like somebody's fighting," Amy says.

"We better get down there and find Sonic!" Tails replies before the place could be potentially destroyed.

Shadow runs up to the entrance, Rouge landing next to him. They look to each other and nod. Amy laughs as she runs up and hugs Shadow, as the X Tornado has just landed. "Oh Sonic! What a relief. I came here to rescue you, but you escaped all by yourself. Sonic?"

She lets go of him and looks to see Rouge smirking. She gasps and lets go of Shadow, backing away. "You're not Sonic! Who are you?"

Eggman cuts in. "None of your business. Now get lost."

"Dr. Eggman!"

Tails gasps at him. "Shadow, Rouge, carry out your assignments." He blasts the entrance open and the two run inside. "I'll take care of you."

"Keep away!" Amy moves further away from him.

"Amy!" Tails flies the plane into the air and it turns into its Battle Mode. Eggman flies away and Tails flies after him. "I can't rescue Sonic until I get Dr. Eggman out of the way."

"This will send Tails into a tail spin," Eggman fires at the plane, but misses. He fires again, but Tails maneuvers around them. They come back around, but Tails moves past them so that they blow up the trees instead. Eggman starts sweating as Tails is right behind him. The X Tornado tries to poke the Egg Mobile, but Eggman moves past them all.

* * *

Amy stands at the blown up entrance, thinking about Shadow. _He looks almost exactly like Sonic! I wonder what he's doing here?_

"Don't worry, Sonic! I'll find you!" Amy jumps through the entrance.

An alarm goes off as Shadow is skating down the hall. _Shadow will speed through the building and sabotage the weapon center. Meanwhile, Rouge will sneak into the warehouse._

Rouge backflips onto the catwalk in the warehouse. _Once she gets in, she will grab the Chaos emerald._

Rouge flies through the building. She comes across the lasers, but she jumps past all of them. She then arrives in front of a door and imagines a red Chaos emerald. She gasps at the feeling. "I can feel those emeralds here. All I have to do is break into the vault and help myself." She walks up to the keypad. "AH, cracking the code will be a cinch."

She gets inside with no problem.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chris and Mr. Tanaka are climbing up a mountain from the paddle boat. There's an explosion and the X Tornado flies up into the air, turning around and firing at Eggman. He moves past them all and fires right back.

"Take this! You'll see, Tails can't outfox me!"

"Hey, Dr. Eggman," He turns back to his screen to Decoe and Bocoe. "Forget him! You have more important things to do."

"Stay focused!"

"I'll have to crush Tails another day." He turns around, shocking Tails, who comes to a stop right in front of the evil doctor. "Now listen, Tails, just because I'm leaving doesn't mean you win! This is only a timeout, you hear me? A timeout!" He flies past the plane and disappears, confusing Tails. He wonders why Eggman would just leave, but he erases it from his mind as he turns the plane into walking mode so he can land it.

"Amy!" He doesn't find her as he left her right there. "Where'd she go?"

"I have to see what Shadow and Rouge are up to," Eggman flies across the water.

Chris looks up from his spot as he thinks about Sonic, Sophia, and their dilemma.

 _"Don't worry, I'll be out before you know it, buddy! Sophia will be okay, she can take care of herself with Dr. Eggman!"_

 _Sonic...Sophia..._

* * *

Rouge steps out of the room, holding the red and light blue Chaos emeralds in her hands. She walks up to the door and chuckles slightly.

Shadow has planted the device like Eggman told him to. "Doctor, the detonator is ready to go. But I need to know how long to set the timer for."

"Good work, Shadow," Eggman says from his communication device. "You can set the detonator to go up in exactly 15 minutes. Will that be enough time for you, Rouge?"

"I can be out of here in five minutes easy," Rouge states, as they can talk to each other in a three-way line.

"Alright, set the detonator for 10 minutes."

"Right doctor," Shadow sets the timer.

* * *

Amy runs up to the entrance of Sonic's cell, smiling. Sonic sees her, surprised as she's taken to him. The doors open ad she jumps inside.

"Bet you're surprised to see me! I rushed here to rescue you from this awful island! You ready?"

An alarm goes off. "Intruder alert. Intruder alert." The doors all close.

"Gold beetle, go bonk those bozos! Flying dog, sniff 'em out!" The robots are deployed and Howard chuckles to himself. "Flying dog is the ultimate security robot, specially designed to fetch any trespasser." He stands up dramatically. "Flying dog will keep hounding its prey until it's cornered. And then it pounces, decimating its bow with rabid ferocity!"

"But every trespasser isn't dangerous, you know," The other guard states.

"My motto is take no prisoners! We have too many inmates here already!" Howard laughs at his authority.

Amy holds up her Piko Piko hammer. "I'll open your cell now. You better step back, Sonic. I wouldn't want you to get injured," She tells the hedgehog, holding it in front of the cell doors.

"I don't know, Amy," Sonic shrugs, "These bars are pretty strong."

"Well I happen to he pretty and strong too!" Amy states and a gold beetle suddenly appears right behind her.

"Amy, look out!" Sonic warns as he points. She gasps as she turns around...but then she hits the robot on the head with the hammer repeatedly.

"Don't you know it's rude to show up someplace uninvited? And don't bother me when I'm trying to rescue Sonic!" She shouts, surprising Sonic.

"Amy, that was great!" He was impressed that she knocked out the robot with little effort. Usually, she would've been captured.

"Now I'm gonna bash down the bars of your cell, Sonic."

Sonic holds out his hands. "No, Amy, you can't do that!"

"Don't worry, Sonic, my feelings for you will give me the strength to free you!" She's about to swing.

"But Amy, I let them drag me to Prison Island on purpose, so that I could learn something about my look-alike," He explains. Granted, it was at the price of his friend, but Sophia is strong enough to break herself free. In fact, she's probably on her way to clear his name right now.

"Look-alike?" Amy asks in confusion before she remembers the hedgehog she saw earlier. "You mean that creepy hedgehog I thought was you?"

"Did you see him?" Sonic questions curiously, "Do you know where he is now, Amy? He took Sophia and I need to know why he kidnapped her!"

"Oh wow...poor Sophia," Amy gives a sad look. "Do you really wanna know?"

"Yes, I do!" Sonic exclaims eagerly.

"If I tell you, will you finally take me out to do something fun?" She asks hopefully.

"I don't have to," He states and she pouts.

"Why not?"

"What could be more fun than this?" He asks with a small smile.

"My idea of fun is more like going out to have a pizza or see a movie together," She closes her eyes with a smile. "But since I like you, I'll tell you that when Tails and I landed here, we saw a red and black hedgehog near the entrance being ordered around by Eggman."

Sonic crosses his arms with a frown. "I should've figured that Eggman would be involved in this mess." He bends down to get ready to break himself out. Amy then notices all the equations on the wall.

"Have you been doing math on your wall?" She wonders.

"That was there before." He plants his feet against the wall. "Watch out, here I come!" He jumps forward and kicks the bars off the door. He walks up to Amy, hands on his hips. "I'm gonna need you to help hammer our way out of this prison, Amy."

"Let's go!" She declares, holding up her hammer. Three smashes later, she breaks down the door that led to Sonic's cell.

"Not bad, Amy," Sonic comments as she stands in front of him. She giggles at his praise.

"Sonic's out!" Howard exclaims as he gets to his feet, seeing the camera. An alarm goes off, which even Chris can hear from outside.

"Now what?" He then recalls a warning Mr. Tanaka gave him. _"It is too dangerous. You stay here and I will find Sonic."_ Chris couldn't just sit there and do nothing. "Sorry Mr. Tanaka, I can't stay behind if Sonic's in danger! And then we'll all go out and find Sophia together! Wherever she is..."

* * *

As the doors are closing, Sonic is running down the hall, holding onto Amy. She shouts as she's practically flying, but they reach the X Tornado, where Mr. Tanaka and Tails are waiting for them. Mr. Tanaka bows.

"I'm relieved to see you're safe, Sonic, and Mr. Chris will be too. Shall we go?"

"Hi Tanaka!" Amy jumps up and waves. "Long time no see. How's everything going with Chris?"

"Can't we catch up on how our friends are doing later, Amy?" Tails wonders.

"He's right," Sonic replies, "You guys get moving. I still have to track down my look-alike and Sophia." He jumps up into the air and lands on the roof, running off.

"But I wanna go with you!" Amy holds out her hand, but he's already gone.

* * *

Rouge is holding the purple Chaos emerald, smirking. "Lovely." One of the security robots appears behind her. She turns around, as she could hear it. "Hello there. I hope you didn't come here to get my emeralds back."

"Intruder located. Security proceed to level 5. Prepare to attack."

She runs off and the robot fires after her. Rouge leaps into the air, presses herself against the wall, and uses the momentum to kick the robot. It fires missiles at her and she runs past the flames. Rouge does the same technique from before kicking off one of the shoulder missiles. Meanwhile, the detonator is already down to five minutes.

* * *

Sonic looks around and sees Shadow escaping. He jumps down as Shadow is gliding in the forest. Sonic lands in front of Shadow.

"Shadow, this is it. I want answers. Who are you, what are you up to, and where's Sophia?!"

Shadow just smirks widely. "You'll find out." The two hedgehogs start fighting, going head to head. Sonic swings from a tree and charges, kicking down Shadow. He tries to attack again, but Shadow runs out of the way and Sonic goes after him.

* * *

Rouge is stomping down on the robot, kicking it to the wall. It falls down and explodes, with the door closing shut due to the alarm. Rouge turns around as she's now stuck, sighing. "And just when things are going so well."

There is 3 minutes left for the detonator. "Red Alert, an explosive device has been detected in the security area. Begin emergency evacuation immediately. Repeat, being emergency evacuation!"

Mr. Tanaka has returned to see that Chris is gone. "Mr. Chris, where are you?" He climbs back up to Amy and Tails. "He's gone, he must be on the island somewhere!"

They both gasp in shock. "I must go and find Mr. Chris, fast!" He runs off into the forest. "Mr. Chris!" Tails and Amy run after him to help.

The evacuation process has already started, with four helicopters ready. They leave, leaving behind Prison Island to be destroyed.

* * *

Sonic and Shadow fall down from a tree, standing back up and trying to kick each other. They then take off in a race.

"Come in, Shadow," Rouge says from Shadow's bracelet. "Shadow, do you read me? I have a little problem on my end. I'm sorta locked inside the vault with the Chaos emeralds. There's no way to open it from in here, so I'm stuck."

"I can't talk," He tells her as she hears fighting noises. "I have to go, now!"

"You mean...you won't help me?" She asks in shock.

"Not right at this second, no!" He denies and gets hit by Sonic.

"You can't leave me. Remember, I have the emeralds," She reminds him, and those were crucial.

"I'm busy right now!" He shouts into his communicator, Sonic punching him. Shadow punches him right back.

Rouge stands up, clenching her fist in anger. "I should've known not to count on that shady character for any help!" She tries to kick herself out.

Chris is running through the forest, but finds no sign of Sonic. "Sonic..." He looks around and continues on the path.

Rouge sighs as she presses her back against the door. "I'm finished and worse than that, I'm losing three emeralds too."

The countdown has two minutes left.

"Shadow, come in now!" Eggman shouts as he's waiting in his Egg Mobile. "Shadow!"

Shadow and Sonic are still fighting, punching and kicking. They stand a few feet away from each other, glaring at each other. Sonic grits his teeth as he's not getting anything. Sophia could be hurt or worse.

Just then, someone teleports in front of them using Chaos Control, but it's not Shadow. The two hedgehogs gasp as Sophia opens her eyes, holding the green emerald Shadow 'gave' to her. "S-Sophia...you're okay!" Sonic exclaims in relief, and Sophia nods, looking at the both of them.

"...You must stop fighting, now. I sense danger among us." She looks at Shadow like she knows he's the one behind it. He says nothing as the wind blows Sophia's hair to the side.

"What are you talking about?" Sonic wonders and she doesn't answer. She glances at the emerald and then at Shadow. He deliberately left the emerald for her...so she could escape...

"You will find out soon, Sonic. In the meantime, I will exit the island safely with Shadow. No matter what, you must not turn around or come back for me."

"What?!" The hedgehog asks in shock that she's willing to leave with him. "No way, I'm not leaving you behind with...with him! Who knows what he or Eggman would do?" Sonic points at Shadow, who just smirks. "I'm supposed to protect you, princess, I promised your parents!"

"He is the one who set me free. He would not do that if he wanted to hurt me. I can protect myself. I always have," Sophia pats his shoulder. "We are still friends, are we not? Trust me. I know what I am doing, Sonic. I promise you that I will be safe."

Sonic stares at her, wondering whether or not to listen to her or to get her away from Shadow. But if the hedgehog wanted to harm her, he would've, and he's had plenty of opportunities to do so in the past few days.

"Shadow, where are you? The detonator will go off any second! You have to get off the island now or you're going to be blown sky-high! Do you read me?"

"Oh no!" Sonic shouts as he heard that.

"I'm not waiting for you and Rouge any longer. You two are on your own."

"I have to get everybody off the island!" Sonic yells, before he looks at Sophia. There's a look of guilt in his eyes before he smiles slightly, giving her a thumbs up. "I see what you're saying, Sophia. Be careful, okay?"

"Of course," Sophia bows her head, handing her bag to him. "Take Rose and keep her safe." He nods, taking off with it and she looks up as Eggman is leaving. Chris appears and sees the two.

 _I found them! It's Sonic and Sophia!_ But when he gets closer, he sees that it's not Sonic. _That's not Sonic. What's Sophia doing with him?_

Shadow walks forward before he gets the same memory of the blonde girl. _Maria..._

The princess stops in her tracks. She had another vision...she glances away as she knows that was Shadow's voice. _Am I...seeing what he is seeing? But how? Why?_ What's strange is that she knows that name, but she can't put a finger on it...was the girl a part of her supposed memories with Shadow? If so, why didn't Shadow mention her? Perhaps something happened...

"I believe we have a bat to save," Sophia interrupts, looking down at Shadow. He looks up at her, wondering what exactly is she doing. She reaches into her pocket and hands out the emerald to him. Shadow looks at her and she nods, meaning that she trusted him with it. He takes it from her hand and her eyes soften.

"...Why did you let me escape?"

He knew she would've asked, and he was right. "...You were so tired and weak. I didn't like seeing that, so I knew that if I let you borrow the emerald, you would eventually realize that you could use Chaos Control."

Sophia looks at him, a little suspicious. _Yes, but...how could he predict that I would eventually break free and use the emerald to escape? Did he want me to use it, or...did he want to see me again?_

"When I found three emeralds, I thought this was my lucky day," Rouge murmurs as she's holding the three emeralds in her hands.

"Rouge, this is Shadow. Come in."

"I'm here!" She says into her walkie talkie.

"Do you still have the Chaos emeralds?"

"Of course I still have them."

"We'll be right there to pick them up."

She gasps as he doesn't even sound concerned about her state of being. "He's coming for the Chaos emeralds! And what about me? And who's we?"

"Dr. Eggman, I'm going back in to pick up the Chaos emeralds for you."

Chris gasps as he's working for Eggman. And Sophia doesn't seem fazed by it all. In fact, she looks like she _wants_ to help him! But why? There's no way Sophia would switch to the dark side...

Would she?

Looking further, he sees there's a minute left on the detonator.

 _"Shadow, promise us." Maria and Sophia said._

 _Yes, Sophia and Maria. You will be avenged!_

Sophia gasps quietly, Shadow looking at her. She glances away and says nothing. _I...saw another vision...are those his memories that I am seeing? And his thoughts? How am I being shown this and why? And why is he attempting to avenge me?_

"Come on," Shadow takes Sophia's hand and Chris' mouth opens in shock. Was there something going on between them? "Chaos Control!" He holds up the green emerald that Sophia gave to him and Chris runs into action.

 _Shadow, he's the one they want! Now I can prove Sonic's innocent!_

"Chris, wait!" Mr. Tanaka shouts as he sees the boy. Shadow and Sophia both gasp as Chris holds onto them. "Chris?" Mr. Tanaka drops onto his knees. "He's gone...and so is Ms. Sophia." He starts crying and Sonic runs right past him.

Rouge looks up as Shadow, Sophia, and Chris teleport in front of her. "Shadow!" He pushes Chris away and Sophia runs up to him as Shadow snatches the emeralds.

"Chris, what on Earth are you doing here?!"

"Me? What are you doing with him? He framed Sonic!" Chris points at Shadow. "Are you on their side now?!"

"What the?" Rouge murmurs in confusion at the two and Sophia doesn't answer Chris' question, which is suspicious to him and Rouge. No time can be made to find out, however, as there's only ten seconds left before the device would blow up the place. Shadow holds up the green emerald.

"Let's go!"

"Hey, hold it, Shadow!" Rouge points at Chris. "You're not gonna leave this kid behind."

"It doesn't matter to me what happens to that boy."

"SHADOW!" Sophia exclaims in disbelief, standing up. "Surely even you do not condone death!"

"Hold on. My friend got arrested cuz of you. He's still here. We have to get him off the island." Shadow stares at him in the eyes, as he knows that Sonic did indeed escape. He glances at Sophia, who doesn't know whether or not to tell him about Sonic. "Please, will you help me? I have to rescue Sonic somehow. He would rescue you if it was the other way around. You have to help him, please."

Suddenly he can see Maria in his eyes, also seeing a young Sophia staring at him. _"Please, Shadow," they begged._

 _Maria...Sophia..._

Then there's silence and Chaos Control happens. The prison explodes in a large blaze, causing a large wave to happen. Eggman looks on as the island is on fire, flying away. The X Tornado flies past the smoke, Amy and Sonic looking down at the damage. Mr. Tanaka is there as well, thinking that Chris and Sophia are gone.

"Mr. Chris...Ms. Sophia. Oh, Mr. Chris, Ms. Sophia!"

Without any trace of them, it seems like the two...are most likely gone...


	36. Shadow World

Crazycartoons5488: Shadow free Sophia but how?

 **Angel: He didn't. He left behind a Chaos emerald, predicting that Sophia would eventually know she'd use Chaos Control to escape.**

Challishanlon99: I hope that Sophia and Chris are okay anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more and I was wondering Tails what's it like to fly in an airplane that you have I can't remember the name of it but I think it would be so cool so what does it feel like? Anyway thank you

 **Angel: They'll be fine, Sophia's gone through worse.**

 **Tails: It feels great! I get the same thrill while flying on my own, though.**

 **Angel: I've been on a plane at least three times in my life, the first time I was freaking out XD The turbulence didn't make it better for me, but I got used to it. I was going to New York, so it was worth it.**

Bajy: Great job here! Gonna have to make this quick cause I got chores to do soon, looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks!**

Stephanieeiche10: I have plans for Thursday. Me and my parents are going to My Aunt Ben's house for Thanksgiving dinner.

 **Angel: Yeah, I didn't really do much, because most of my family's in Florida. My mom and uncle (one of them, anyway) switch around who's hosting, and it was his turn. I wasn't able to go because my future stepdad was working and it would've been wrong to go without him. So, our neighbors came over and brought us a lot of food. But I still posted last Tuesday anyway as a precaution. And my aunt and I baked a cake together with chocolate frosting, so it wasn't that bad. My sister couldn't even come because of her schedule. Oh wait, I also saw the Wreck-it-Ralph sequel, so I guess it was a win-win. That movie was awesome, I wanna see it again!**

Starfire: Great chapter see you next time and everyone have a great Thanksgiving

 **Angel: It's already past the holiday, but I'm sure everyone appreciates that.**

Jake: Woah I wonder what happened to them and I'll hope they'll be okay plus what was that power Sophia used was that telekinesis

 **Angel: Yeah, but remember, she said she didn't know how it was possible _with_ Shadow in the room. She learned it a long time ago, but she still doesn't remember.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Sonic was locked up on Prison Island, in a high-tech totally escape-proof jail. But luckily his friends were able to stage a robot busting rescue. Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman and his gang staged their own jailbreak, a break in. Their goal: to steal Chaos emeralds and powerup Eggman's ultimate weapon. With the island on the verge of destruction, Sonic challenged the mysterious Shadow to a showdown, but Sophia intervened by escaping from her peril using Chaos Control like Shadow! And in a twist, she 'joined' Shadow to get the Chaos emeralds!_

 _Our heroes made an explosive escape, but what about those left behind? Could anyone survive that blazing blast? And what exactly is Sophia's plan? Is she now on Eggman's side? Find out next on Sophia X!_

The plane has landed on the top of Chris' apartment, the group watching the news about the explosion from Prison Island. "After the explosion on Prison Island, an emergency response team searched for survivors. Fortunately, the team now reports that everyone made it off the island safely."

They all sigh in relief, but that means that Sophia and Chris are most likely with Eggman now. Rose is out the window, looking sad as Sophia could be possibly hurt or worse.

"I told you not to worry. Chris and Sophia must be okay," Sonic tells them.

"But if they're not on Prison Island, and they're not here..." She gasps as she remembers Shadow. "Shadow must've taken them to Eggman!"

"Don't worry," Sonic sits up. "I won't stop looking till I bring them back home." He then recalls what Sophia had said.

 _"I can protect myself. I always have. We are still friends, are we not? Trust me. I know what I am doing."_

 _Chris swam into the pool and reached out for Sonic, grabbing him by the hand. Chris rubbed Sonic's back as Sophia checked over her friend. Sonic smiled up at Chris._

 _Sonic kneeled down in front of Sophia and she backed away, a little shy. He reassured her and she smiled as he helped her with her bruised leg._

Chris was the first human friend he had made when he arrived on Station Square. And he saved his life. Sophia was like a sister to him, and he promised her parents that he would protect her.

"In related news, authorities are still searching for Sonic the Hedgehog, who is-" Ella turns off the TV as they're all silent. They realized that no one has told the police about Shadow's existence. Chris and Sophia came close, sure, but they were both stopped before they could do so.

"I'm gonna go find my friends Sophia and Chris," Sonic stands up.

"But the police are looking for you," Amy points out.

"Don't worry," Sonic waves it off and leaves through the roof door.

"I hope Sonic doesn't get caught again," Amy says in worry.

"If we all search, perhaps we can find Sophia and Chris," Mr. Tanaka suggests, but that was a long shot, as they could be anywhere.

"Where should we look?" Tails thinks, "Shadow probably brought Sophia and Chris to Dr. Eggman's secret base. But we don't have any idea where it is."

"Tails has a good point," Chuck agrees.

"Well if we're gonna find them, we'll have to find that base," Amy replies.

"Then let's start looking right away," Cream suggests, Cheese and Rose agreeing.

* * *

Someone is running through the desert and it turns out to be Knuckles. "I'm gonna get even with that bat!"

 _"You stole the Master emerald from me!" He accused and Rouge tried to get away. "Come back here!" He kicked her to a tree, revealing her face. "You're...that girl."_

 _Rouge opened her wings and escaped._

Suddenly, there's shaking around the area, shocking the echidna. He gets down as it stops and he looks up to see smoke coming from somewhere. "Sounded like a rocket." He runs towards the source to see that it's a pyramid with smoke coming from it.

"Eggman's base..."

* * *

Chris is looking out to space, Sophia standing next to him. "Whoa..." They can see the moon. "It's hard to believe that I really traveled into space. And we're inside a space station?"

"We call this place Space Colony ARK," Shadow states and Sophia gasps at the name.

 _Shadow was sitting between Sophia and Maria. Sophia turned to Shadow with a smile as they were looking out to the moon, inside the Space Colony ARK._

Sophia gives a look of confusion as she glances at Shadow. He gives her a look of knowing. _Did we...just have the same dream?_

"I've never heard of it," Chris says in confusion.

"It was built 50 years ago by Professor Gerald Robotnik. It's been kept secret," Shadow explains and Sophia can't help but think that she's been here before...and she's heard that name...Shadow sees her lost look, but says nothing.

"Wow, a secret space colony!" Chris exclaims in awe. "I wonder if I'm the only kid who's ever gone into space."

"You're not," Shadow tells him.

"What? Then who was?" Chris wonders, but Shadow just looks around with his eyes, not answering the question. "Hey, you know what? You look a lot like my friend Sonic. Are the two of you...related?" Shadow looks up at him with this piercing stare, scaring Chris slightly.

"Shadow?" Sophia asks in concern. He could see Maria through Chris...

 _Maria...Sophia..._

 _The three were running away with Gerald Robotnik as they were being chased. "Stop them! We can't let them get away."_

 _Suddenly there were flames and Shadow was suddenly stuck in a chamber. Sophia was laying down in one next to him, unconscious. Shadow tried with all his might to break free while Maria was doing something with a device._

 _"Listen, Shadow. I want you to promise us. Please."_

 _"No, wait!" Shadow yelled, but she didn't respond to his protests._

 _"Whatever happens, remember we'll always be your friend, Shadow. We always talked about going to visit the planet one day, but it looks like you both have to go there without me. Sayonara...Shadow the Hedgehog. Sophia..." She pulled the lever and it deployed the chambers toward Earth, leaving Maria behind on the ARK. Shadow could only look on as Sophia was taken into another direction, away from Earth._

 _"Sophia, NO! Come back! Sophia!"_

 _They'll pay for what they did. Every one of them._

Sophia and Chris stare at the hedgehog, wondering what exactly is going through his mind. "Shadow...?" Sophia holds out a hand to him and Shadow looks up at her. "Are you alright?" She had no idea how to react to what she just saw. She...was here on the ARK? But when? Why did that pod go _away_ from Earth? _That was the direction of..._

Maria might be gone...but he still had Sophia. True, she still doesn't remember, but having her safe and protected was top priority. She was the last thing he had to remember Maria by, and it was gonna stay that way.

"Shadow?" Sophia sits down in front of him and Shadow hugs her, to her surprise. She glances at Chris, who stares at them in puzzlement. Shadow tightens his grip and Sophia hugs him back. Right now, he was just glad to have her alive. He'd make humanity pay. For the both of them.

"So...what exactly is going on between you two? Are you in a relationship?" Chris suddenly asks and they both glare at him. "Heh. Sorry. Have you seen the moon before, Sophia?"

"Well...given that I was born on Sonic's world, not until a few years later. My mother and father, the king and queen, did not travel as often when I came to be." Sophia explains and Shadow lets go of her, confused.

"You weren't born there. You were born here, on the ARK."

Sophia and Chris turn to him in confusion and shock. "What...?"

* * *

"The emeralds are set," Decoe and Bocoe have put the emeralds into a device.

"All six are in pace and ready to power the cannon."

Eggman growls as he's doing something with the control panel. "Where's the blasted plug?"

While he's trying to find it, Rouge is watching him. "This junk keeps the ultimate weapon? Maybe it makes everybody laugh so hard they surrender."

"The Eclipse Cannon draws its energy from Chaos emeralds and generates enough firepower to destroy an entire planet," Eggman tells her.

"Is that true?" Decoe wonders. "It can really destroy a planet?"

"You know he always exaggerates," Bocoe whispers and Eggman appears in front of them.

"I can hear you!"

"Nevermind!" Decoe laughs nervously. Rouge inspects the panel and blows away the dust.

"This antique works?"

"Just you wait and see!" He declares, gritting his teeth at her doubt. "I'm going to be the ultimate big shot!"

* * *

Frances, Danny, and Helen are walking down the street. "What's up with Chris and Sophia? I called to say hello and left a message for them on their phones, but they never called me back," Danny states as he's pushing Helen.

"Nobody's heard anything from them for a long time now," Frances explains, Danny nodding in agreement. A blue entity suddenly runs past them.

"Hey, was that?"

"Yeah, it was-" Frances covers his mouth. "Hey, what are you doing?" They turn to see a police officer right next to them. Frances smiles at him nervously as Danny nods. They look down the street to see Sonic's body.

"Oh look at that!" Helen points in the other direction. "Isn't the sky pretty?"

"Yeah, it's gonna be a beauty of a sunset," The police officer agrees. Luckily, Sonic is already gone.

* * *

At a building in a junkyard, Scarlet and Mr. Stewart are walking. Mr. Stewart looks at his device. "This is it."

"It might be difficult getting him to talk considering the way his life fell apart after he got mixed up in Project Shadow. If we push too hard for his story, he may not tell us anything," Scarlet points out, as they've found someone with information on Project Shadow.

"French fires for lunch," Jerome Wise states bluntly, eating them with a fork. There's a knock and he turns to see Scarlet and Mr. Stewart.

"I beg your pardon, sir, does a Mr. Schmitz live here?"

"You must mean the old guy. He sleeps there," Jerome gestures to a room behind him.

"Thank you," they walk past him, but Mr. Schmitz is absent. Mr. Stewart feels the bed.

"It's still warm. He just left."

"Let's wait for him," Scarlet suggests.

* * *

Eggman suddenly appears on a TV, laughing as the X Tornado flies past it. He's getting the feed as well as this is going live.

"This is an update. I'm here to bring you an explosive surprise." Sonic comes to a stop as he looks inside someone's window.

"What's he up to now?" Sonic asks bitterly.

"Look in the sky," He points up, as if answering Sonic's question ironically.

"The sky?" Sonic looks up at the moon.

"I'm coming to you planet-bound bumpkins live from outer space!" He laughs evilly. "Let me show you the true power of the Eggman Empire."

Chris gasps in surprise, as he, Sophia, and Shadow are there. "What's Eggman gonna do?"

Shadow just smirks instead of answering. "Shadow, you are starting to frighten me and I have been waiting for answers. Tell me what I wish to know..." Sophia whispers and he frowns slightly. It wasn't the right time.

"Let's have a blast!" Eggman pushes a button and then the exterior to the ARK explodes. The Eclipse Cannon is finally revealed, shocking everyone. Eggman chuckles as Sophia's mouth drops open at the device. It powers up and then fires at the moon for everyone to see. They can only watch as the moon is blown up in half! All that's left is the left side of it, shocking everyone.

"The moon was so pretty, why did Dr. Eggman wreck it?" Cream asks.

"It takes huge amounts of energy to do that much damage," Amy comments, shocked that he did that.

"Chaos emeralds. If Eggman's got enough of them, he can use their power to make a super weapon," Tails deduces, looking down at the only emerald he has to power the plane.

"With that much power, Eggmna can blow up any planet he wants!" Chris exclaims as Shadow is smirking and Rouge is sweating.

"Eggman wasn't lying about the Eclipse Cannon, it is the ultimate weapon."

Eggman laughs evilly, with Sophia wondering why he would do that. And what angers her the most is that she can't do anything. Her powers have been weakened, Eggman took her sword, and she has no way to get off the ARK. Then again...she still wanted to know more about her time with Shadow, despite him slightly scaring her. "That came from my Eclipse Cannon, and if you don't surrender to the Eggman Empire within 24 hours, I'll blow your planet away!" He threatens.

"I gotta find a way to stop him," Sonic declares, looking up at what's left of the moon. If he could blow up the moon...what else could he do with that Eclipse Cannon?

Chris, Sophia, and Shadow look out to the moon, or what's left of it. "Today is finally going to come to an end." The two turn to him in confusion. They glance back at the moon before looking at Shadow.

"Shadow...why did you bring us here?"

"And why are you staring at us like that? What exactly occurred here years ago?" Sophia questions and he doesn't answer. He can still see them. He can still see Maria and the younger Sophia in his eyes...

 _Shadow was looking out the same window. "Are you going to stare out that window all day, Shadow?" Maria walked up to him, Sophia trailing behind. Shadow glanced at them._

 _"I've seen photographs from down on the surface, but I wonder what it's like to be there. What is it like to see the sky above your head? I'd like to visit there and find out."_

 _"Me too." Maria agreed, Sophia nodding._

 _"I wish to see the sun and the water..." She sighed slightly._

 _"Maybe I can find some answers down there. Professor Robotnik said that I'm here to do something important, but he never told me what that means. But something tells me that it's connected with that planet."_

 _They all looked out to Earth together, holding each other's hands._

"Don't you ever smile?" They look to see Rouge approaching. "Hi Chris, Sophia."

"Hello Rouge."

"Rouge." Sophia says simply, as she knew Rouge had to be involved somehow. She glances away. When did she say she wanted to see the sun and water when she was on Sonic's world years later...? Judging by how Shadow didn't explain further about her...birth on the ARK, she must've been really young. And yet she still has the heritage from her own planet...or, her home planet, anyway. Rouge looks at Shadow, who's been silent this whole time.

"Aren't you glad to see me, Shadow?" The hedgehog takes Sophia's hand and walks away.

"Come with me."

"I love it when you give me the silent treatment. You two go ahead and have your secret conversation without me and leave us hanging!" Rouge calls out and he disappears through a door with Sophia. Rouge turns back to Chris. "What's with Mr. Sunshine and Princess?"

Chris stares after the door, as he doesn't really know himself.

* * *

Shadow and Sophia appear in a room, Shadow closing it behind him. "Will you tell me the story now?"

Shadow doesn't answer as he sits down. She stares at him, wondering what exactly happened to make her not remember anything. They must've been really close if he talks with her the most today and not with Rouge or Chris. It was like a part of him she didn't know was gone all of a sudden lately.

"...50 years ago, you were created here. And not a princess like you told me. I saw it myself. You were created like me, a few years after, with the help of Professor Robotnik."

"...How can that be?" She whispers as she's shaking. Her whole life...has been a lie? How did she come to be with the king and queen, then? How come she has memories of Xenia and having an alien form? How does she have powers? Who exactly created her if Professor Robotnik only helped? Was...was she living a false life this whole time?

"Your creators were a married couple. They couldn't have a child, and so you were born. They were scientists here on the ARK as well, Mr and Mrs. Benson. I don't remember their first names. I was the one who taught you what you know today when it comes to your Chaos energy. And you continue to learn my powers today, as with Chaos Control. So much...potential and enthusiasm in you. We were friends with a girl named Maria Robotnik when we grew up together. We were...happy. You...escaped like I did, but you were taken...somewhere. I assume that's how your 'parents' found you. You must've lost your memory along the way somehow, and...then I didn't see you again until now."

Sophia looks down at the ground as her eyes are heartbroken. So much memories with him were starting to come back...one by one...

"Are you starting to remember?" He asks with his arms crossed and she makes her hand into a fist.

"You speak the truth?" She swallows in a breath she was holding and he notices her state. "I was-am-a human?"

"...Yes. You probably had your memories erased so that you would not remember your past life...and they must've turned you into who you are today."

Sophia closes her eyes. So much deceit from people and this story...she believed it. Why else would Shadow go through all the trouble to help her if he was lying? She knew he wouldn't do it if he didn't know her, given his attitude with other people, especially Sonic and Rouge. He cared so much that it had to be true...and she's starting to get her memories of it, so why doubt it? She wouldn't get those memories if they weren't important, which means...all of it was true. She really was a human...she really lost her memories of Shadow and the ARK...she can see it so clearly now.

"...I believe you." She whispers finally to Shadow's shock. He stares at her, wondering what's going through her mind. Probably shock...anger...confusion.

"I'm...sorry you had to find out this way."

"No need to apologize...I admit, it was a little hard to believe at first."

"Hmph," Shadow smirks as he remembers her doubt.

"Then...why do we have the same dreams?" Sophia wonders as she looks up at him.

"...I can't explain it, but we share a connection. That's why I gave you the emerald, to test your abilities and see if you would remember who taught you. Our connection with the emeralds and with their energy cause us to share the same power, the same memories, and for us to have a telepathic connection with each other. Maybe because we were exposed to the emeralds for so long."

She hums in thought at the explanation. She's never heard of it before, but then again, she never knew much about the emeralds and their power to begin with. "So we are able to share the same dreams and speak to each other in our minds?" He nods in confirmation.

"...What happened to my real parents?"

"...I never saw them again after what happened to...Maria," Shadow murmurs, meaning they were gone too...She then glances at the door as she heard something. "Rouge," She sighs as she makes the door open with her limited power and the bat falls onto the ground. Shadow huffs at her.

* * *

Tails and Chuck are working on the X Tornado. "Almost done. I hope these modifications work so we can go save Chris and Sophia."

"But one Chaos emerald isn't gonna give us enough power to make it all the way into space," Tails points out.

"But one is all we've got, Tails!" Chuck exclaims.

"We've got two!" Tails holds up the yellow and a fake one.

"You made a copy of an emerald?!" Chuck asks in shock, as he thought the Chaos emeralds couldn't be replicated.

"It isn't a perfect copy, Chuck," He glances at the fake one. "But the power it produces is almost the same."

"Come on, let's try it out," Chuck encourages. Tails inserts the two emeralds inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Bucket Hotel, Scarlet and Mr. Stewart step out, as the man they have been looking for has not returned. "Maybe he spotted us coming and it scared him off," She suggests as they don't know that someone is watching them. They come to a stop and turn to see some government agents. Mr. Stewart scratches his cheek in confusion.

"Sonic ran over here! And I saw Sophia too!" Bokkun is leading the police, as he snitched. "They went this way," Bokkun points to an alley and he grins at the police as they pass him. Sonic runs down the alley, with the police chasing after him. He's obviously too fast for them and Sonic loses them.

"I guess I lost 'em." There's suddenly shaking, which grabs his attention. "What's that?"

Knuckles is fighting some robots nearby, punching left and right. He's about to destroy another one when Sonic comes in and helps him.

"Where have you been?"

"Hey, how's it going, Knuckles?" Sonic greets.

"Not bad except that I'm in the middle of a battle right now!" Knuckles exclaims, indicating that he didn't want to be disturbed. He lunges forward, aiming for Sonic.

"Whoa, boy," Sonic jumps out of the way and Knuckles punches down a robot that was behind the hedgehog. "It's lucky my reflexes are quicker that Knuckles' temper." Sonic helps out his friend by punching some robots, with Knuckles using his fists to knock them down. Sonic spins one around using his strength and Knuckles kicks one. Sonic slams his fists down on one. More approach and Knuckles punches left and right.

Suddenly, Mr. Tanaka comes into the scene, standing on top of a moving motorcycle. He jumps onto it, wearing a yellow jumpsuit with black stripes on the side. The robots start chasing after him. Cream appears from the manhole cover behind Knuckles and Sonic.

"He's only distracting them. Quick, follow me!"

Knuckles and Sonic smile at the help.

* * *

The president and Christina are talking to Eggman, as they also wanted the moon restored. "Tell me what your demands are and perhaps we can work out an agreement."

Eggman chuckles at him. "Mr. President, that's very reasonable of you. I only have one demand to make if you want to escape my wrath, and if you fail to comply, I have one penalty. Either you agree to become part of my empire, or else."

"Or else what?" The president asks.

Eggman points at him threateningly. "Your entire planet will be blown to bits!" The president sweats nervously. If he says yes, that means he has to answer to Eggman. But if he says no, he's risking the whole city...

"Well? What is your answer?"

"I can't!" The president holds his head.

"You can't what?"

The president looks up at him pleadingly, Christina giving him a sympathetic look. "I can't give you an answer. Not yet."

"You're just stalling trying to get your military enough time to organize a counter-attack against me," Eggman deduces, "It is useless to resist. I expect your answer within 12 hours," And with that, he hangs up. The president leans over, trying to figure how he was going to solve this.

"What can I do? 12 hours is not enough time to stop him from destroying the planet."

Sam knocks on the glass from behind, causing the president to look up. Sam adjusts his hat as he turns around. "You know, there is a bright side to all this, Mr. President."

"What might that be?" The president asks curiously, as he certainly doesn't have a solution right now.

"If the planet's destroyed, you won't have to worry about balancing the budget anymore." The president rolls his eyes as Sam winks.

* * *

Knuckles is escorting Sonic to Eggman's secret base. Mr. Tanaka is driving a buggy, with Amy and Cream there as well. "So you found Eggman's base, but did you find out what happened to Chris and Sophia?" Sonic wonders.

"Shadow took them up into space, and I think the bat who stole the Master Emerald was with him, too."

"Really?" Sonic looks up into the sky as he thinks to himself. _Was that what Sophia was doing in that warehouse a while ago? Do they...do they know each other? It's not like her to keep secrets like this from me._

"I'll teach her a lesson," Knuckles mutters in determination.

"There is Eggman's base," Mr. Tanaka declares and they look to see a pyramid, the same one that Knuckles saw.

"This place could be dangerous, so be careful Cream,Rose, and Cheese," Amy warns as they take the escalator.

"We will, Amy," Cream states, Cheese agreeing.

"Stick with Mr. Tanaka," Sonic tells her. Topaz pulls out a walkie talkie.

"Sonic and the others are entering the base. I'll follow them in."

When they enter the base, it's dark and there's a door blocking their path. Amy tries to break it open, but the metal is too strong. "No luck."

"There is a keyhole," Mr. Tanaka peeks through it. "Which means there must be a key somewhere." They all turn to look at Knuckles.

"Hey, why are you looking at me?" He asks in confusion.

"Well, you're a treasure hunter," Sonic points out. "Can't you find it?"

"Ah, no way!" Knuckles denies, "A key isn't a treasure!" They all step closer to him. He's probably their only option and they needed to find their friends.

"A real treasure hunter should not have any difficulty finding something as simple as a key," Mr. Tanaka states.

"How do we know you haven't been pretending to be a treasure hunter all this time?" Amy asks with a small smirk.

"Maybe Knuckles is a treasure hunter, but he's just not a good one," Cream replies and he narrows his eyes.

"Fine, I'll look," He growls slightly. There was no way he was going to let them doubt his skills. "This is exactly why I like to work alone," He grumbles and then comes to a stop. He sees Bokkun leaning against the wall.

"I hope you know you're trespassing, Knuckles!"

Knuckles growls at him, waving him off. "I don't have time to play any games with you, Bokkun. Scram!"

"If you don't leave on your own, I'm gonna have to make you leave!" Bokkun waves a finger.

"Oh yeah?" Knuckles raises his fist, gritting his teeth before he remembers the task at hand. No, I have to go find that key. He walks right past the robot, confusing him.

"I warned ya!" Bokkun narrows his eyes as he places his hands on his hips. He giggles as he opens his backpack. "Go clobber him, Egg Golem!" He pulls out a remote and presses the button.

Topaz is peeking at Sonic and the others as they're waiting for Knuckles to come back. There's suddenly a crash and they turn around to see Knuckles running towards them.

"Knuckles found the key already?" Cream wonders, as the echidna hasn't been gone long.

"Fraid not," Sonic replies as a large golem is chasing after Knuckles. "Looks like Knuckles ran into some trouble. About 15 tons of it!"

"Let's give this a try," Bokkun is sitting on top of the golem and presses another button. The golem raises a fist and Knuckles jumps, landing in front of Sonic as the golem punches the door.

"I got the door open. Now are you happy?"

"I guess," Sonic comments and the golem turns away from the broken, but accessible pathway.

"Here's the spin cycle!" The golem spins around its arms, knocking Knuckles into a wall.

"I'll stop that thing!" Sonic declares, leaping into the air and flying towards Bokkun.

"Here's the clap trap!" Bokkun makes the golem capture Sonic and knock him to the ground. Bokkun laughs at him. "Nice going, you really hammered those guys." Both Sonic and Knuckles slowly get up, looking to each other.

"Have you had enough?" Sonic asks.

"Yeah, I think we can finish it off now." They wink at each other and approach the golem together, who spins around its arms again. Sonic goes into spin mode.

"Give him a head butt again," Bokkun says happily, enjoying all this. The golem is about to do so, but Knuckles hits its leg, making it trip. Sonic knocks into it, knocking it down onto the floor.

"Well, that was easy," Sonic sweeps the dirt off his hands.

"Piece of cake," Knuckles smirks at their victory.

"Not so fast!" Bokkun exclaims, having flown away before he could fall. "Ha!" He presses a button, which causes the golem to stand up.

"Give it up, Bokkun," Sonic tells him.

"No way, look what I've got!" Bokkun gestures to the golem, who holds up Topaz in one hand.

"Oh great, why's she here?" Knuckles asks, as he's seen her with Rouge.

Mr. Tanaka walks up to Bokkun and does some karate poses. While Bokkun is distracted, Cream grabs the remote from him. "Hey, no fair, gimme back my controller!"

"Fingers keepers," Amy sings, laughing at him while Cream is smiling. She presses a button and the golem releases Topaz. The golem starts running after Bokkun, who screams for his life.

"Leave me alone!" The golem stomps after Bokkun, threatening to squish him. Bokkun runs faster and ends up outside the base, punching Bokkun. "No, don't chase me!"

"I hope that brute did not harm you, miss," Mr. Tanaka says as he caught Topaz in his arms. Sonic and Knuckles are staring after Bokkun.

"I'm fine," She says as she stares up at him.

The X Tornado arrives at the desert, Tails seeing the pyramid. "There's the base." The top opens up. "I'll land inside," He descends the plane down into the room and the plane's legs stand on the ground. "I did it, Sonic!" Tails cheers as he steps out of the plane. "I adapted the X Tornado so we can take it into space. Uh..." He notices all of them. "We might have a little problem, though...it only seats four."

"If you're bringing Chris back, only two of us can ride with you," Amy says in realization, "Since Sophia can fly...but then again, Eggman drained her powers. I still can't believe she went with that creepy hedgehog."

"Yeah, that's right," Tails frowns. Sonic gestures to a rocket behind him.

"She did what she had to do. If we're gonna save them, then let's take this space shuttle!"

"I agree with Sonic."

"Yeah...guess I did all that work for nothing," Tails sags in defeat.

"What about Cream, Rose, and Cheese?" Amy glances at them, as it would be dangerous.

"Well...I could take care of them," Topaz offers, as she didn't want them to be left alone. She owed it to them, anyway, as they did help her.

"Thank you, miss," Mr. Tanaka says gratefully.

"Sure," Topaz smiles softly at him.

"Okay, then let's get going!" Sonic declares so they can rescue their friends. The countdown starts off.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ignition." The rocket starts up and then it takes off into the sky, with Amy, Knuckles, Tails, Sonic, and Mr. Tanaka all inside.

 _Hang on, Sophia and Chris. Hang on._ The rocket soars into the sky, heading towards its destination: space.


	37. Robotnik's Revenge

**Angel: For those few reviewers who try to guess the story, please don't. It's getting a little annoying. I won't give away too many spoilers to future spoilers if it's NOT the next episode and it's incomplete. Right now, I'm on episode 41, so ask away about episodes 38 to 40. If it's about something like the Metarex Saga, then you'll have to wait until I have a finished episode of that. So don't go asking about the season finale or anything just yet.**

Crazycartoons5488: Princess Sophia was made by Eggman's grandfather years ago. But that means.

 **Angel: Yes, it means that Sophia is a human, and is not really an alien. Well...artificially she's a human. More will be explained later on.**

Bajy: We're getting deeper and deeper into the secrets of the past, shocking, yet there are still some unanswered questions that have yet to receive an answer. The fate of the world is at stake (literally), and more crazy stuff will happen next time. By the way, will Sophia save Shadow from plummeting to Earth after he and Sonic stop the Eclipse Cannon? Well I'll just have to wait to find out. Great job here like always! Looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: This is the second to last episode of the arc, so I will answer that question. No, she will not. Sorry for those who wanna keep him alive. No one really saw him get plummeted to Earth, because obviously 4Kids have certain standards for what kids should see. So I don't think I can fit in Sophia saving him. And actually, he didn't die like some people believe. He was only unconscious. I know he lost his memory of his past, which might make people think he was reincarnated, but nope. He was only presumed dead.**

Scrappy Doo Fan: Hoo-boy, is it GREAT to be back! Didn't review last chapter cuz I was...busy fighting monster turkeys! Next time I see you all, I'll tell you about it! So...Sophia was abroad the ARK 50 years ago when that big incident happened?! And the experiments...that explains her powers, as well as how she still looks like a kid. Either that or slow aging. But...the not-so-good-doctor pulled a Darth Vader when he blew half the moon into space-dust?! That Egghead has really cracked, and that's no yolking matter! I am the Eggman, that's what I am; I am the Eggman, I got the master plan! Sorry, it's super-catchy. Sonic...Sophia...and yes, even Shadow-even if I can't help you, I wish you all the best in your endeavors. Until then...I'm leaving. Maybe I can find a place for myself somewhere...where I can actually DO something worthwhile with my life, because it sure isn't HERE. Hopefully I'll write you when I settle in. *heads off, whistling "E.G.G.M.A.N." as he goes*

 **Angel: Whoo, that was a doozy to write down on here...anyway, yes, she was. The experiments did cause her to have those powers, but she didn't have them under control. That's where Shadow came in to teach her—which is why she has telekinesis and can do Chaos Control now. As for the aging, space years work differently, so that's why she's still a kid. She didn't get the slow aging until her parents did whatever they did, I can't answer that yet because they haven't appeared. Eggman may be evil, but he does have his silly moments.**

 **Sophia: Thank you, Ichabod. *bows head***

 **Angel: And...thanks for not bugging me about putting in your OC anymore. I'm not really adding OCs too much because I have other stories I'm still working on. I'll accept ideas, but OCs, not really. And if an idea involves an OC, then the answer is a definite no.**

Guest: Woah I wonder how Sophia's parents react when their child found out the truth about herself and how her friends will think of her I feel bad for that.

 **Angel: I wouldn't feel too bad just yet. There's still one more episode of this saga. Though, Sophia's relationship with her parents...yeah, not exactly gonna be a happy reunion when they come back.**

Crazycartoons5488: Princess Sophia and Maria Robotnik are good friends of Shadow.

 **Angel: Pretty much.**

Challishanlon99: I'm so excited and nervous at the same time I can't wait to find out what happens next anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more but please don't stress yourself out I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything I'm just saying and everybody good luck and please be careful.

 **Angel: I can easily say a lot happens, but I'm not that stressed right now. I really only have like 2 or 3 exams, I think, and I'm still doing classwork for my professors, so...yeah. I haven't even started material for the exams yet, that's how slow progress can be at times.**

Guest: Sophia I think Eggman is going to catch Sonic in the pod and go BOOM! In SONIC X Ep37 – Robotnik's Revenge. Sonic is using a fake Chaos Emerald.

 **Angel: Hey, don't say stuff like that to Sophia! That's spoiling, and I'm not gonna have her respond to stuff like this for that reason alone.**

Guest: Princess Sophia, Sonic, and Shadow team up to save the world.

 **Angel: Yup, pretty much.**

Guest: Sophia you're going to miss Shadow in SONIC X Ep38 – Showdown in Space.

 **Angel: Nope, not gonna respond to that so people can see her reaction. You can't just tell characters what's gonna happen in the future, that affects the future!**

Guest893: I think that somehow Sophia's chamber ended up traveling into the past by some unknown force, because she first met Tikal 4,000 years ago and I think the reason she looks like a young girl is because she might have underwent some type of gene therapy by the king & queen. I would like to know more of Sophia's origins.

 **Angel: Well, I'll try to answer this as best as I can remember...Okay, Sophia was created by two scientists who couldn't have a child. Robotnik HELPED them, so technically he did not fully create her. It's Robotnik, he could artificially create a human. After she was complete, she naturally had her powers because of the experiments. When she met Shadow and Maria, Shadow taught her about her powers to develop them into what they are today. He also has a psychic connection with her because of chaos energy, but Sophia did not know that because Shadow was in stasis, therefore he couldn't actively share thoughts with her. While Maria was her way to teach her about the Earth, even though they haven't interacted much to what we've seen. Sophia was the last creation by Gerald Robotnik that had any involvement from him. So by this time, Shadow and Maria already existed, which is why Shadow remembers her past. When the ARK was attacked some years later I'm assuming, Maria was 'taken away' while Shadow and Sophia escaped in the pods. Shadow went towards Earth, which is where he was on Prison Island, as you all know by now. Meanwhile Sophia ended up going away from Earth, and the king and queen eventually found her. She was still a child because of space years, but after her 'parents' altered things, she had memories of a fake past from Xenia, and also still retains their slow aging. Sophia went in another direction because the pod was not modified to go to Earth. Everything that happened after the king and queen was real, it's not fake and it's still canon, including with Tikal and Sonic's world being built. But Sophia's memories of her true childhood and past were NOT known to her, until she found out the truth recently. Whoo...that was a mouthful. Anyway, that's what basically happened XD**

Guest: I wonder what will happen and hope they're okay plus Sophia's past is really mysterious

 **Angel: It's meant to be that way. Or at least, it was until reccently.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Shadow transported Chris and Sophia to Eggman's space base, where Chris and Sophia learned about a secret orbiting colony built by Eggman's grandfather, the brilliant professor Gerald Robotnik. Sophia also learned about her true past as she was actually born and raised on the Space Colony ARK and shares a spiritual connection with Shadow! Eggman unveiled the Eclipse Cannon, his ultimate weapon, and warned that he'd use it unless the entire population surrender to the Eggman Empire!_

 _What are Shadow's mysterious motives? Can Chris and Sophia's friends find and rescue them? Will Eggman use the Eclipse Cannon and destroy the whole planet? Find out next on Sophia X!_

At a house in the woods, a car is approaching the area. A few elderly people are sitting around and the car pulls up. Scarlet Garcia steps out, along with Mr. Stewart. They were still searching for Mr. Schmitz, but this time, they may have finally found him.

"Excuse me, I'm Scarlet Garcia, from SSTV News," Scarlet introduces herself.

"Reporter? I have nothing to say," Mr. Schmitz denies when they speak to him. "I just want to be left alone."

"We don't want to trouble you, sir," Scarlet tries to calm him down. "We'd simply like to ask you a couple of questions."

"Can you tell us what happened on Space Colony ARK 50 years ago?" Mr. Stewart asks curiously. Mr. Schmitz stays silent, closing his eyes. He would not talk about it. He simply wouldn't. It was too much for him.

"Nothing happened," He looks away so that he doesn't have to see them.

"I understand your reluctance to talk about it, sir, but you were there when it occurred," Scarlet states, "And we need to find out all that we can. Please, sir. I need to know."

"You don't have any idea what you're getting involved in, young lady," Mr. Schmitz turns to them with a serious look. "Just leave it alone, before you stir up trouble."

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails, Amy, Mr. Tanaka, Knuckles, and Sonic are in space. Rose appears on Amy's head and she gasps.

"Rose, you can't be here. It's too dangerous!" Rose flies in front of her face to argue and Amy sighs. "Well, okay. We'll let you help us."

"Looks like your boys really goofed, didn't they, doc?" Rouge asks as Eggman is on screen in front of her. She's in the colony's computer room.

"None of your business!" He yells at her, gritting his teeth.

"Fine, let's launch the counter-attack," She gestures to the control panel in front of her. "How about giving me the password for the colony?"

"M-a-r-i-a," He spells out the name. "Maria. That's the magic word. Meanwhile, I'll be standing by a crazy gadget."

"Ha," Rouge chuckles slightly. "Fooling that old fool oughta be a snap. Alright, let's start hacking," She enters the password. "Maria. M-a-r-i-a. Let's see what pops up here. Come on, come on." She starts looking at all the files. "Ah, here we are, Project Shadow, top-secret. Sounds exciting! The ultimate creature development project. Sure sounds juicy to me. Shadow? Sealed off? But how?" She blinks in surprise at the information. "If that's true, then who's he?"

* * *

Shadow and Sophia are standing at the window they would always look at. Chris is sitting down, not looking. Shadow looks up at Sophia and smiles slightly. _She's grown so much...she's still that little girl I remember. Having her here, at this moment...it's like I'm reliving our time together..._

Sophia's eyes widen as she gasps. She heard that...and Shadow knew she did given that she can read his thoughts and see his memories. To her, it still feels weird to hear and see things from his mind. "Here comes your friend," Shadow tells Chris with a frown. Chris stands up and looks out the window.

"You mean Sonic?"

"He'd be a fool to challenge me," Shadow dismisses it.

"Shadow," Sophia sighs in slight annoyance.

"You're the fool, not Sonic!" Chris exclaims in defense, looking at Sophia. "I don't understand how you were friends with him!"

"Chris, drop it," Sophia turns to glare at him and he backs away slightly from her look. _Why is she so defensive over him? What's going on with those two? Is he brainwashing her? She's just letting him say all of those things!_

Shadow glances at the boy, not seeming to care about his words. "You'll see I'm right. This is one battle your friend cannot win." He looks back to the window and Chris looks at Earth, pondering Shadow's words. That can't be true, Sonic's strong and fast. And Shadow's just an imposter...

"Can I talk to you, alone?" Chris grabs Sophia's arm and looks down at Shadow, who doesn't look back. He pulls her away far enough so that Shadow can't hear them. "Why are you siding with him, Sophia? This isn't like you."

"Chris, you do not begin to understand what has happened the past few days," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"Yeah well, I feel like I don't understand you! You're letting him do all of these things to Sonic just because of some stories he told you? It's like you're giving up on our friend!"

"I am not!" Sophia whispers harshly, looking a little irritated.

"Do you even care about him anymore? At least I tried to rescue him!"

"I went to Sonic to help him clear his name! I hadn't known what my life was before I met Shadow. That does not mean that I don't support Sonic! I just think that after all of the news I heard-"

"Who cares?! Why don't you actually do something good for a change instead of sitting around?!" Chris pushes Sophia slightly, making Shadow turn around. Sophia stands in place, eerily silent as Chris gasps, looking at his hands. What had he just done? He had no idea why he just did that...he looks up at Sophia. "Sophia...I'm-"

She walks past him and slams the door closed. Chris groans slightly at how stupid he was being. Even he knew that the topic about Sophia's past was sensitive, especially after all the new information, and he provoked her anyway.

He turns to look at Shadow, who was staring at him. Chris sweats a little and Shadow says nothing, turning back around. _Does he know what we were talking about? I don't know anything, why won't they tell me?_

"I suppose you have a right to know her story, since you demand answers," Shadow speaks up, surprising Chris. "She's right. You don't understand."

"...Tell me so that I can. She wouldn't give a second thought...would she?"

Shadow closes his eyes. "Sophia's heart is in the right place...she'll make the right decision when needed."

* * *

"What you're investigating is much more dangerous than you know," Mr. Schmitz warns the news duo. "I won't answer any of your questions and that's that!"

"Please, sir, you've just got to tell us what happened," Scarlet pleads, "You're the only survivor. Everyone else was...lost." She closes her eyes at the thought of their fate. "Even my father..."

Mr. Schmitz says nothing, glancing away. He did feel a little sympathy for her, but the events...were just not for the public ears.

"I'm begging you, please tell us. You owe it to the memory of all those innocent people!" Scarlet tries further. She wanted to know what her father died for. And she also wanted to put the mystery to rest so that all of those people would be in peace. All of them didn't deserve the fate that inevitably took them. Mr. Stewart places a hand on her shoulder.

"Scarlet..." He shakes his head to silently tell her to stop trying. They leave the house, unsuccessful.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't very professional of me," She says sadly.

"You don't have to apologize. It must bring up a lot of painful memories for you," Mr. Stewart says in understanding and she comes to a stop, eyes wide. Mr. Stewart follows her gaze to see four men in suits and black sunglasses, blocking their path. "Don't panic. Get to the car as fast as you can."

"Why?" She asks curiously, wondering if he knew them.

"Hurry!" He urges her and she runs off.

"She's getting away!" One of the men stand up. They hear a yell and turn to see Mr. Stewart jumping in the air. The man tries to kick him, but Mr. Stewart blocks it with his arm.

"Who's next, hm?" Mr. Stewart cracks his hand into a fist as a threat. Scarlet had gotten to a car, but one of the men also did.

"What do you want from me?" She demands as she struggles, her arm grabbed.

"Scarlet!" Mr. Stewart yells, rushing over as quickly as he can.

"Let go!"

"Get in the car," He demands, and is suddenly hit from behind. The savior is not Mr. Stewart, but Mr. Schmitz himself.

Scarlet opens her eyes and turns around to see him. "Thank you!"

Two cars show up and Mr. Stewart gasps. "This way!" Mr. Schmitz points left and they all run for it. They couldn't take them all at once.

Mr. Stewart peeks above a fence and looks around, Mr. Schmitz and Scarlet sitting around. "I don't see them anywhere," He reports and Scarlet looks up with a smile.

"I don't know how to thank you."

"That was nice work," Mr. Stewart congratulates, turning to the older man. He winks, showing his arms.

"I used to be able to handle myself okay. But...that was a long time ago."

Scarlet looks down as she knows what time period he's referring to...

* * *

The space ship Sonic and his friends are on passes by the ARK, as they don't want to just enter without some precaution. They're certain that whoever's in there, they know that the group are out there. And that they have weapons.

"I'll bet they're watching us in there," Tails says.

"You just take it slow and steady," Sonic warns him. Knuckles gets a vision of the Master Emerald and gasps. He stands between Tails and Sonic.

"Hurry it up!" They stare at him in confusion and their ship starts to shake as Knuckles was trying to get control.

"Knuckles, what's wrong with you?" Tails wonders.

"The Master Emerald, it's nearby! I can feel it!" The echidna insists.

"Knuckles, let go of the wheel!" Amy shouts, Rose yelling in agreement as they're flying towards the entrance. And, as predicted, the weapons fire at their ship. Tails, being the pilot that he is, dodges them all. Amy covers her ears.

"Here comes my breakfast," Mr. Tanaka calls out and Rose moves away from him.

"Alright, calm down, will ya?!" Sonic exclaims so that Knuckles can stop, "We're going to the same place, anyway!"

"Master Emerald, here I come!" Knuckles shouts, not caring about anything else at the moment. The ship manages to land, but this causes an alarm to go off.

"Intruder alert, sector M14. Intruder alert, sector M14." Rouge looks up and sees the outside of the ship.

"I wonder who that could be," She says in boredom. The doors are blasted open and Knuckles steps into a room where the Master Emerald sits in the middle. He jumps down and runs over to get it, but Rouge lands in front of him. "Uh uh, this area's off limits, slugger."

"I want that Master Emerald!" He demands.

"Sorry, guy," She leaps forward and he blocks her attacks. He tries to punch her, but she backflips. "Now that's no way to treat a lady. Didn't you ever learn any manners?"

"I've got manners, but you're no lady!" He tells her, as he shows manners with Sophia...most of the time. He lunges forward and punches her, knocking her off the platform. She screams as she falls, but then she stops falling. She opens her eyes and looks up to see Knuckles holding her hand. "I've gotcha!" He pulls her up safely and then she snatches her hand back.

"Get your hands off me."

"Hey, if it weren't for me, you would've fallen on your head!" He saved her life and this is the thanks he gets?

"Ha, were you really trying to save me, or were you just trying to be fresh?" She crosses her arms. "I wonder."

"You're crazy!" He shouts at her, "What do you mean, fresh?! Talk about ungrateful!"

"Whatever," She shrugs, "Have it your way if it makes you happy." She then walks away. "See ya."

"What about the emerald?" He wonders, curious if she was just gonna leave him there to take it.

"Emerald? Take it. It's yours."

"What kind of game are you playing, anyway?" He asks, as judging by her attitude, she would never give up an emerald. He grunts, turning around. "Even for a bat, you're batty." He runs towards the emerald and she turns to see him holding it. She smirks, hands on her hips.

"That's my cue to get out of here." She runs in the other direction, letting him take the emerald himself. She could always just take it back, anyway. It's more fun that way.

* * *

The X Tornado walks through the hallway, having gotten inside. "Sure is lonely," Amy notes, a little afraid since it's dark.

"I suspect that no one has been here since the accident occurred 50 years ago," Mr. Tanaka suggests.

"We have a big problem. How do we destroy that weapon when we find it?" Sonic asks Tails.

"Here, why not give this a try?" Tails holds out his fake emerald.

"A Chaos emerald?" Sonic asks in confusion, knowing that there's only 7, 8 if he counts the Master Emerald.

"Not a real one. I made a copy to help power the X Tornado," Tails explains to him, "It doesn't have the same power as real Chaos emerald, but if we put it in with a real one, it might cause some kind of reaction and mess up the whole system."

"Okay!" Sonic smiles confidently, "If this little baby does the trick, it'll be goodbye Eclipse Cannon!"

Someone chuckles and Amy sees a claw reaching out to them. She and Mr. Tanaka scream, Sonic and Tails hearing a crash.

"Amy, what's that?" They turn around to see Amy being held by the claw. "Amy!" A light turns on, making Sonic cover his eyes.

"Let's hit some light on things." Eggman speaks, sitting in his Egg Mobile. "I will set your friend free under one condition: give me the emerald and I'll give you the girl." Amy looks scared out of her mind, wondering what Sonic would do.

Sonic scratches the side of his head. "Let's see. Give me a minute to think it over."

"What do you mean, think it over?" Amy asks, eyes narrowed.

"Well, perhaps this might make you think faster," Eggman threatens, pushing a button.

"SONIC!" Amy screams as the claw squeezes harder around her body. Sonic jumps down from the X Tornado.

"It's a deal."

"Place the emerald in the center of that circle," Eggman orders and Sonic walks over to it.

"Guess it's just like that old saying, easy come, easy go." He places down the emerald. "Oh well." Eggman presses a button, trapping Sonic and the emerald inside a glass compartment.

"Prepare to be blown into space, my little blue friend."

"No, wait! What if I promise to give you a real Chaos emerald?" Tails stops him.

"What's that? You mean to tell me that Chaos emerald is a counterfeit?!"

Tails then realizes what he said, meaning he probably shouldn't have said that out loud. "I shall make Sonic pay for your deception, you crafty creep!"

"You let Sonic go right now!" Amy shouts at him.

"Hey, it's okay," Sonic has his hands on his hips. Amy gets tears in her eyes at his fate.

"Sonic..."

"You're in charge, pal," Sonic looks up at Tails. "Alright?" Tails has tears in his eyes too.

"Now Sonic, it's time to say goodbye!" Eggman presses a button and Sonic disappears into the floor.

"Sonic, no!" Amy cries out and she's let go. The pod launches into space, towards Earth. "He's gone..." Then the pod explodes. "SONIIIIIIIIIIC!"

Sophia and Chris are seeing the explosion with Shadow. The boy glances at Sophia, who's staring at the window, but she seems more focused on the window than on anything else. Chris sighs at her. He shouldn't have gotten mad, now that he knows the full story. He understood why she had to keep this a secret and why she willingly went with Shadow. It was to gain more information about her past, something that she was curious about for a long time. And instead of being supportive, he acted like a jerk.

The girl stares out into space, pondering her friend's words. _I'm just trying to do the right thing...was it the wrong decision? Am I really turning my back on Sonic? I don't know what to do anymore...what will my life be like now that I know the truth about my past?_ She knew that she was beginning to speak like regular humans would...another thing Shadow taught her. He didn't think she had to be so formal all the time, so he's been teaching her how to shorten her words. With Shadow, she's learned so much in a short time...she's grateful, but she still didn't condone some of Shadow's actions, and she doesn't even know why he does them. He wouldn't tell her and just stare out the window when she brought it up.

Shadow knew who was in there...he had to tell them.

"Your friend could not save himself."

"Huh?! You mean Sonic was in there?" Chris asks in surprise, Sophia gasping.

"Yes, I'm afraid he was. Perhaps Sonic was not the great hero you thought him to be."

"You're wrong! It can't be true! Sonic!" Chris runs out of the room, Shadow staring after him. He looks up at Sophia, who's silent. She presses her hand against the glass, closing her eyes as she didn't want to look at the flames...

* * *

The explosion dies down, with no trace of the pod. "He's gone..." Amy covers her eyes, crying.

"Quit your blubbering and hand over that emerald! I can't sit here all day waiting for your crocodile tears to dry!" Eggman holds out a hand, showing no remorse or regret for what he did.

"I won't let you down, Sonic. I'll never give him what he wants," Tails declares, eyes shut. "I'll be strong. I won't let myself run away this time! Amy, Rose, Mr. Tanaka, stay outta the way!"

"Amy, follow me!" They both run off.

"You've tried my patience for far too long. You asked for it!" Eggman fires his lasers and the X Tornado jumps into the air. Tails fires his lasers and Eggman flies into the air, growling at Tails. "I'll make you pay for that."

* * *

Mr. Schmitz is sitting on a rock in front of Mr. Stewart and Scarlet. "Our mission seemed pretty straightforward at the time. They ordered us to close the facility because of some sort of accident."

"Go on," Scarlet encourages him.

"A couple of us knew they weren't telling the whole story. But none of us had the guts to speak up. We just did our jobs and went up to space like we were told."

 _A lizard was looking around as the officers were running. They stepped into a room where all the scientists held all their hands up._

 _"None of us knew what to expect. At that time, we heard all sorts of rumors about the ARK. Some said they were experimenting with the concept of eternal life. Others said they had created something called the 'ultimate creature' and some other indestructible life form."_

 _Mr. Schmitz was glancing at the pods when he suddenly gasped, seeing a blonde girl dressed in blue. She ran off and he went after her._

 _"Stop!"_

 _She ran as quickly as she could, walking into a room. Mr. Schmitz peeked inside. "It's the creatures! She's setting them free!"_

 _Lasers were shot at the keypad, unlocking the door. "Freeze!"_

 _The girl gasped as she turned around. "Take your hand off that lever."_

 _She grasped it instead of listening. "I'm not fooling around here!"_

 _She got the courage to pull it._

Mr. Schmitz's eyes threaten to water at the memory. "She was so young. I'll never forget her face." He starts crying, Scarlet and Mr. Stewart glancing to each other. They're curious about the girl, as she wasn't mentioned.

 _Three pods were floating around in space, with one of them taking off opposite of Earth. "We sealed off the area, and they took her away. The mission ended, and we all went home."_

"But wasn't there any kind of investigation?" Scarlet wonders, as there would've been news reports.

"The official report called it an unfortunate accident, and we were all sworn to secrecy. But I know that it wasn't an accident and nobody can tell me otherwise! I volunteered for that force as a young man because I wanted to give back to the country I loved! But then...but then they..." He couldn't finish, as he's too upset. Scarlet holds his hand to calm him down.

"I understand now. Thank you."

* * *

Chris is running through the ARK hallways, upset after what Shadow said. _He's wrong! Sonic wasn't in there! He couldn't be! It's not true! It's not true! Sophia, why won't you help him?!_

Knuckles has the Master Emerald, trying to get out of there when he sees a light at the end of the hall. He comes to a stop...and Sonic appears from the light, dropping him onto the ground! "Sonic!" he drops the emerald and goes to his friend's aide. "Hey, are you alright?"

Sonic slowly sits up. "I'm okay. I wanna try something." He opens up his hand to reveal the fake Chaos emerald glowing. _"Now, let's see if this works. Chaos Control!" Sonic shut his eyes as the emerald glowed._ "This may be a fake, but it works," Sonic comments as he smiles at it.

"You gonna tell me what's going on or not?" Knuckles demands as he wanted to know how Sonic got there.

"Yeah, I will, but first things first, I need you to keep an eye on Tails and the others."

"Okay," Knuckles agrees with him.

"Great, and while you're doing that, I'm gonna put this guy to the ultimate test."

"Sonic, Princess Sophia...she's okay?"

Sonic ponders whether or not to tell him what Sophia was doing. In one hand, it wasn't his place to tell Knuckles about her business. But on the other hand, he may be worried for her safety.

"...Yeah, she's fine. She's doing something important for me."

* * *

"Now don't you worry your pretty little head, Topaz," Rouge is speaking to her partner. "I'm copying all the data as we speak."

"Just be sure that you get every bit of information. Don't leave anything behind, Rouge," Topaz reminds the bat, as she's still with Cream, Cheese, and Rose at Eggman's secret desert base. "We need to know all we can."

The disc unloads as everything is copied. "I got it all, honey, and it looks like there's plenty of it. Even that dope Eggman doesn't know the whole story. And It's quite a story."

"You'd better hurry up and get out of there. Have you got the emeralds? We can analyze the data when you get back. After that, w-"

A foot slams on the walkie talkie and Rouge grits her teeth at Shadow. "I suggest you keep your hands off those Chaos emeralds. We wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands now, would we, Agent Rouge?"

"Have you been spying on me?" Rouge gestures to herself. "Aren't you the naughty little boy?"

"You've been a government spy all this time!" He accuses.

"Uh-huh. What are you getting so mad at me for? Sophia knew all this time about me."

Shadow's eyes widen as he gasps. _Sophia...knew? She knew about Rouge? Why didn't she tell me?!_

"Now that I have my hands on this hot little disk here, I think I'll make my exit if you don't mind," Rouge waves the CD in her hand.

"I do mind, you phony!"

"That's pretty funny coming from you," She replies and he narrows his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

* * *

Eggman is shooting lasers at the X Tornado, Tails flying up towards the doctor. "This is for Sonic!" He fires a giant yellow laser, knocking the Egg Mobile onto the ground. The two vehicles both crash onto the ground. Tails coughs as he steps out of the smoke. Amy and Mr. Tanaka approach him.

"You're not hurt, are you, Tails?"

"It worked. I did it," Tails looks satisfied as he's avenged Sonic...or so he thought when Eggman snatches the emerald from his plane. "Oh no, give that back to me!"

Eggman chuckles, grinning so wide it was creepy as the elevator doors close.

* * *

Rouge is holding up an article to Shadow. "According to this, the body of the original creature was sealed off fifty years ago."

"Yes, that's right, but that was the prototype," Shadow blinks as he wonders where Rouge got this from. "I was the very first creature created after that one. And Sophia was created after me."

"Ah!" Rouge gasps in shock. "You're saying that Sophia...she's not...?"

Shadow nods in confirmation. "I was there for it myself."

"...But it says here that there were three capsules ejected from the ARK when the facility was shut down. Apparently none of them were ever found. And if those three capsules were never found, then how did you end up on Prison Island? I wonder."

Shadow glares at her.

"I have a feeling none of us are who we say we are."

His walkie talkie beeps and he answers it. "Good news, Shadow! I've gotten a hold of the Chaos emeralds!"

"And?" Shadow asks expectantly.

"It appears one of our enemies are headed straight for the Eclipse Cannon. We have no time to waste, prepare for takeoff immediately!"

Shadow starts to walk away, as he could care less about what Rouge has to say anymore. He had to get Sophia out of here first.

"Come back! Don't you understand you're not the real Shadow?" He continues walking, ignoring her. "Everything in your memory is as unreal as you are!"

He comes to a stop, turning to her. "If it is true that all of my memories are not my own, they are still all that I have. Sophia is the only person I have to recall those memories through her with our psychic connection. I will do what I must. I promised them."

Rouge huffs, crossing her arms. Though, she is curious as to what Shadow meant by psychic connection...

* * *

Knuckles looks out the window as he sees Shadow for a brief moment going to the Eclipse Cannon. "Him again. He must be going after Sonic and Sophia!"

"Then Sonic's alright!"

He turns around to see a panting Chris. He clutches his heart in relief. "Sonic...he's okay!"

"Master Chris, it is you!" Mr. Tanaka runs up to him.

"Hi, Mr. Tanaka," Chris waves at him and the butler hugs him happily.

"Master Chris!" Tears fall down his face. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, except I can't really breathe!" Chris calls out, Tails and Amy smiling at the reunion.

Sonic is taking the tracks, holding the Chaos emerald. "What a surprise."

He glances behind him to see Shadow. "I could've sworn I saw you blown to bits just a short time ago."

Sonic jumps onto the other side, walking leisurely. "Well, I guess I'm a lot tougher than I look. In fact, it's thanks to you I'm okay."

"I see," Shadow says in interest, "You caused Chaos control with that phony emerald there."

Sonic turns to him. "Yep. I gotta run." He takes off and Shadow glides after him.

"I'm afraid I can't let you get away from me that easily, my friend. Now I demand to know who you are."

"Who, me? I'm just a guy with the need for speed. They call me Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Ah, yes. I well understand your love of speed, Sonic. But now your high speed adventure must come to an end! After all, Sophia loves speed just as much."

"Where is she?" Sonic demands as the last time he saw her, she was with Shadow.

"She's safe," Shadow says simply.

* * *

Sophia looks down from the ceiling at Decoe and Bocoe. She wanted to explore since Shadow hadn't returned and she grew bored. She has turned invisible in case one of the robots notices her.

"Eclipse Cannon is nearly ready to launch again, Dr. Eggman," Decoe reports.

"I will release the safety device," Bocoe says and Eggman chuckles at the emerald in his hand.

* * *

"Chaos spear!" Shadow throws four yellow energy spears like Sophia would with her own pink Chaos spears. Sonic jumps past them and gasps.

"That's like the ones Sophia uses! How do you know them?" Sonic demands.

"My student and I are very alike in power," Shadow smirks at him.

 _Sophia...Sophia got her powers from him?!_ _How?_ Sonic grits his teeth and rolls into a ball. Shadow jumps over him and flings his arm again.

"Chaos spear!"

Sonic runs past them, jumping back and forth. The spears destroy some pipes that connect to the Eclipse Cannon. _What's he trying to do, barbecue me? But he's right, he and Sophia have the same level of strength. What is going on with those two?_

"It's the Eclipse Cannon," Chris says as they look outside at the explosions.

"Sonic must've done that," Knuckles comments, "But Sophia's still in there..."

"Now all we have to do is get that Chaos emerald back from Eggman. Then we'll be in the clear," Tails tells them, Chris looking at the ship in worry.

* * *

"Doctor, the Eclipse Cannon has been badly damaged," Decoe states as they try to do what they can.

"What does Shadow think he's doing?" Bocoe wonders, Sophia's eyes widening.

"Why is Shadow at the Eclipse Cannon...?" She murmurs to herself.

"Oh no, the gun battery has been hit!"

Eggman turns around as he was about to put the yellow emerald into the Eclipse Cannon. "Well, fire it anyway!"

Sophia clenches her fists. "I must help Shadow! He would do the same for me...but I don't have an emerald...I'll just have to try without it. Chaos Control!"

She successfully teleports out of the room. Eggman pushes in the yellow emerald and pushes past his robots. "Eclipse Cannon, fire!" He breaks the glass protecting the button and powers up the cannon with all 7 seven emeralds, but the cannon breaks down. He looks around in confusion before seeing a timer with 27 minutes left. His grandfather appears on some of his screens, tied up with math equations behind him...the same wall from Sonic's cell at Prison Island.

"Grandpa!"

"The countdown marking my final revenge on this world has begun. In just a few minutes, you will be destroyed. Soon Space colony ARK will hurdle through the atmosphere and crash into this planet with cataclysmic force."

The counter starts, leaving it all up to fate to escape...


	38. Showdown in Space

**Angel: Here it is, guys...the last episode of this arc. I had fun doing this, especially with Sophia involved. This just has so much nostalgia for me because it was my favorite. And also, I've just finished my Criminal Justice class as of last week, so I have nothing to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays besides this XD Well, I'm not completely done, I still have one more quiz, but I don't have to attend it anymore. So yay! More time dedicated to getting this story done...I am almost finished with a TMNT story, and I'll be working on another one after I'm done with that, so I'll still be doing 3 stories...next week if I finish that off by then? Or maybe two more weeks? But I don't think it'll affect this story at all.**

Vortex Lord: Sophia was a human? But if she was human, how was she still alive for 50 years?

 **Angel: Okay, so this is referring to her time after she was taken off the ARK. When her parents found her, they affected her memory so that she wouldn't remember she's a human along with the terrible things that she remembered: losing Shadow, Maria, etc. But they had a mage change her DNA so that she would have slow aging like Xenians. Remember, their race doesn't age that quickly like regular humans. Therefore, with how she still looks 12, it's not that unbelievable that she'd still be alive after 50 years, especially long enough to meet Tikal, build another planet, and know other people from that planet.**

Bajy: Whoa...great job here! And I understand, no worries. I wonder what will happen next in the final climax of this arc? This is going to be epic and shocking for our heroes, looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks! It's just gone very slow as I'm spending five weekdays to write three stories.**

Challishanlon99: Oh my gosh I want to find out what happens next I'm hanging from the edge of my seat not literally but you know what I mean be careful Sophia be careful all of you anyway I wanted to say happy holidays that was wondering like Christmas, Thanksgiving, stuff like that I'm just wondering that's all I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything thank you for this chapter I can't wait for more and go everyone you can do it

 **Angel: That was my intention to do that, because Shadow's one of my favorite characters. Though, Sonic's been through kind of a downfall with games, so...it's not like I can play them without a system anyway XD If that question's for me, I do celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving, but my stepdad does not celebrate Christmas because of his religion, so I don't know if we'll be celebrating Christmas this year. My sister is coming in 5 days, though, so there'll definitely be a family sense. If it's for the Sonic characters...maybe. *shrugs* There's definitely fanfics and videos touching on the matter.**

Johnannvanguard: Princess Sophia seems like a really great and interesting character. It's good that Sonic was about to stop Eggman, but Chaos Control teleported everyone near the base to Earth. It's great that Sophia and Sonic made it to Earth safe and sound, and avoided the cops. Now that they've met Chris, I wonder how Sophia will get along with Chris' family and friends.

 **Angel: Considering how this review's from the first episode, there's definitely moments with Sophia and his family. Few, but they're still there. I haven't touched upon it too much because it's not the main focus of the story, but I try.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Chris and Sophia were trapped on Space Colony ARK, and Sonic rocketed to their rescue, but not before Sophia and Chris have a nasty falling-out. Soon, Eggman ambushed the hapless hedgehog and gave our hero the heave-ho! The devious doc issued an ultimatum: if he wasn't made supreme ruler, he'd pulverize the planet. But when Eggman fired off the Eclipse Cannon, he got a blast, from the past! A recording from his grandfather, Professor Robotnik, revealed that he had his own plan to wipe out the world._

 _Can Sonic and Sophia save the globe from destruction, or will Robotnik wreck his revenge? Find out next on Sophia X!_

"Topaz," Rouge is relaying her report. "I'm transmitting my report now, over."

"Be careful, Rouge," Topaz warns her. "The space colony's a dangerous place." The ARK begins shaking and Rouge sees something.

* * *

Sonic and Shadow are still fighting against each other, and they cause an explosion. They land a few feet away from each other and Sonic gasps as he sees a ring.

"You've interfered for the last time," Shadow jumps into the air and throws his Chaos spears. Sonic runs past them and grabs the ring. Shadow turns around as the ring glows in Sonic's hand. He uses super spin to knock Shadow down.

"Alright, Shadow, what's going on here?" Sonic demands and Shadow smirks up at him.

"You'll find out."

The ARK starts shaking and Sonic gasps. Shadow stands up. "Sonic, your time is running out!" He then escapes and Sonic holds out a hand.

"Wait!" His eyes widen as he hears something, turning around to see the timer, which has at least 23 minutes left.

Shadow is running further way from Sonic when he hears someone calling his name. He sees Sophia dashing towards him and he stays silent.

"Shadow, you're alright!" she smiles happily before she notices his silence. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...You knew about Rouge being a government agent, didn't you? She's been relaying intel all this time! And you just let her! Are you really my friend, Sophia?"

"Huh?" She asks in surprise. "She was?" She didn't honestly know that Rouge was doing such a thing. Shadow notices her confusion.

"You didn't know what she was doing?" He asks curiously.

"No," Sophia shakes her head. "I did not have a clue as to why she was here. But yes, I knew she was a spy. I was there when the president offered her the position. I didn't...I didn't know whether or not your words were true when I first met you, Shadow. How would telling you the truth benefit?"

Shadow thinks to himself. She was right, her telling him that Rouge was a spy wouldn't have done anything. He still would've liked to know, though. He engulfs her into a hug and she smiles softly, hugging him back.

"I'm sorry I kept this from you..."

"It's alright. I could never stay mad at you."

"I must hurry, my friends might be in danger as they are possibly still looking for me..." She looks around as she stands up. "Shadow, you'll help me, won't yo-" She stops as she sees he's gone. She sighs slowly, as she should've expected that. Of course he wouldn't help her, because of Sonic or probably because of how he wants revenge on humanity...

* * *

Amy, Tails, Chris, Mr. Tanaka, and Knuckles enter the same room as Eggman, who slams his hand down on the control panel. "He tricked me! My own grandfather tricked me!"

A hatch starts to close up the Chaos emeralds. "The Chaos emeralds!" Knuckles exclaims and Eggman is too late to get them back.

"The countdown marking my final revenge has begun. In a few minutes, you will be destroyed," Professor Robotnik speaks, "Space Colony ARK will hurtle through the atmosphere and crash into this planet with devastating force." The counter has 22 minutes left. "You have no time to prevent this disaster and absolutely no hope of survival."

Everyone is Station Square is seeing this message as well. "Your rulers took my granddaughter Maria and my creation Sophia away from me, so I'm destroying everything you care about. Now you'll feel what I felt when I lost Maria and my second-best life-form."

Sophia looks at the screen in shock from another room. Now she understood why Shadow didn't want to help her...it's because he wants humanity to suffer for what happened to Maria...and her. She puts her hand to her heart, feeling it hurt. "Shadow...I'm so sorry..."

Shadow stops in his tracks as he can sense Sophia's heartache...for him.

"You'll see. You'll see, you'll see!" Professor Robotnik declares.

"Who is that guy?" Amy wonders. "And what does he mean?"

"That is Professor Gerald Robotnik," Eggman explains as everyone looks at the screen. "He was a scientific genius and my grandfather. He must've created Sophia like he did with Shadow...which means..."

"Sophia...was a human?" Knuckles asks in shock.

"She's not...a real princess?" Tails murmurs, as he wonders how Sophia went from a human to being a princess...

"Then...then how did she become...well, Sophia?" Chris questions, as she seems to be nothing like Shadow.

"The count of our final revenge has begun."

The ARK starts shaking again. "Hey, it feels like this place is breaking apart!" Knuckles states.

"Soon it's going to get a lot worse," He turns to see Rouge approaching. "I just checked the colony's propulsion systems. The computers are locked, so we can't reverse course. Looks like there's nothing we can do."

They all stare at her, as they don't have a solution as well. "Grandpa, destroying a planet is one thing, but destroying your grandson is another," Eggman says, as he didn't want things to go this far.

"What's going on here?" Sonic and Sophia appear in the room.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Chris looks happy to see them.

"If you two came here for a showdown, forget it. Soon, we'll all be vaporized," Eggman states to them.

"Come on, don't be such a quitter, Eggman," Sonic steps up to him.

"Perhaps if we banded together, we could escape this fate," Sophia suggests as she looks up at the screen.

"The countdown marking my final revenge has begun." Eggman begins to pull up something on his laptop.

"When I hacked into the database on Prison Island, I found my grandfather's dairy," He hands Sonic the laptop and they look at it.

"Revenge...that is all that matters to me now," Chris reads, "When I began my research, I only wanted to do good."

 _"That's why I worked to make the ultimate creatures, even helping two fellow scientists create their own child, Sophia. But the leaders of the project worried that I'd use it to take over the world. So they seized my lab on Space Colony ARK. Then they took Maria from me, and my life took on a new purpose. Instead of helping people, I would get revenge on them. Night and day I planned so long after I am gone, my revenge would be complete."_

"I've done it, my greatest design is now complete. The ultimate creature Shadow. My enemies think they have defeated me, but Shadow will carry out my orders without question. Now it sleeps, but one day in the future it will be reawakened. Shadow will bring total destruction."

Sophia covers her mouth in shock at the entry. She was created with the help of Robotnik, but...was she going to be like Shadow too? Was she supposed to be evil? No...she was created to fill in the void those scientists so dearly wanted...

* * *

There are only 17 minutes left. "In the coming minutes as you helplessly await your doom..."

"Do we have any confirmation of this?" Mr. President asks Christina.

"You just received a high-priority message from the director of the space agency, Mr. President," She reports, "Space Colony ARK is moving towards the planet at high speed. The impact will be catastrophic and will cause massive destruction."

His mouth opens in shock, as this is all real. "But if that colony hits us, millions of lives are going to be lost!"

Christina hangs her head as Sam looks up at the sky. _Good luck, Sophia and Sonic. Even you're going to have trouble saving us this time._

Meanwhile, the police barge in to arrest all of those who kept the project a secret. "Freeze!"

"This is a warrant for your arrest," The chief holds up the warrant. "It took a long time, but the truth is out!"

"A secret group inside the Intelligence Agency in all records of Project Shadow. We didn't have a clue until Dr. Eggman hacked into their system and accessed the file."

Topaz is there as well. "Good things do come from bad sometimes." She looks up at the sky, seeing a purple dot, which is the ARK coming towards the planet.

* * *

"The energy from the Chaos emeralds has transformed the Eclipse Cannon into a mega bomb. If it detonates, the blast will be more massive than a supernova!" Eggman explains to the group.

"The energy from the Chaos emeralds is also what's pushing us toward the planet," Tails states, "We have to get the emeralds and deactivate 'em somehow."

"Knuckles!" Sonic looks at him and so does everyone else.

"Huh? What, why me?"

"Because, you can control all the Chaos emeralds with that," Rouge answers, pointing behind him.

"The Master Emerald!" Knuckles turns around in realization. "I can use it to shut off the power!"

"There's still time to stop the Space Colony from crashing, but we have to hurry!" Tails urges, "We'll only reach the Chaos emeralds if we all work together."

"We'll lead the way!" Sonic looks up at Sophia and she glances away. "Stay on our heels and do your best to keep up the pace."

"Yes...before Earth is destroyed..." Sophia murmurs and most of them can sense her hesitation.

"Sophia."

She looks down at her friends to see them smiling. "No matter who you are...you're still our friend. Who cares if you're not a real princess? You're still one to us," Knuckles states.

"Yeah, we'll be with you all the way!" Tails winks at her.

"Your past doesn't matter. It's how you affect your present," Amy gives her a thumbs up and Sophia smiles softly.

"Thank you, my friends."

"Let's get to those Chaos emeralds before it's too late! Remember, if we fail, an entire planet will perish, and so will we."

Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles run down a hallway, with Bocoe and Decoe holding the Master Emerald. Rouge and Eggman blast through laser shooters while Tails opens a passageway for his friends. The door opens and a wave of water threatens to drown them. Knuckles punches a wall and holds onto the others so that they're not washed away. The water passes by and they run through the door before it can close.

* * *

Mr. Tanaka, Amy, and Chris are waiting, hoping that everything will work out. "I hope they make it in time," Amy grips her hands together.

"I wish there was something we could do to help Sonic and the others," Chris states, Mr. Tanaka placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Sonic and Sophia will get there to the Chaos emeralds in time."

"Don't bet on it." Chris' eyes widen and he turns around to see Shadow standing there.

"Shadow!"

He slowly smirks.

As Shadow is staring at them, Chris narrows his eyes, realizing there was something he could do. He starts walking towards the hedgehog.

"Master Chris."

"Please, Shadow, you can help save us all," Chris says, to everyone's shock. "You believe that your whole reason for being here is to get revenge, but think about it. When I was in danger back on Prison Island, you decided to save me."

Shadow just stares at him and Chris places his hands on his shoulders. "Deep down you know you were made to help others like Sophia and she's the reason you finally rescued me."

"Hands off," Shadow orders and injures him.

"No, Chris!" Amy is about to help, but Mr. Tanaka grabs her arm. "He needs help." Mr. Tanaka just shakes his head, narrowing his eyes at Shadow.

"It's useless. I made a promise to Sophia and Maria, and I'm keeping it."

Chris stands up. "Shadow, getting revenge won't bring Maria back, and it won't make Sophia happy."

"So what?" Shadow asks, not caring what happens.

"There's still time to stop this, Shadow. Please, you have to listen to me. How can you blame people alive today for things that happened 50 years ago? Can't you see it's not fair? Ask yourself, since you've come to know Sophia. Is this what she really wants?"

"Don't talk to me about fair!" Shadow yells at him with anger in his eyes. "Not after what happened here."

He can still remember spending time with them. "Maria and Sophia were my only friends, but your ruler sent soldiers to take Maria and Sophia away from me! I tried to save them, but there were too many for me to stop. I never saw poor Maria again...Maria wasn't a threat to anyone. All she wanted was to visit your planet, but she never had the chance. I'm only grateful that Sophia got to, but she got her memories snatched away so she wouldn't remember me! She was so positive, and I taught her everything she knows, only for all of that to disappear from her memory! She didn't remember any fond memories until only recently! She didn't remember me..."

"Please listen," Chris begs. "It's true that there are some bad people in the world, but most people are good. I know that you'd agree with me if you only got to know them, just like Maria and Sophia wanted to." He struggles to stand up, holding out a hand. "Shadow, please. Maria and Sophia would want you to be friends with people..."

Shadow sees Chris' struggle, realizing something.

 _"Shadow...please promise us...that you'll help people...and be... friends with them..."_

 _"Maria!" Shadow called out._

 _"I'm sure you'll be very happy down there, Shadow. I only wish that I could go along with you. The world looks so beautiful from up here in space. But my grandfather says the people who live there have to face many problems. That's why you were created, to help those people, and to be their friend."_

 _"Shadow..." He glanced at Sophia in her pod. "I may be gone for a long time...so this is goodbye...thank you for everything you have taught me. My wish is for you not to let hate taint your heart. Do not let hatred fuel you. Do not let sorrow be in your heart. Remember me, Shadow...remember me..."_

Chris eventually faints and Shadow catches him. He tears up as he realizes...this is all a mistake. Sophia wanted to be remembered...but he didn't want this for her. He had promised her that he wouldn't let this kind of thing happen...and he broke it. He knows she can read his thoughts...he wanted to let her know that he's sorry he didn't prevent this.

Mr. Tanaka grabs Chris, smiling slightly.

"He was right about them, Maria and Sophia. They did want me to help the people of your world." He then smiles.

* * *

They only have about ten minutes left as they come to a stop. They've reached the Chaos emeralds. Sophia ponders what she's just seen. _Shadow..._

"Up there!" Knuckles calls out, breaking her concentration. The ARK starts shaking again and the Bio Lizard lands in front of them. Decoe and Bocoe shake in fear. "Calm down. I'm not gonna let that monster get a hold of the Master Emerald."

"Leave that thing for me."

Sonic and Sophia both gasp as Shadow is standing between them. "Shadow!"

"You and the others take care of the Chaos emeralds and I'll distract it." He glances at the two and Sonic smiles slightly. Sophia grins softly at him.

"Thank you, Shadow...my friend..."

Shadow smiles back at her and glides towards the Bio Lizard. He goes into spin mode and attacks the Lizard.

"Let's go!" Sonic declares and they run towards the emeralds, Bocoe and Decoe falling behind. Shadow glides past the fire of the Bio Lizard while the others reach a temple. Shadow throws his Chaos spears, hitting the Bio Lizard.

The group reaches the emerald. "I must remember, the seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers. Our hearts intensify their power. The controller serves to unify the Chaos."

"You can do it, Knuckles," Sonic encourages, Sophia placing a hand on Knuckles' shoulder.

Knuckles takes a deep breath and holds out his hands. "Master emerald, I need you to help me, please stop the Chaos emeralds." The Master Emerald powers up and the Bio Lizard shoots red orbs at Shadow, who jumps back and forth. He leaps into the air and uses the orbs to travel up in the air. He hits the device on the Bio Lizard's back.

Sonic, Sophia, and the two robots watch as the Chaos emeralds drop onto the ground, deactivating them.

"Alright!" Knuckles cheers.

"Good work!"

They hear a roar and turn around to see the Bio Lizard disappearing.

"It's gone." Shadow teleports to them.

"No. It is not destroyed," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"Chaos Control," Shadow realizes what it did and the ARK shakes again.

"What is happening?"

"We are still heading towards the planet!"

"Come in, Sonic, do you read me?" Eggman's voice speaks up. "That monster is still alive. It attached itself to the outside of the Space Colony. It's pulling us toward the planet!"

Sonic, Shadow, and Sophia look to each other. They all close their eyes as the emeralds lift in the air, recharging. The three lift into the air as the Chaos emeralds spin around them. Knuckles, Decoe, and Bocoe look in shock.

Super Sonic and Super Sophia have returned, but this time...they have Super Shadow! The three fly away. Super Sonic and Super Sophia appear in front of Chris, Amy, and Mr. Tanaka.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Amy exclaims in surprise. They approach Chris, healing him. They both smile before the three appear in front of the Bio Lizard. They charge at it and it fires a pink bolt. Sophia flies above it while the two hedgehogs move past it.

"Let's give it our best shot!" Shadow says to the two.

"We must," Sophia narrows her eyes as they make their hands into fists.

"Alright, we can go in at full speed and finish it off." They do so, and it screeches.

* * *

"The Space Colony is still rushing towards us, Mr. President," Christina is looking at her laptop as she can see the schematics of the ARK. "We're only minutes away from impact." She looks up at him in worry. He groans, holding his head.

"Hey, what's that?" Sam asks and they all step out of the limo, other people looking up at the sky. They can distinctly see three white dots flying around the incoming ARK.

"Soon the Space Colony won't be able to escape the planet's gravity! It'll be impossible to stop it from crashing!" Christina reports to their concern.

"Come on, Sonic and Sophia, you can stop it!" Sam says to himself.

"Let's hope, but I'm afraid no one can save us from disaster now," The president states.

* * *

Amy, Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, and Mr. Tanaka are watching the three super-powered beings. Chris has woken up.

"You have to defeat that monster, Sonic. We're all depending on you," Amy says in determination.

"Sonic...Sophia...Shadow..." Chris murmurs in hope that they can do it.

"Topaz, you read me?" Rouge says into her walkie talkie.

"Yes Rouge, what's going on there? I don't understand what Sonic and Sophia are up to," She's looking up at the sky.

"That large red object is actually Space Colony ARK, glowing as it re-enters the atmosphere," Scarlet is currently reporting on it. "For 50 years, this existence was kept a secret. In the course of our investigation, we uncovered a conspiracy within our intelligence services that now threatens the survival of this planet. Our only hope lies in the bravery of two hedgehogs and Princess Sophia who are now fighting for all of us."

Chuck, Ella, Cream, Cheese, and Rose look up at the sky in worry. "Please, Sonic and Princess Sophia."

Rose and Cheese chirp in agreement.

"Please, Sonic and Sophia, goooooooo!" Bokkun cries out from Eggman's base.

The Bio Lizard fires at them again and they close in on it, destroying the device on its back, but the ARK is still heading towards the planet.

"You're stopping right here!" Super Sonic places his hands in front of him. Super Shadow and Super Sophia do the same. The ARK slowly approaches them, with the fire from it starting to affect them.

"You can do it, Sonic and Sophia!"

"Give it all you've got, Shadow!"

"If you fail, the entire planet will be destroyed!"

"Tough it out, you guys!"

"You can do it!"

"We know you can!"

"Sonic! Sophia!"

"Shadow!" Super Shadow remembers Maria... "Those people need you, Shadow."

"I am Shadow!" Super Shadow declares. "Shadow the Hedgehog!" He removes his Limiters to give him all the power he needs. "You ready?"

"You bet!" Sonic answers and Super Sophia turns to Shadow in confusion, wondering what he's doing.

"Here we go!"

Super Sonic starts glowing and so does Super Sophia.

"CHAOS..."

"CONTROL!"

All three of them point their hands to the ARK, chaos energy coming from them. Together, they put the ARK back in orbit.

 _Maria...Sophia...I did it...for you..._

And with that, the timer has been stopped, everyone cheering for their safety. Christina takes the phone off her ear. "The space agency just reported in. They said that the Space Colony has moved back into a stable orbit."

The president looks up at the sky. "Thank goodness..."

She removes her glasses. "Sonic and Sophia could be charged for violating space agency regulations and for stealing evidence."

"You know, after all that they've done for the planet," They turn to Sam. "I don't think the voters would like that very much." He smiles at them. "Don't you agree?"

"Yes, I suppose you're right," The president agrees, as they've done too many heroic actions to be arrested.

* * *

"My grandfather was truly a genius, ever since I was a lad, he was my one true hero. I always wanted to become a great scientist like him. But he shouldn't have tried to destroy the planet. How can he do something so wrong?" Eggman says through the speaker.

"I don't know..." Tails speaks up. "But you helped us all save the world."

"I'm so happy the planet was saved. Now I can conquer it and establish my empire!"

"You still wanna take over the world?" Amy asks in confusion.

"Affirmative!" Decoe confirms.

"You are welcome to join us if you would like!"

"No thank you," Tails immediately denies. Eggman laughs as he gets away on his ship. The door opens behind them and they turn around, smiling.

"Sonic!"

He smiles at them, Chris stepping up to him. "Where's Shadow? And Sophia?"

Sonic looks down, as he wasn't sure. He simply shakes his head, the silence tense. He holds out something to Chris...a ring.

"You know, maybe Professor Robotnik wanted Shadow to stop his crazy plan all along," Rouge states.

"We'll never know, but in the end, Shadow and Sophia sacrificed everything to save us all," Sonic replies as Chris has tears in his eyes. One of them falls down onto the ring, disappearing.

"He sure did."

"No."

Everyone gasps at the voice, turning to see Sophia emerging from the entrance. "He is alive...I can still see his dreams and hear his thoughts...I can feel his presence...somewhere." It was hard to say where, though, as for some reason, she's getting the feeling from all kinds of places...to find Shadow would take her own lifetime...

"Sophia!" Everyone runs up to her.

"You're okay!" Tails cheers happily and she smiles slightly.

"Yeah..." She looks out into space.

Sonic pats Chris' back. "Come on, Chris. Let's head back. Space is fine, but I like my feet on the ground."

"The rocket's ready! It's time to go," Tails tells them and they take their leave to go back onto Earth. Sonic and Sophia turn around, looking out to the moon.

 _Sayonara for now...Shadow the Hedgehog._

 _Goodbye Shadow...my friend. You taught me so much...I will find you. I know that you are out there...somewhere..._


	39. Defective Detectives

**Angel: This chapter is not that long, as it was mostly dialogue here. Though, the reviews are a LOT, so let's just get this out of the way. Also, I have missed some, but I couldn't update earlier because I went to the mall. My sister got me all pissed, so don't even come whining to me about how I didn't respond your review if I missed yours. I'll deal with them next chapter. Unfortunately, I was gone from 11 am and I just got back, so I didn't get to start episode 43 either. I'll probably write more tomorrow.**

 **Also, thanks for over 300 reviews! I'm sure that there'll be more to come...**

Crazycartoons5488: That was the best chapter ever and I can't wait to see Chapter 39.

 **Angel: Well, here it is, and I'm sure that there's plenty more chapters that you can enjoy.**

Bajy: Excellent job here! Looking forward to the aftermath of this!

 **Angel: Thanks! Though,** **some of it does have to do with Sophia and her thoughts on what she's learned.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sophia was able to help Sonic, Chris, and the others rescue Cream and Cheese from Area 99. I'm glad that Sonic and Sophia reunited with Tails as well. Sophia's normal look is really nice. I wonder if Sophia will go to Chris' school.

 **Angel: She does, but now, not as often since she's kinda busy with other stuff. And I got that outfit from a movie...don't remember which one right now, but I remember that my cousin watched it.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sophia helped Sonic and Tails take on Eggman and Missile Wrist. It's good that Sonic and Sophia reunited with Amy and Knuckles, but too bad that Knuckles went off on his own. I can't wait to see how Chris' parents and friends will react to Sophia.

 **Angel: To me, that personally was one of my favorite battles to write. It's also one of the episodes I remember word for word.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sophia blended well in school and got the attention of the boys in class. I like that Sophia helped saved Chris and get the first Chaos Emerald. I wonder if Sophia will figure out who Mr. Stewart really is.

 **Angel: Yeah...that was my intention XD I wanted Sophia to interact with other people like Starfire would want from me, so I respected that.**

Sapphire: Oh I can't wait to see chapter 39 and for us to see how Sophia's parents look like and to see if they're happy to see their daughter or different.

 **Angel: More like the other way around. And yeah, people have been waiting since episode 1 for them to appear.**

Challishanlon: Oh my God crying because I'm both sad and happy sad because Shadow's gone alive gun no so happy cuz the world was saved thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more by the way when I was asking about you guys celebrating the holidays I meant both you and Sonic and the others by the way I have another question Sonic since you can go faster than anything in the world does it kind of feel like you're flying? And Sophia I was wondering if you could see a dragon would you be best friends with it? PS happy holidays to everyone.

 **Angel: Ohhh. Well, Christmas is two weeks from Tuesday, so still not sure if we'll celebrate this year. I just know that I will definitely not type.**

 **Sonic: Of course we celebrate Christmas! And running is just part of the fun. It's not exactly like flying, but it's just as a thrill to do it.**

 **Sophia: If I were able to see a dragon in Station Square, maybe I'd be friends with it. If it were back at home, I'd question where the dragon would come from. There are no dragons on our world.**

Johanvanguard: It was devious of Eggman to trick Knuckles into thinking that Sonic and Sophia were the enemies. Thank goodness Sophia helped to calm down Knuckles, bring him to his senses, and save Chris, Tails, and Amy from Eggman's robot. It will be great to see more of Sophia in action.

 **Angel: Eggman has to be devious or he wouldn't be a villain. That Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog crap doesn't count. And there's definitely more Sophia action! But she's not just there to fight, she's also there for wisdom and heart.**

GreenD109: It's really bizarre to say the least (well to me, I think). In the beginning, I thought that Sophia was a strong royal alien princess of Sonic's world, but now that I read each of the Shadow Arc chapters, I find out that she wasn't an alien to begin with, but a Second Ultimate Life Form in a form of a human created in the Space Colony ARK, about half a century ago alongside Shadow. Talk about a real shocker, but I gotta say this story truly is interesting. Even though with newly discovery about Sophia's past there are still a couple of questions, like how she was able to gain wings to fly or how she was discovered by her now fake parents. But I won't pester you on that topic, I want to find out on my own as this story continues onward. PS: It was touching that after her friends found out that she was sorta human, that they still treat her as a friend. And to Sophia, hope you'll find Shadow again someday no matter how long it may take.

 **Angel: It's still so amazing to me, coming from the author XD Back then she was only a simple princess unfamiliar with Earth customs, but now...she's human and she knows what she's doing. Sophia is growing not only emotionally, but mentally. Notice how she's coming out of that formal shell she had back then. And her parents will answer that in the next episode.**

 **Sophia: Thank you, I appreciate that. *smiles* I hope to find him...**

Johanvanguard: Sophia's parents sound really great. Good to see that Sophia is doing well in school and blending in quite well. I'm glad that Sophia liked Intelligente at first, until the robot betrayed her and the others. It's good that Sonic stopped Intelligente and saved the kids from Eggman. I like how Chris' parents accepted Sophia and treat her well.

 **Angel: And yet people still don't know what they look like XD Sophia's a smart person, she knows how to make a plan. School is nothing.**

 **Sophia: Lindsey and Nelson are very...emotionally grateful for how I protect Chris.**

Johanvanguard: It's good that Sophia dressed really nice for the party and helped to keep Sonic and the others from being discovered. It's also good that Sophia kept from being recognized by Chris' uncle Sam. I'm glad that everything with Chris' mom, the party, and Cream got resolved in the end.

 **Angel: Well...back then no one knew about her, so she still had to keep it a secret.**

Johanvanguard: It was nice that Sophia helped Sonic and Tails try to the Super Sweeper. It's great that Sophia helped Tails, Chuck, and Chris transform the Tornado into the Tornado X. I'm glad that Sophia helped Sonic, Tails, and Chris with destroying Super Sweeper.

 **Angel: Sophia is always trying to help. That's what a princess would do for her people...**

Johanvanguard: It's good that Sophia had fun on the beach with the others, until Eggman showed up and spoiled the day. Sophia is wise to stay away from Amy when she is really angry. Thankfully Sonic and Amy stopped Eggman from destroying the resort.

 **Sophia: I didn't have fun when Eggman showed up...Amy needs to learn how to control her anger.**

Johanvanguard: It's good that Sophia also played baseball and did well in it. Thank goodness she was there to help Sonic and Knuckles escape the explosion. Though the heroes won the game, Eggman got away with a Chaos Emerald, but at least the heroes learned a lesson about teamwork.

 **Sophia: *huffs at the memory* Yes, well...Eggman's a dirty cheater. Very deceitful.**

Johnavanguard: It's interesting to see that Sophia trusts Rouge and that the both of them were enlisted by the president to help stop Eggman. The past of how Sophia trusts Rouge is pretty good. I can't wait to see Sophia with Rouge and Topaz a bit more.

 **Angel: Sophia's not a spy, she just relays intel about Eggman to the president. And she does interact with them a little more, but not as much.**

Jake: This is cool but if Sophia is a princess so to speak about her past I always wondered if she likes to sing like any princess my little sister likes watching princess movies when they sing and wondered if Sophia will sing anyway can't wait to see the next chapter soon.

 **Angel: Umm, no. She may be a princess but she's not a Disney Princess or anything. Not all princesses sing, anyway. There's Merida XD And my cousin told me that when she was watching Sofia the First, some of the princess who do sing didn't sing in their episodes, so...she can sing, but I won't make her sing anytime soon.**

Guest: There's something I've been wondering about since reading over chapter 1. How come Sophia didn't dive into the water to pull Sonic out then and there herself BEFORE Chris came to help? She can swim...can she?

 **Angel: Of course she can. She wanted to inform Chris so that he COULD help Sonic. You don't just jump into someone's pool without telling them first XD That's like saying you ate the last of something but you don't tell anyone. So yeah, she can, she just wanted to tell someone.**

Some sparkles are falling down as a frog is ribbiting, but not just any frog. "Hey, Froggy, it sure is a nice day," Big says in content before he opens his eyes. He sees a bright white light growing bigger and gasps. "That's pretty." Froggy ribbits in excitement.

As an old couple are enjoying their morning, something crashes on top of their house: another house?

* * *

"There have been five confirmed reports so far, Mr. President," Christina says as a house in a tree is shown to him. "It seems that most of the buildings have landed in parts of the closet to Mystic Ruin," There's a photo of Flickies and other animals.

"Great, and what about all the creatures they found inside?"

"The bird-like ones are known as Flickies, sir," She explains and he frowns in worry.

"And I'm assuming they all come from the same world as Sonic and Sophia. Right, Professor Thorndyke?"

"Yup," Chuck confirms. "It would appear that way."

"I see...now then, I'm sure you must be wondering why I asked you, Sophia, and your grandson here this afternoon."

"You're worried about the arrival of these creatures, and you're thinking you need to separate them from humans," Chuck glances at Chris, who is frowning. "You're concerned there'll be trouble between two different species unless they're...dealt with. But I'm sorry, I don't know where Sophia is. She said she'd be out...looking for a friend."

Ever since they saved the planet, Sophia has been trying to find Shadow, but she's been coming up short. He could be anywhere on the planet, which does not make her search easy.

"We wish we didn't have to, it's just..." Christina looks guilty.

"Don't apologize," Chuck interrupts her. "We understand your situation completely." He looks at Chris again as he looks worried. He hasn't spoken a word at all.

* * *

Rouge is standing on a rooftop, looking out at the sky when she glances away from it. "Have you heard? A couple of more friends from back home dropped in. Seems every day is like a regular reunion around here. Course, if too many of us start showing up, the humans aren't gonna be too happy." Knuckles is crossing his arms, looking straight at the sky. "They'll probably decide we're dangerous and round us all up. Imagine us, together..." She jumps down from her spot.

"24/7. My, I wonder what that'd be like, don't you?"

He blushes at that and turns to her. "Get this straight, I'd rather live in solitary confinement than with you!"

"Don't get so excited, sweetie. I'm only saying that the authorities won't like our kind around. Believe me, I don't like the idea of being locked up any more than you do."

He huffs slightly and says nothing.

"I should've realized that the welcome mat wouldn't be out forever."

"Yeah," He closes his eyes. "Too good to be true. One day they love us because we're unique and the next day we're in jail because we're different. Well, they won't take me without a fight," He grits his teeth at the thought. But...Sophia acted as a voice for them. She was a princess after all, despite being a human now...

"Now that's the right attitude," Rouge gestures to him before shrugging. "Oh well. We'll just have to make the best of it. When they come to get us, I hope you're around to protect me." She flies into the air. "Well, I'm off. Oh, and there's just one more thing."

"What's that?" He asks in annoyance.

"I hope we share a cell."

He blushes again and shakes his fist as she flies away. "You're batty!"

* * *

The moon has yet to be repaired as Chris steps up to the docks. "Don't know about you, Chris, but I'm pretty hungry," Chuck comments, smiling a little. "Why don't we go on home and have a little of Ella's-"

"Grandpa?"

"Huh?" Chuck asks in confusion that Chris actually spoke.

"I've been thinking...about what the president said. Do you really think they're gonna...take Sonic and Sophia away?" Chuck closes his eyes before he approaches his grandson. He places a hand on Chris' shoulder. "I mean...I know they're different, but why should that matter? Deep down, they're just like you and me."

"I know. I know," Chuck says, and given Sophia's...past, she really wasn't all that different from them...She's a human just like them...

* * *

Sophia looks out to the moon, remembering how she and Shadow would look at it with Maria...she sighs as she sits down on the leaves of a tree. Rose is sleeping inside of her bag. She followed a lead, but it was another dead end for the 12th time already. But she would never stop looking...because Shadow's her friend. She can't give up on him, no matter how hopeless it would seem...

She's heard about the recent arrivals of people from her...world. Was it even her world anymore? She was there for most of her life, but...given that the ARK was where she was born...why did her parents keep this from her? Why didn't they tell her the truth? Did they erase her memory? She got all the answers from Shadow, but she still has questions...

Sophia glances down to her communicator that her parents gave to her should she need to contact them, but it hasn't worked once since she arrived in Station Square. The luxuries, the fancy dresses, the tiaras all seemed like a lie. If she's not a real princess, then who was she? What was her purpose now? But...no matter who she was...she still wanted to protect her world, and this one as well.

Someone has to...

* * *

A large alligator with black headphones and a golden chain yells in frustration. He leans against his chair. "Leave it to Charmy to take his own sweet time getting here!"

A purple chameleon is sitting nearby him as they're in their office. "I see you've got more important things to worry about. Like where we are for instance, and how did the three of us get here in the first place." He looks up at his friend. "And how do we get back?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Espio. I'm just as confused as you are! Did we travel through time somehow? Or space, maybe?" Their...house is somewhere near the water.

"Which one do you think happened?"

"What difference does it make?! All that matters is we're stuck here! And since we're stuck here, we oughta concentrate on a bigger question."

"What's that?" Espio wonders.

"Why is half of the moon missing?"

A bee with a helmet on his head flies up to the house and bursts in. "Hey!" He lands on the alligator's nose. "Wait until you hear, Vector! You won't believe it in a million trillion years!"

"What won't I believe?" Vector asks as Espio is staring at them.

"We got blown into a whole different world!" Espio cringes at the explanation. He expected something more...plausible. "And the proof's right here in this newspaper."

"Charmy," Vector warns.

"See!" He points to a newspaper in his hand.

"Charmy!" he calls out.

"Uh huh?"

"Will you get off my nose?" Vector demands as Charmy bounces up and down while he's speaking.

"Alright, where are we, Charmy?" Espio closes his eyes.

"I don't know." He falls down, sweating. Vector screams, slamming his hands against the desk.

"I told you to do one simple thing!" Charmy turns around with a hum, wiggling his finger. "Your assignment was to find out where we are!"

Charmy shoves the newspaper into his mouth. "Never mind that! Just look at this. Oops, sorry," He removes the paper.

"This better be good," Vector grumbles, already losing his patience.

"Here!" Charmy shows the front page to him, which shows Sonic and Sophia. Sonic is winking at the camera with a thumbs up while Sophia is smiling, hands on her hips.

Vector gasps sharply. "What?! Well, if it ain't our old friend Sonic. And that's Sophia!"

Espio stands up quickly. "The princess?! We've been looking for her for days now!"

Vector skims the paper. "Let's see here. Sophia and Sonic save the day again. Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia rescued the world from catastrophe once again when they nimbly prevented a long-forgotten space station, the Space Colony ARK, from crashing into the planet yesterday."

 _"Here we go!" Super Sonic and Super Sophia's auras glowed gold._

 _"CHAOS..."_

 _"CONTROL!"_

 _Together, the Space Colony ARK was moved back into orbit, stopping the timer and saving the world once more._

"This is just the latest in a series of amazing rescues that have kept the famously speedy duo in the news. Since first arriving in Station Square under mysterious circumstances some time ago, Sophia and Sonic have shown a remarkable aptitude for heroism against increasingly dangerous odds."

 _Sonic led Cream and Cheese away from lasers, Sonic holding onto Cream's hand. She was running nearby. Sonic looked up and let go of Cream's hand._

 _"Sonic!"_

 _"Run!" Sonic told the two and Sophia took Cream's hand, running past the lasers. Sonic jumped up to one of them and punched it. He leaped to another one and aimed for the other ones, taking them out. He looked down to Sophia and Cream. "Keep running!"_

 _"Right!" Sophia nodded, jumping over a camera as she ran with Cream, holding her skirt from her princess dress in one hand. The doors started closing, including the one in front of them._

 _"The door, we can't make it out!" Sonic rushed to their aid and pushed them, speeding past the door just as it closed._

"Through their use of supersonic speed, agility, strength, and just plain smarts, Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia have become famous the world over for daring deeds and fast-footed feet."

 _Sonic ran past two people, a skirt flying up from a woman. He smirked as he ran up a building with Sophia, Eggman pointing down at him. "Hurry, fire!"_

 _Missile Wrist fired flames and missiles, supposedly hitting the two before they flew out of the smoke, spinning into the air. "Fire away!"_

 _Missile Wrist fired a missile wrist, Sonic showing off as Sophia leaped above him. Sonic laughed, sticking out his tongue and slapping his bottom._

 _"Wise guy! I'll show you!"_

 _Sonic carried on, Sophia doing a pirouette as they continued jumping._

 _"Guys! Try the old slap on the wrist!" Knuckles called out while Amy looked worried._

 _"Yeah," Sonic and Sophia stayed on the robot's hand, which reattached to the rest of his body. He looked at them and Sonic stuck his tongue out as he pulled down the skin from his left eye, mocking it. Sophia giggled and Missile Wrist raised the other arm. Sonic and Sophia jumped up, a glint appearing from them. Sophia sliced off the arms off the robot with one slice._

 _"Bye!"_

 _"Goodbye!" Sophia flied up next to Sonic in the air._

 _"FIRE!" Eggman shouted and Missile Wrist fired more missiles from the chest launchers. They hit the two dead on. "Hah hah!"_

 _Sonic and Sophia came out of the smoke in super spin mode, Sonic smirking while Sophia had a serious look on her face. They crashed into the robot, causing it to explode._

"Sophia and Sonic have shown true honor and good deeds can and will triumph every time. So Sonic's a big hero, what a laugh riot! Ha ha!" Vector rips the newspaper in half.

"You're just jealous cause you're not famous like Sonic and Sophia are," Charmy waves it off.

"Knock it off, Charmy. Sophia is a respected person back at home. We'll be famous soon," Espio scolds him.

"In case you're wondering, Detective Vector's the name!" Vector introduces himself to the camera. "I'm a private eye kind of guy and the head of my very own detective agency. I may be lean, mean, and green, but behind my cool croc exterior, I'm really just a big old softie. Just don't let that get around though, you got me? I got a reputation. The detective's gotta be tough, so let's just keep this between you and me, okay?"

Charmy flies in front of Vcetor. "My name's Charmy, and I can be-"

Espio pushes Charmy out of the way. "My name is Espio. I'm the brains in this organization. I also possess some killer spy skills. I'm smart. I'm quick on my feet. I also happen to be a ninja."

"He's also full of himself."

A vein appears on Espio's head to Charmy's comment. He walks away. "It's better to be full of myself than to be an obnoxious pipsqueak."

"Hey Vector, can I tell 'em about me now?"

"Aw, too bad Charmy, we're all out of time," Vector tells him and Charmy cries out, looking at the camera with disbelief.

* * *

At Eggman's ruined base, a rocket launches up into the air. An advisor gets off the phone, looking at the president. "Mr. President, we just received word that a missile has been launched from Dr. Eggman's undersea base."

He gasps in confusion that Eggman would attack after only a day that the planet was saved. "Find out where it's headed, right away!"

They get to work and soon, they get a location. "Confirmation from Central Command. The missile is headed for the moon."

The president sighs wearily. "I should've known..."

"Mr. President."

"Yes, what's happening?" He looks up.

"It's Dr. Eggman, he's on the TV phone!"

The president gasps, as Eggman doesn't normally call him. He would transmit a message to all of the screens.

"Ah, good evening, sir. I wanted to apologize for that nasty ARK business," Eggman looks at the rocket heading towards space. "That was so unfortunate. And to show you how very sorry i am to have caused such a calamity, I thought I would offer to mend the moon for you free of charge. It's the least I can do." The rocket separates into pieces as the front is still heading for its destination.

"That's...good news, Eggman," The president says slowly, as he's never seen this side of Eggman before.

"Getting it perfectly round won't be easy," Eggman scratches the top of his head. "But with a little luck and a whole lot of elbow grease, I'll have it patched up in a jiffy, okay?" And with that, he hangs up, leaving the others confused.

"Can we trace that?"

"He certainly is full of surprises, isn't he?" The president murmurs.

"You don't really think he wants to repair the damage, do you, Mr. President?" Christina asks skeptically and he closed his eyes.

"I don't know what to think anymore..."

"You did? You traced the call?!"

"That was quick," The president's eyes widen. "Get Eggman back on the line, right away!"

"Yes. Mmhm. Answering machine? But we just talked to him! Send some agents over there and grab him!" The president shrugs sheepishly at his advisor.

"I wonder if we can trust him..." Christina says to herself, as she's heard how deceitful Eggman can be. He IS the one who blew it up, after all...why try to fix something he's done? He's never done that before...

The rest of the missile lands on the moon. A steel bar surface emerges from the damaged moon half, repairing it. There's a flash of light before it's done. "It appears the moon has been repaired by the notorious Dr. Eggman." Chuck, Tails, Cream, Ella, and Mr. Tanaka watch the news in shock at the Thorndyke mansion.

"Is it true it only took him ten minutes?" Tails asks in shock that Eggman would do such a thing.

"I have to admit, he's some scientist," Chuck comments.

"I don't know," Cream states her skepticism. "I think it looks kind of funny, don't you?"

"Oh, who cares about some silly old moon?" Amy dismisses it as she stands in front of them. "Where's Sonic?"

Sonic is running through a field as he sees the repaired moon. "Whoa!"

* * *

The sun rises the next morning, which means that their mission was starting. "Aw, today we solve the case!" Vector declares to his two friends.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?" Espio asks him.

"Espio's right, what makes you think you can solve it today, Vector?" Charmy tilts his head in confusion. Vector just chuckles, turning around. He turns to them, glasses over his face.

"Elementary, my dear Charmy. It just takes some clever sleuthing! I'm Detective Vector!"

"Sure you're Detective Vector. You're also nuts," Espio remarks as Charmy stares at him.

"I think you've been reading too many detective stories again!"

"Ah...that's very interesting," Vector waves a finger.

"There he goes again," Espio says at Vector's antics.

"Oh brother," Charmy complains as Vector has a detective outfit on.

"One more thing."

"How long are you gonna keep this up, anyway?" Espio demands, staring at Vector in the eyes.

"Alright. The kid we're looking for and Sophia got into this world from ours by Chaos Control, just like Sonic and Sophia did. And I think the hedgehog's behind it," Vector explains.

"And you know that for a fact?" Espio wonders, "The princess would never let Sonic do that."

"I got intuition and that's good enough for me!" Vector insists.

"You got a hunch, Vector?" Charmy asks in confusion.

"I told you before, Charmy, it's not a hunch, it's intuition! With a capital int!" He chuckles and they look at Cream from the house. "Uh-huh, bingo. See what I mean, the old intuition never fails!"

"I have to hand it to you. It didn't take you long to find that hedgehog's hideaway," Espio comments in shock.

"We had some help," Charmy pulls out a map. "It was listed on this map of star's homes."

"You mean a star lives here?" Espio questions in confusion.

"From what I dug up, Sonic and Sophia's been laying low with this kid whose mom's a real-life big-time movie celeb. Leave it to Sonic to mingle with a bunch of mental movie people. So shallow," Vector glares at the mansion.

"You're jealous?"

"You bet—who asked you, Charmy?!" Vector raises a fist as Charmy laughs.

"I got you that time, didn't I?"

"Never mind that, let's get back to the job at hand. We got ourselves damsels in distress to rescue here," Vector clenches a fist.

"Well, at least we know where she is. Now all you have to do is figure out some way to get into that house," Espio turns to him.

"That's right, but it's gonna be kind of tricky. They probably got lots of fancy schmancy security equipment."

Charmy suddenly gasps and hands Vector the binoculars back. "Here, take a look! A big scary security guard!" Vector sees Ella talking with Cream.

"Man, check out the beast in the ruffle apron. Wait, there's Sophia!" Sophia walks into the room, looking tired as she sits next to Cream. She had just returned from her unsucessful search for Shadow. Ella hands her a large gift basket from another citizen and Sophia beams at all the candy. Ella turns in their direction and he screams, ducking underneath the bushes.

"What do we do? Should we run for it?" Charmy asks.

"Are you crazy? We can't turn back!"

"Don't forget, we're on a mission," Espio reminds Charmy.

* * *

Sonic comes to a stop as he sees Eggman looking at the city, but he doesn't seem to be doing anything. "Eggman!"

Eggman turns around to him. "Sonic..." They stare at each other, both wondering what the other is doing there. "Well, well. It's a beautiful afternoon, isn't it?"

* * *

Espio uses his camouflage to appear at the window. He gives his friends a thumbs up. "Atta boy!" Vector cheers as Charmy giggles, waving. "I should've known with those nifty ninja tricks of his he could sneak with the best of 'em!"

"Where is he?" Amy demands as the others are smiling, Sophia eating a chocolate bar. "He told me he'd be back today at noon sharp!"

"Must've lost track of time," Tails suggests and Amy pulls out her hammer.

"Oh yeah? Well, this is the last time he's gonna keep me waiting!" She swings it around and Sophia feels a presence...not Shadow, but someone else.

"Amy," Chris says nervously until she hits something, her hammer shaking.

"Uh oh. It feels like I just hit something." Sophia can't feel the presence anymore, so maybe it was just her imagination...and with that, she continues eating her sweets from her gift basket.

Espio lands in the tree above Vector and Charmy, falling down from it. "Hey, you okay?" Vector asks him.

"I...think so," he grunts, opening his eyes. "But she can swing a mean mallet..." Vector helps Espio up.

"Poor Espio," Charmy comments in sympathy.

"Sly, aren't they?" Vector looks at the window.

"What you gonna do?" Charmy wonders.

"Just you wait, Charmy. We'll give 'em a fight they'll never forget!"

"Alright!" Charmy cheers at the thought, laughing.

* * *

Sonic glances at Eggman. "You're in a good mood of all of a sudden. What are you up to, Egghead?"

"Nothing," Eggman denies, "I've simply had a change of heart. I know it may surprise you, Sonic, but even eggcentric geniuses like myself have hearts."

"That so?" Sonic looks at him questionably.

"I kid you not. It isn't easy being an evil madman. It's hard work."

"I don't buy it," Sonic denies.

"I really mean it, Sonic," The hedgehog opens his eyes at Eggman's honesty. "Building evil robots to do my bidding, creating a chaos creature just for kicks. Sometimes I think, what's the point? Maybe I should just chuck it and retire somewhere far, far away."

"You might have something there, Eggman," Sonic remarks, Eggman chuckling.

"Can't you just see it, Sonic? Goodbye world domination, hello shuffleboard."

"Hey, are you on the level here, or is this just another one of your schemes?" Sonic demands, but he doesn't get an answer as a couple of people arrive suddenly.

"Excuse us."

"It can't be...!" Sonic says in shock.

* * *

"What are ya, weirdos? What do you want?" Tails demands as Vector and Charmy have stormed into the mansion.

"Explain yourselves," Sophia narrows her eyes at them.

"You know what we want, drop the innocent acts, kiddos!"

"Give up," Charmy demands. Sophia pulls out her glove and slaps them with it hard. They hold their cheeks in pain. "Ow! Hey, what was that for?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tails denies as Sophia puts her glove back on. She was getting annoyed by them.

"Tails, Sophia, do you know these two?" Chris wonders and Tails shakes his head.

"I've never seen them before in my life, Chris!"

"I have never heard of them, no," Sophia denies and Vector gives a sound of shock.

"You've never heard of us?! We're the Chaotix, sister!"

"Vector, she's a princess, that's rude!" Charmy yells at him, but Vector didn't care. He steps up to Sophia, looking at her in the eye.

"We're the best detectives around! We even helped find your missing tiara once, so you have to know us!" Sophia grabs him by the snout and throws him onto the ground in one swift motion.

"Perhaps they need therapy," Sophia murmurs to everyone else, a vein on her head.

"Quit your stalling, will ya? Now, hand over that little bunny and the princess or else!" Vector demands.

"Yeah, or else!" Charmy shouts and Sophia growls at them in irritation, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, sir, but...where would you take us?" Cream speaks up.

"You don't think we'd let them take you!" Ella places a hand on her cheek in shock.

"Just asking," She mumbles and Vector screams.

"There's the bodyguard monster!" Vector slaps his cheeks and holds out Charmy's stinger as a threat. "We'll get you! Charmy, get ready." Charmy stammers nervously.

"Alright, you creeps. You asked for it!" Amy starts to fight them, with the others caught up in the middle of it. Espio is still outside with a bump on his forehead.

"What's going on here?" Sonic arrives, opening the door.

"Sonic! Help us, we're being attacked!" Tails cries out and Vector pushes Tails down.

"Well, look who's here! If it ain't Sonic the kidnapper!"

"I'm no kidnapper, pal," Sonic shouts to him and a few strangers step out from behind him. Vector looks at them in awe. One of them is a cream-colored anthropomorphic rabbit with a white muzzle, brown eyes and a tuft of brown hair on her forehead. She has light brown/orange markings around her eyes and on the ends of her lopped ears. For attire, she wears a long lavender dress with a white trim and a fitted burgundy vest, a blue ascot, white gloves with gold cufflinks, low-heeled burgundy shoes, and pink lipstick. The other two are a man and woman. The woman has complexion like Sophia, with long floor-length curly pink hair styled in ringlets, and green eyes. She wears a white tiered dress that has multiple layers. It's opened up at the front in a V-shape to show pink and white ruffles. A head piece is adorned with pink crystals, with a pendant and earrings to match. A golden tiara is on her head, that has three green crystals on top. The man has brown hair, wearing a golden crown, a red fuzzy hood, golden shoulder plates, and a red cape. His sleeves are puffy with an ivory color, as the sleeves passes his elbow it becomes slender and gold. He has a collar shirt with a round golden necklace, belt, puffy pants and above knee ivory-colored boots.

"It's you!" Vector exclaims in shock.

"How nice to see you again, Detective," The rabbit greets nicely.

"Hey, look Cream and Sophia, someone's here to see ya," Sonic calls out and they both turn around to see the three. Cream looks at the taller robot.

"I found...my baby!" The taller rabbit holds out her hands.

"Momma? Mo..." Cream starts crying and the two hug. The others watch the reunion happily.

"Cream's mother!" Chris exclaims in shock. "And is that...Sophia's parents?"

Sophia slowly steps up to her 'parents.' They smile at her. "My goodness, Sophia, you look so frightened," King Elliot notices her pale face. They both hug her, with Sophia shaking.

"How can I ever repay you, Detective Vector?" Cream's mother, Vanilla, turns to the gator.

"Aw, no sweat," Vector rubs his head.

"And thank you, Sonic, for taking such good care of my little girl. I'm so grateful!"

"Huh?" Vector looks confused as she didn't say that to him. "Grateful, but..."

"What did Sonic do?" Charmy asks in confusion and Sonic leans in towards them.

"You remember me, Vector? I'm Sonic the Kidnapper."

"Hey, my old pal Sonic, fancy meeting you here," Vector pretends to be surprised. "Come on, Charmy, we don't wanna be late for our next job, do we?"

"What's the big rush, Vector?" Sonic asks knowingly. "Stick around, why don't ya?"

"Yeah, we were just getting into the swing of things," Amy says slyly.

"Thanks anyway, but time's a-wasting and I'm busy!"

"I detect a little uneasiness, detective." They all start laughing as Eggman is in his Egg Mobile, watching them.

"Eh, sounds like quite a party. Laugh while you can, Sonic, you sucker," He chuckles to himself, leaving. Meanwhile, Espio is still outside.

"Hey, you guys, help me out here, will ya?"

Sophia pulls away from her parents and walks off to her room, to everyone's confusion. Sonic stares after her, knowing what was wrong...He turns to the king and queen.

"Queen Valentina, King Elliot? How exactly did Sophia come into your care?" Sonic asks and they both stiffen. They glance to each other, as they swore to keep that secret, but...they got the sense that they already knew...it was time.

"Perhaps we should start at the beginning..."


	40. Sunblock Solution

**Angel: Over 25...25 reviews that I have to respond to?! XD Just do it, end me. End my life...I would skip johanvanguard's, but that would be rude and unfair...though, I do admire his dedication to reviewing every single chapter.**

Sapphire: That was a great chapter I feel sorry about that end though but it was still great wonder what will happen next

 **Angel: *winces at what happened* Oh yeah...but it'll all be fixed eventually.**

Johannvanguard: It's interesting that Sophia helped Sonic and the others deal with the ghosts.

 **Angel: I still remember this episode...it wasn't a favorite of mine, but it was still fun to do.**

Jake: That was the great last chapter I ever read I can't wait to see more of this.

 **Angel: ? Episode 39 was the last chapter for an arc? I thought it was the beginning of the Egg Moon Arc.**

Johannvanguard: It's nice that Sonic and Sophia had fun with the cheetah. It's great that Chris and Tails stopped a dam construction, saved the animals, and defeated Eggman.

 **Angel: Those guys wanting to ruin all that were major jerks...**

Johannvanguard: It's interesting that Sophia was with Knuckles and Hawk. It's great that Sophia and Knuckles found a Chaos Emerald and stopped Eggman from getting it.

 **Sophia: Yes, it was quite the adventure. I hope we see Hawk again someday like we promised.**

Johannvanguard: It's good that Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese got to have fun on the beach. It's great that Sonic, Sophia and the others found a Chaos Emerald and beat Eggman again.

 **Angel: That was basically the formula for the first season: Eggman comes in with a stupid plan, and they have to stop it. Well, most of the first season, he didn't appear with all of those ghosts...**

Johannvanguard: It's great that Sophia and Sonic had help from Chris, Tails, and the others to stop Eggman and his machines.

 **Angel: Haven't seen too much action from Tails from the episodes I've done already in the second season...maybe he didn't wanna hog the spotlight XD**

Guest: I feel bad about that episode but I hope they'll meet again soon.

 **Angel: Since you're talking about episode 38 with Shadow's 'sacrifice,' I'm sure they will.**

Johannvanguard: I'm glad that Sophia had a really great adventure with Sonic and Helen. It's good that Sophia and Helen really bonded during the adventure.

 **Sophia: Helen and I are still bonding at school...on the few days that I still attend.**

Johannvanguard: It's fantastic that Sophia helped Sonic and the others stop Eggman and get two Chaos Emeralds, and helped Rouge and the others destroy Eggman's base.

 **Sophia: Thank you for your praise.**

Johannvanguard: It's good that Sonic and the others are okay with Sophia being friends with the president, but they don't know about Rouge. It's great that Sophia helped both the president with his plan to infiltrate Eggman's base, and Chris and the others to stop Eggman from getting the Chaos Emerald. I wonder if Sophia will unlock any new powers.

 **Angel: They didn't know until later...well, Sonic suspected something, but he didn't say anything. And for that last sentence, you'll have to continue reading since you're still behind.**

Hawkeye: Hi I'm new to your story and I have to say it's awesome but I was wondering are you going to add the Babylon rouge to, you them right from sonic raiders (Jet the hawk, Wave the swallow, and Storm the albatross) it would be cool if you add them to the story make a little arc about them but it's up to you I'm just making suggestions, anyway keep it up and I can't wait for more.

 **Angel: Ummm...that game came out in 2006. By that time, Sonic and the others were already in space trying to stop the Metarex. So I don't think it would make sense to put them in.**

Guest: It was a good chapter but at the end it just got awkward

 **Angel: If you saw your parents after they lied to you, you'd probably feel angry too...**

Bajy: Vanilla and Cream reunited! Sophia's adoptive parents have appeared! Now we'll finally know how Sophia came into their care, what happened to her after the incident at the ark years ago. Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: *giggles* Though, I didn't take too long to explain it...**

GreenD109: Pretty good chapter, though, I'm kinda surprised that the answers about Sophia's past revolving around the King and Queen would be revealed sooner that I thought. I honestly thought that those answers would be uncovered in a more later part of story. Oh well, I just hope that the bond between Sophia, Queen Valentina and King Elliot doesn't break entirely (even though they're not related by blood).

 **Angel: No, I decided to do it right after she knew so that I wouldn't forget to do it later on. Besides, she deserves to learn the truth now.**

Challishanlon99: Uh oh Sophia's parents are here oh boy I bet she's very angry but Sophia I have a saying it's got to get worse before it gets better meaning sometimes things turn bad but then later on things will get better anyway I really enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to read more and Sophia I think you're a great friend have a happy holidays to everyone PS good luck you guys

 **Sophia: You might be right, but...they still lied. But thank you for trying.**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia parents tell Sophia Sonic and their Friends the whole Story.

 **Angel: Pretty much.**

Johannvanguard: It's great that Sophia and the others are doing well on Earth after the Chaos Control incident. Too bad that Eggman came back again and this time with Chaos. Thank goodness Sophia and Sonic defeated Chaos for now.

 **Angel: Eggman obviously would come back...**

Vortex Lord: So Sophia is reunited with her parents. And now they're going to reveal the truth.

 **Angel: We're halfway through the show, so I figured to have you guys know.**

Johannvanguard: It's great that Sophia and Sonic powered up thanks to the Chaos Emeralds and defeated the Eggsterminator.

 **Angel: Everyone was waiting for that!**

Johannvanguard: It's terrible that Eggman's new robot, Lucky, found the last Chaos Emerald and that Eggman tricked Knuckles and Chris into giving him their Chaos Emeralds. I like that Sophia was suspicious of Chris's actions and mood.

 **Angel: No offense to Chris, but Sophia's not dumb.**

Johannvanguard: It's great that Sophia and the others saved Sonic from his constant running.

 **Sophia: Yes, well...if it was me, my legs would give out.**

Johannvanguard: It's nice that Sophia joined Sonic, Chris, and the others for the anniversary. It's great that everything worked out fine in the end, except for Eggman getting a Chaos Emerald.

 **Angel: That sneaky son of a gun.**

Johannvanguard: It's nice that Sophia enjoyed camping with Chris and the others. I like that Sophia now has a Chao of her own named Rose.

 **Angel: I would put more scenes with her and Rose if she wasn't busy doing other stuff right now...**

Johannvanguard: It's interesting that Sophia's super hearing picked up on Jerome's deal with Eggman. It's fantastic that Sonic and Sophia won the race against Sam Speed and got Jerome exposed.

 **Sophia: What is fantastic is that he still owes me my gummy bears. *smirks in amusement***

Johannvanguard: It's nice that Sonic, Sophia and the others learned from the elders how to relax. It was funny to see Sophia angry that Eggman ruined their vacation again, and that Ella defeated Eggman.

 **Sophia: Eggman will not see the last of us...**

 **Angel: Okaaay then...*moves away from her***

On the Thorndyke yacht, it's almost the new year, but not everyone seems to be enjoying the festivities. "Just a few minutes to go!" Chuck cheers.

"This is the perfect way to start the new year!" Amy exclaims, Sophia staring out to the water.

"Yeah, much better than celebrating at midnight," Chris speaks up.

"Celebrating the first sunrise of the new year! Great idea, Mr. Tanaka," Ella elbows the butler.

"Thank you."

"Get ready, guys. As soon as the sun comes up, we use our noisemakers," Chris holds one up, everyone giggling. He glances to Sophia, who has a hand on her cheek. Chris stares at her in sympathy, after all, she was living a lie...

 _The king and queen were standing in front of everyone, who were waiting for an explanation as to how Sophia came across them. "It was many years ago on that fateful day..."_

" _We were arriving back from a royal meeting. We had been trying so hard to have a child, but they were unsuccessful. We came across a strange pod that came out of nowhere. And in it was the most beautiful girl we had ever seen. However, we had no way of knowing who she was or where she came from. But she was plagued with awful memories that we did not understand. Memories that we did not want to plague her mind for the rest of her life. Surely she would've grown to be afraid for the rest of her life..."_

" _So we had a mage replace them with memories of our world, and we called her our own. We made her one of our own. We taught her our practices, our traditions, and we gave her all she ever wanted. We...were only trying to do what her parents would've wanted for her. She was happy. We...were happy..."_

Sophia clenches a fist as she runs a hand through her hair. Replacing memories, faking her past, not remembering Shadow...since when did everything about her life have to be complicated? Why couldn't this have happened to anyone else? Still...they did love her, and they cared enough to make sure she was happy...even if she didn't agree with the outcome of how she came to be.

"Hold on, Chris. I think we just wait for the sun instead because if we make too much noise, we might scare the sun away!" Cream protests in worry.

"The sun isn't gonna get scared away, Cream," Chris tells her.

"Don't you worry one bit, dear," Vanilla assures her. "The sun will be happy to get such a nice welcome."

"Okay then, I'll take one," Cream runs up to the box happily.

"Sonic needs one too," He looks around, but the hedgehog is nowhere to be seen.

"Try that way," Tails chuckles, jerking a thumb into the air. Chris glances at Sophia and she points up to the top of the yacht, where Sonic is watching the moon. He has a conflicted look on his face. _Sophia...she's been through so much. We need to do something for her so that she understands that her parents had good intentions..._

* * *

Topaz is relaxing at an island at this time of night. "I'm about to catch the first race of the new year, Rouge."

"Yuck. When I go on vacation, I'll pick someplace nice, like a dark cave," Rouge says into her phone.

"That doesn't sound very appealing to me," Topaz laughs. Rouge is actually at the president's office.

"I'm a bat," Rouge points out to her, "For me, a cave's the perfect place to hang out and chill."

"Well hanging out in a hole is just plain depressing," Topaz comments, "Now I see why your social life's so dull."

"Hm," Rouge frowns at her, "You and I both know that's not true. I've got a princess for a friend!"

"Rouge...you do know that she's not an actual princess. Her parents didn't give birth to her like you told me."

Rouge says nothing. It was just so natural to refer Sophia as such that she...just forgot. It seemed like so long ago that Sophia was just a regular princess.

* * *

While waiting for the sun, Sophia jumps up towards Sonic to sit with him. "How are ya holding up?"

"I suppose that I'll eventually forget that I'm no longer a princess...along with everything else," She mutters bitterly. Sonic glances at her in surprise at her new speech.

"Hey, when'd you start talking like that?"

"Hm?" She looks at him. "Oh...Shadow taught me. Things change, Sonic...sometimes for the good and sometimes for the worst."

"Well...whether or not you're a human or an alien princess, you're still our friend. And we'll always see you as our princess because you care about us. You protect us."

She slowly smiles at his words. "Thank you..."

"...Still looking for that friend of yours?"

"Yes..." It's been weeks and nothing. Not even a single trace...but Sophia would never give up. She could never give up...even if she's searched the entire world and nothing. Shadow would do the same for her...

"Okay, let's get ready," Mr. Tanaka holds his noisemaker. "We will pull the strings all together. I will give you a signal as soon as the sun comes over the horizon. A few seconds more, the sky is getting lighter, lighter. It's almost here." They all gasp as they see a distant light. "Get ready. Boom!" They all pull the noisemakers as the sun can be seen for the new year...but then the moon comes in and blocks out the sun's light.

Topaz looks up in confusion.

"No way!" Chris exclaims in disbelief.

"What's that?" Amy wonders as they see the dark blocking out the sun rays.

"That doesn't look like sun," Cream frowns. Sonic and Sophia gasp, sitting up.

"It looks like a solar eclipse!" Chuck calls out, making everyone gasp in surprise. Though, there is one major problem with this...

"Something's wrong. There isn't supposed to be an eclipse!"

"That's the Egg Moon, sir!"

"Contact the president immediately!"

"Right!"

With the president, he's being informed of the situation. "It's the Egg Moon?"

"Yes sir. Dr. Eggman changed its orbit. He's created an artificial eclipse."

"I want to speak to that lunatic immediately!" The president demands and he hears his doors opening, looking up to see the doctor himself, along with Bocoe and Decoe.

"Have no fear, Eggman's here!"

The security and Christina turn to him sharply. "How did you pass security?!"

"I pretended I was a bar of soap and gave them all the slip," He steps up to them, the Secret Service pulling out their walkie talkie.

"This is a Code Red alert!" They pull out their guns, surrounding the trio.

"Now hold on!" Eggman calls out, "I came here peacefully."

"Wait men," The president holds out a hand to stop them. "Let's hear what he has to say."

Eggman pushes past the confused men. "Mr. President, please, believe me. I didn't move the Egg Moon on purpose."

"You mean you moved it accidentally?" The president asks skeptically.

"A solar storm affected the Egg Moon's control system. The Egg Moon went into a new orbit by mistake. I give you my solemn word that this eclipse wasn't caused by me!" Eggman insists and the president just stares at him.

"I don't believe you." He's well aware of Eggman's dirty tricks. Sophia was a good source of information when it came to the doctor.

"Please sir, I beg you to believe me," Eggman pleads, leaning towards the man. "For I have a plan to make the sunshine return!"

That gains the man's interest. He did want to bring the sun back, and despite Eggman's inventions being used for evil, they worked. "Well, we do need light desperately."

"And I'm the man to deliver it, sir! If I don't, lock me away!"

Christina steps up to him. "What should we do, sir?"

The president leans back in his chair, seeing Eggman's grin. He saw no reason not to believe Eggman, given his apparent sincerity. And he did sound guilty and remorseful. Eggman willing to be locked up in case of failure? That was something that he's never done. "Alright, I'll give you one chance."

"You won't regret this, Mr. President!" Eggman cheers. "My sunshine plan will leave you beaming!"

They make it official by shaking hands at a conference, Eggman smiling at the camera. Meanwhile, Topaz has to cut her vacation short. "Ugh, my vacation's been totally ruined now."

"It's a good thing you're a hothead. You don't need the sun to keep you warm," Rouge teases, making Topaz pout. "What could be better for a bat than a planet that's dark every day? This'll do wonders for my nightlife. Girlfriend, I'm flying high!"

* * *

Cream, Rose, and Cheese are crying for the sunlight to appear. "I told you we shouldn't make all that noise. This made the sun scared and now it's hiding!"

"Please don't cry Cream dear," Vanilla bends down to her. "I'm sure the sun will come back soon. This eclipse surely won't last for long."

Sonic and Sophia look worried about the situation, as this has Eggman all over it. He's already blown up half the moon. But then again, he did fix it, which raises a few questions. If he really wanted to redeem himself, why blow it up in the first place? Clearly the Eclipse Cannon was only a small part of his plan, as he only used it once. And why fix the moon unless there was something sinister involved?

Sophia sighs to herself. Even though she has night vision...she can't really search for Shadow. She had to stay and figure this out. Sonic needed her help...but Shadow needed her help too...what was she going to do? She never thought she'd have to choose between two friends who she cherishes...

* * *

"We want some answers! How long will it take you to correct the Egg Moon's orbit and end the eclipse?"

The press conference has started. "I have bad news for you," Eggman starts off. "The damage to the Egg Moon will be difficult to repair. For the moment, it will be impossible to move the Egg Moon."

"Are you telling us this eclipse will continue indefinitely?!"

"I'm sure I'll come up with a solution eventually," Eggman plays with his fingers. "But I'm afraid it's going to take time. I'll have to write new software and run tests. Were I to act in haste, the consequences could be catastrophic."

"But without sunshine, the planet will freeze!"

"I won't let it freeze!" Eggman stands up, glaring. "I can provide you with plenty of heat and light because I've invented an artificial form of sunshine!"

"Artificial sunshine?" A reporter asks in confusion as no one can simply create sunshine.

"Just you wait and see. This is my brightest idea ever."

* * *

A rocket is being prepared to be sent into the sky. "All systems are go."

"Roger!"

"We're all set for launch."

"Prepare for countdown!" Bocoe orders.

"Hold it!" They look to see Bokkun approaching them. "You can't start yet!"

"This better be important, Bokkun," Bocoe scolds, Bokkun holding a message.

"I got a message for ya! Dr. Eggman has something personal to say!" The TV turns on to show Eggman.

"I have faith in you two."

"Thank you!" They both cheer, feeling inspired all of a sudden.

"Why would he have faith in you two?" Bokkun complains, "You mess up every time!"

It seems that Dr. Eggman thinks so too because he says this: "Mess up this time, and I'll dismantle both of you with my bare hands and sell you piece by piece on the internet!" And with that, the message ends, the two robots looking irritated at his lack of faith.

"He certainly has a unique management style."

"Yes, if his workers fail, he destroys them," Decoe thinks about all of the robots that were destroyed by Eggman and not their enemies: mainly the E series robots that had failed to catch Froggy.

"Do you think he'd get rid of us?" Bocoe asks in worry.

"Only if he felt like it," Decoe comments as there have been numerous times where he's threatened to get rid of them, but they're still standing. Why should this time be any different.

"We will not fail!" Bocoe declares in determination.

"Is that actually a possibility?" Decoe asks in surprise, but they salute to the crew.

"Attention, launch crew!"

"Proceed with countdown!"

"5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"1."

"Liftoff!" The rocket flies into the air to go fix the moon. It reaches out to space and separates, just like when the moon was repaired. The rocket reaches out to the sun, and then suddenly stops. It forms into a satellite and faces towards the Earth, shooting a beam to another satellite.

"The system's power storage is now at 10 percent of full capacity and rising steadily."

* * *

Everyone watches the news as they wait for the sunshine to come back, including Sonic, Sophia, and their friends.

"For several days now, the endless eclipse has blocked all sunlight from reaching our planet. But thanks to the work of Dr. Eggman, our world will soon be bathed in a new form of light. And now a brief message from our sponsor."

Bocoe and Decoe then proceed to sing a jingle, Sophia rolling her eyes. "Living in the dark is not only depressing in a public safety hazard, but is bad for your lawn, too," He gestures to something behind him that's covered by a cloth. "The solution?" He moves back and the two robots remove the sheet to reveal a gray orb standing on a pole.

"Tada!"

"It's the Sunshine Ball!" Eggman explains, "Thanks to my new invention, even the dingiest darkness can now be filled with luscious luminosity."

Chris gasps in surprise that Eggman could create sunshine. "If you call within the next 20 minutes, you can take advantage of our special offer. New customers are eligible for free delivery and installation is half price," Bocoe gestures to it.

Eggman stands in front of the camera. "I wish I could offer installation for free also, but the robot union won't let me. Sorry about that."

Decoe and Bocoe wave. "Hey, we robots have to pay for oil, you know!"

"Call to order your Sunshine Ball today!"

"Our operators are standing by."

Soon, people from all over are calling to get sunshine. "You better call soon!"

"The Sunshine Ball is selling out!"

"What do we do?" Chris turns to Chuck.

"Well, I miss the sun," Chuck comments, and since there's no solution for getting rid of the eclipse...

"I ironed out the laundry days ago and it still Isn't dry!" Ella speaks up. "A Sunshine Ball should be handy."

"I agree," Mr. Tanaka says, as chores needed to get done and people needed things to be grown.

"We should call for one right away," Chuck states, Sonic and Sophia standing up. They start to leave.

"Hey guys," Chris calls out, but they leave the room anyway without another word.

"They're not sure this is a good idea," Tails explains as they stare after the duo. "I don't think they trust Dr. Eggman very much. And considering how Sophia was created by Eggman's grandfather...I don't think she's very attached."

"If we don't trust Eggman, we may have to live in the dark forever!" Amy points out.

"Maybe so, but how do we know Eggman's telling us the truth?" Chris questions, as Eggman isn't exactly the person he'd expect this solution from.

"He sounds like he's sincere to me," Amy turns to him.

"Why else would he make Sunshine Balls?" Tails asks.

"I guess you're right," Chris comments, looking up at the commercial as Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe are accepting dozens of phone calls.

"Yes, sir, your Sunshine Ball will be delivered to you right away. Tired of the dark? Then let the Sunshine Ball light up you day!"

While there's no apparent solution to bring back the sun right now, Sonic and Sophia are very wary of Eggman's plan. Sophia especially is not on board because Eggman could be using this as a means to rule the world. He made the Sunshine Balls, he could easily take them away if he wants to. Not only that, his grandfather had a hand in her 'birth.' He tried to destroy the world for Maria's disappearance, and that's not something she would want to be a part of, whether the man created her or not.

As the two are running, Sonic frowns to himself. He doesn't trust Dr. Eggman because it's simple: Eggman's been an enemy since day one. He's not sure what Eggman's angle is here, but he wasn't going to fall for it unlike everyone else and Sophia.

* * *

Bocoe and Decoe are installing one of the many Sunshine Balls. "Steady now, it's wobbly!"

"We have to attach it to the base," Bocoe instructs him.

"Roger."

"Turn it clockwise." The family are watching as they do so: Helen's family. "Keep going. A few more turns and we will be done."

"It certainly is hard work."

"We should ask for a raise," He turns to Helen and her parents. "Your Sunshine Ball is all set!"

"We are ready to test it out now!" The Sunshine Ball turns on, with rays almost similar to the sun. The three gasp in awe at it.

"It feels so warm! And best of all, the light is almost as bright as real sunshine!" Helen cheers, her and her dad laughing. Knuckles is watching the scene nearby, frowning.

 _It seems like Eggman is trying to help everybody, but can he really be trusted? I guess we don't have a choice._

Soon, everyone has a Sunshine Ball, lighting up the city. "Everybody should have a Sunshine Ball! Thank you!" Helen says gratefully.

"Sounds like another glowing recommendation," Decoe and Bocoe look at each other happily, laughing. They drive away from the home, Bocoe glancing back as the family are waving happily at them.

"You know, it feels wonderful to help others," Bocoe states to his partner, "My circuits are falling with positively charged energy!"

"We should do this all the time!" Decoe agrees as they drive off to help another family. Meanwhile, some people are protesting for their arrival of their Sunshine Balls, as there's only two robots installing them for every single house or apartment.

"I represent people on the west side of the city!" Jerome declares, "Why don't we have Sunshine Balls yet?"

"It'll take time to light the whole city," A representative of the President tells them.

"You expect us to live in the dark forever?" Jerome slams his fists on the table. "We demand our Sunshine Balls now!"

"Or better yet, have Princess Sophia install them!" Someone calls out from the crowd. "She's fast enough."

"Erm," The man looks nervous as he's contacted the Thorndyke mansion, but Sophia's not home, and he has no way to contact her. "Let's discuss this calmly."

"If we don't get Sunshine Balls in the next 24 hours, we'll march to the east side and take 'em!" Jerome threatens.

The council are talking about this as each man represents a city or at least a section of it. "My constituents demand their Sunshine Balls immediately!" A southern man calls out.

"Now hold on!" A man points to him from a row behind. "The big cities have to be taken care of before any rural area."

"Quit, please," One of the officials taps a gavel. "Hold on, everybody."

"Hello, please hold," Bokkun is answering phones from all over. "Yes? One moment. We're a little backed up right now. We'll get there as soon as we can. Thanks for calling! Hey, Dr. Eggman," He flies up to his boss.

"Consumer demand is greater than I expected. We'll need another mirror tower to produce more artificial sunshine." Mirror towers are what gives the Sunshine Balls their sunshine.

"Maybe the president can help us out!" Bokkun grins widely. Eggman gives him a call.

"Yes, this is the president speaking."

"It's Dr. Eggman calling, Mr. President," Eggman starts off, "Can the government give me some free land to build another mirror tower? With all the demand for Sunshine Balls, our business is blazing."

"Of course, doctor. Whatever you need," The president agrees.

"All I can say is hail to the chief!" He laughs at his joke.

* * *

A crowd is gathered around a Sunshine Ball, Jerome looking happy. "We don't have to live in the dark anymore!"

"It's not as bright as real sunlight," an elderly man says as he's sitting with his wife on a bench.

"But it sure beats not being able to see when you go outside," She finishes, everyone around the park happy.

"You don't say," Eggman says to the phone.

"A major crisis has been averted thanks to you, doctor," The president thanks him. "You're truly a hero."

"A hero?!" Eggman exclaims in surprise. "You mean just like Sonic and Sophia?"

"That's right." Bokkun blinks in shock.

 _I've never been a hero before. Having a squeaky-clean image could really help me get a lot of dirty work done._

* * *

The mirror tower gives off the sunshine to the Sunshine Balls. "You may have everybody else fooled, Eggman, but not me," Sonic and Sophia are looking up at the power source. "You say you built these towers to make sunshine, but you're keeping everybody in the dark about your real plan, but we know what you're up to."

"I sense something very wrong about these Sunshine Balls," Sophia glances at the tower. "Something unnatural...surely there's another motive somewhere hidden in these devices."

They run towards the mirror tower to crash right into it, destroying it.

* * *

Helen plants some flowers in the garden. "Don't forget to water them," Her dad tells her, and the light from their Sunshine Ball goes out, confusing them.

"Our Sunshine Ball went out! What do we do now?" Helen asks and every single Sunshine Ball goes out, leaving Station Square in darkness once more.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles looks up as he's in the city.

Ella looks up as she was trying to dry her laundry. "Without those Sunshine Balls, we're all washed up!"

They watch the news to see if there's anything about the Sunshine Balls. "I'm coming to you live from Eggman's emergency press conference. The doctor has prepared a statement on the blackout."

"Today a mirror tower collapsed which overloaded the power grid and caused the system to shut down. We are doing everything we can to repair the damage quickly, and we hope to turn the lights back on in a few more hours."

"Do you know why the mirror tower collapsed?" Scarlet asks him.

"We're investigating now," Eggman tells her.

"Sonic and Sophia..." Chris murmurs to himself, Tails turning to him.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, it was nothing," Chris denies as he looks up at the TV. "Nothing much." _They'd never do something like that...would they?_

"I don't believe it!" The president exclaims as they have footage of Sonic and Sophia destroying the mirror tower. "Are you sure this isn't a mistake?"

"We're positive, sir. I'll zoom in for a close-up," He does so to show the two standing there, eyes narrowed.

"It is them! How could they?" The president is furious.

"Sonic can be wild sometimes, but committing sabotage isn't in his character! Sophia would never do such a thing!" Christina exclaims in disbelief.

"But they can't stand Dr. Eggman. I bet my wings that they knocked down that mirror tower out of jealousy. And Sophia...well, Eggman's grandfather did create her. Maybe she did it for revenge," Rouge closes her eyes. Topaz turns to her.

"What are you talking about?"

"We have all the proof that we need right on that video," Rouge gestures to the TV. "Eggman is trying to help us, but Sonic still thinks of him as the enemy. Sophia's still bitter for what Gerald Robotnik did. They resent that we're working with Eggman."

"That's ridiculous!" Topaz denies it, as Sonic wasn't the jealous type. And Sophia...wouldn't really harbor all of that hatred. Even after she learned about her past, she still helped saved Earth regardless.

"You're suggesting they caused a worldwide blackout because Eggman's on our side now?"

"Who knows?" Rouge shrugs carelessly.

"We should release the tape now, sir," Christina urges, "The public must be informed that those two are a danger!"

The president sighs, holding his head at the pressure. Sonic and Sophia were heroes too. They're not bitter towards Eggman...are they? But even after what Eggman's done, they showed no bitterness, even when he threatened to blow up the city with that missile. Suddenly, there's a phone call and one of the advisors answers it.

"Hello, this is the president's office. Oh!" He moves away the receiver. "Sir, we have an emergency! We just lost another mirror tower."

"We have to do something!" The president exclaims, Christina looking at the TV. She turns around to him.

"Do you want me to inform the media, sir?"

He didn't have a choice. There's no chance that they get the sunshine back right now. "Yes," He answers reluctantly. "Give them the tape."

* * *

"There's been a late development in the mirror tower case," Scarlet reports as Sonic and Sophia's pictures are released. "A videotape just released by the government shows the towers being destroyed by Sonic the Hedgehog and Sophia!"

Everyone looks up in shock at the news.

"What? No way," Chris murmurs as he's seeing it too.

"Princess Sophia and Sonic don't do things like that. It has to be a mistake," Cream protests, Tails looking at her.

"Yeah, I bet you that video's a fake," Tails replies and Mr. Tanaka arrives with Sophia's parents, as they look worried.

"An unruly mob is gathering outside the mansion!"

"Wonderful," Chuck deadpans.

"We want Sonic and Sophia! We want Sonic and Sophia! We want Sonic and Sophia! We want Sonic and Sophia!"

"What do we do?" Chris questions as they stare. "It sounds like they're really angry with Sonic and Sophia. What made them do something so crazy?"

"They got pretty upset when they saw Eggman on TV," Tails points out, everyone staring at him.

"So you think they did it just because they didn't want Dr. Eggman to be a hero? That's an awful thing to say!" Amy defends, the king and queen glaring down at him.

"But what other explanation could there be?" Tails asks nervously.

"I'm sure they had a good reason," Chris speaks up.

"Then why didn't they tell anybody?" Tails questions skeptically.

"They're breaking through!" Ella exclaims as some of them are attempting to climb the gate. Amy runs up to them with her hammer.

"Don't worry, nobody's gonna get past me!"

"Come back, you're only gonna make the situation worse if they see you're attacking!" Chuck calls out and Amy turns around to him.

"What else can we do?"

"Let me try to resolve this peacefully!" Chuck runs up to the crowd, Chris running after him.

"Grandpa!" The gate breaks down and they storm through, knocking into Chuck and Amy.

"Leave them alone or you will face me!" Mr. Tanaka threatens before he's caught into the crowd.

"Calm down, everybody!" Chris shouts over the noise.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the next mirror tower, the police are guarding it as Sophia and Sonic are running in their direction. "They're charging the tower!" One of the officers reports. "What are we supposed to do? Pull over for speeding?"

"Do whatever it takes to stop 'em!"

"But how? Sonic and Sophia are too fast for us!"

They go into spin mode as they jump over the cars and destroy the towers, escaping. "Uh, my kids all look up to Sophia and Sonic. How in the world am I gonna explain to them that they've become bad guys now?" he could just imagine the crying.

Eggman turns around in his chair. "Sonic and Sophia are finally showing their true colors." Bocoe and Decoe enter the room, holding something.

"Doctor, now that you're the hero."

"It's time to make a change!"

Eggman chuckles slightly and they remove the curtain to show Eggman X. "I love it! Join us next time on Eggman X when the universe's greatest super genius finally puts the brakes on those spineless speedsters Sonic and Sophia the scumbags!" He laughs at the idea.


	41. Eggman for President

**Angel: Happy New Year! New year, new chapter! ...Okay, truth be told, I kinda have to update today. Thursday I won't be home because I have to drive my sister to her hair appointment and she'll take a while. So, there will be no update Thursday for Sophia X. On the bright side, 9 more episodes to write until the last season! And this arc is about the new year, so it fits XD  
**

GreenD109: Within one night (or day), Sonic and Sophia become national enemies just because they sense something evil with those Sunshine Balls let's hope that they uncover that secret and clear their names. Also I'm not surprised that Sophia feeling conflicted, that King and Queen had to erase the painful memories she had of what occurred in the ARK, but it was to grant her new happy and peaceful memories but ironically she remembers all of her past and now somewhat cherishes the good memories she has of Shadow and Maria. It seems like it'll be quite a conflicting issue for her, but even so can she really forget that she grew as a princess of Sonic's world entirely or will she have an epiphany of something like even though her past family's gone, she'll still have her current family and just be who she is? Hopefully she'll find her revelation someday.

 **Angel: I mean...having everything you thought was real be fake...it's not exactly something one would get over that quickly. Put yourself in Sophia's shoes, she has no idea who she is now. She's not the princess everyone knew her as, and she definitely doesn't act like it anymore. As for the question, I think it got resolved in this chapter. I wrote this back in middle December so I don't remember.**

Johanvanguard: It's nice that Sophia was there to help Sonic and the others find the other Chaos Emeralds and take on Chaos and Eggman.

 **Angel: I don't hate that arc, because it was full of action, but to me it just dragged on for six episodes.**

Bajy: Eggman's up to no good again and only Sonic and Sophia know that! Things are going to get very messy! I don't like the mage part but great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Man, I never trusted him. I don't care that he helped Sonic a couple times, he's still a jerk. And I'm sorry for the mage, but I had to ^^'**

Crazycartoons5488: Luan Loud Said- Sophia is going to drop a big pot on she still mad at Egghead ha ha ha Egghead Get it.

 **Angel: The heck did I just read?**

Challishanlon99: I don't trust Eggman anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more and I hope that all of you have a happy New Year.

 **Angel: Still can't believe that no one even had a second thought besides Sonic and Sophia...and thank you! Lots of good movies came out last year, so I hope that applies to 2019!**

 _Last time on Sophia X, as our friends planned to greet the new year sunrise, they were totally shocked by a total eclipse! Soon, Dr. Eggman shed light on the mystery. A malfunction Egg Moon was causing the super sunblock. He begged the president to let him lighten things up, and he built giant mirror towers to power his specially designed Sunshine Balls. But just as Eggman was being hailed as a hero, two people started toppling the towers._

 _That duo was Sonic and Sophia, and now the citizens are dead set on stopping them! Have they gone screwy? Find out next on Sophia X!_

The inhabitants of the house run inside, closing the doors shut, but the citizens barge in anyway, Vanilla hugging Cream. They're surrounded as Jerome steps forward.

"Where's Sophia and Sonic?!"

"They're not here, so go away!" Chris shouts at them.

"Then tell us where they are!" Jerome demands and King Elliot glares at them.

"We know you think they knocked those towers over," Tails starts off.

"But they'd never do that!" Amy continues.

"Yeah, don't forget, Sonic and Sophia are on our side!" Chris looks away from everyone. _At least I think they are. The only one they're against is...Dr. Eggman! They'd do anything to beat Eggman!_

"Yeah, right. He's just trying to protect them! Let's get 'em!" They step closer and Sophia's parents stand in front of them.

"Cease this violence," Queen Valentina narrows her eyes at them.

"You have no right to accuse our daughter and Sonic of these awful things! How dare you storm in here and demand this of us!" King Elliot exclaims and they back away slowly. Some of them are still angry, however, and jump towards them. Amy pulls out her hammer.

"Alright! Back off!"

"Amy!" Chuck warns and she prepares to swing...at the wall. She makes a hole and points to it.

"Go!"

They escape, but they're met with more angry people. Soon, an alarm beeps and Sam's car arrives on the scene. The mob move out of the way as the entire S team are there. "Alright, everybody, listen up. If any one of you yahoo's lays a finger on them, you'll have to deal with me."

They all back off, as they can't handle the whole S team on their own. "They're leaving," Chris says in shock.

Ella sighs in relief. "Oh, goodness, that was certainly a close shave."

"Looks like the S team showed up just in time," Sam smirks, walking up to Chris. "You doing okay, buddy?"

"Yeah," Chris still looks doubtful of Sonic and Sophia. _Oh guys, it can't be true! It just can't be!_

* * *

Sonic and Sophia run up to another mirror tower. "Here goes another one!" They crash into it and it collapses. "Alright, bullseye!"

"Shouldn't we explain what we're doing, Sonic? Our friends are probably worried," Sophia voices her concerns as she turns to him.

"We can handle this until they need to know!" He waves it off.

"I'm warning you, Mr. President, Sonic and Sophia will stop at nothing, nothing!" Eggman is explaining at the White House. "They must be eliminated!" He slams his hands on the desk.

"Now, please don't get excited, Eggman," Mr. President warns, holding up his hands. "Just calm down."

"Calm down?! How can I be calm with these menaces on the loose! I worked hard to bring light to your people, but all Sonic and the princess want to do is stop me!"

"Yes, I believe you're right," Mr. President agrees, as that's the only motive they have for their actions. "They're public threats," He turns to Christina. "Instruct my commanders that I want them stopped immediately."

"Yes sir!"

The robots from GUN are deployed to thwart the duo, with Topaz and Rouge heading off as well. Rouge is flying in the air and Topaz turns to her. "Isn't it weird that we're going after Sophia? She's your friend, right?"

"...Sophia is considered a friend to me, but...I'm not actually gonna hurt her. I just wanna see what exactly she's doing."

"So you're just gonna talk to her," Topaz muses, and she can understand why Rouge would try to protect her...mainly for the jewels, but Sophia is an old friend of Rouge. Even if Sophia does look guilty, Rouge knows her well enough to know that she has a good heart. Christina and the president are watching them leave. As their backs are turned, Eggman is grinning evilly to himself, chuckling.

"That gas bag sure is gullible, isn't he?"

"He sure is," Decoe agrees, turning to the smaller robot. "Isn't that right, Bocoe?"

"Ha ha! Sonic and Sophia are finished!"

They chuckle, as all of this was part of the plan: to make Sunshine Balls so that they'd be seen as heroes, with Sonic and Sophia's status being diminished. Now he can use his own hero status to get what he wants: including stopping his enemies for good. They turn to the window to see people wearing Eggman shirts.

"Eggman, Eggman, Eggman!"

He steps out to greet his fans. "Thank you all! You're very kind." He laughs to himself.

"Isn't it funny, Bocoe? Who would've thought this could ever happen? Now Dr. Eggman is the hero, with Sophia and Sonic being the bad guys."

"I'm so happy I could blow a fuse!" The two robots laugh as they wave back, happy to have some respect.

* * *

A helicopter flies into the air, with the loud engines hurting Rouge's ears. Topaz sees her discomfort. "What is it, Rouge? Is the noise from the chopper blades getting to you?"

"I'm okay, but I'm sensing something weird," She looks around and flies down.

"Follow her," Topaz orders and the pilot does so.

Most of the mirror towers have been destroyed, leaving the entire city in darkness. Helen sighs as she looks at it. "I miss the light."

Knuckles is walking past her house, seeing her from outside. "Poor little kid," he closes his eyes as he continues on. A few people are running up to him.

"Knuckles!"

"We've got a really big favor to ask ya."

"Favor?" Knuckles wonders as no one's asked him for a favor. Not a human, anyway.

"If Sonic and Sophia keep knocking down the mirror towers, we'll never get out of the dark."

"They'll listen to you. You are Sophia's unofficial knight, aren't you?"

"Help us."

Knuckles narrows their eyes as he didn't want them to suffer because of his friends' choices. But Sophia...he was sure that perhaps Shadow had brainwashed her or something. Then again, she seemed normal last time he heard, so it's most likely because she wants Eggman to be stopped. But Eggman hasn't done them any harm for the past few days...

* * *

The speedy duo run up to another mirror tower, with a robot from the government right on their tail. It fires missiles at the two, which they dodge. Out of the smoke, two more robots appear and Sonic jumps past them, causing them to attack each other. Sophia jumps into the air and flings her chaos spears, destroying them for good. She lands back on the sand to catch up with Sonic, who's being fired at by another robot.

The two jump past them and speed right into the robot, breaking it into pieces. They continue on their path, the robot exploding behind them.

"Okay!"

They jump into the air and destroy the mirror tower.

* * *

"Only you can stop Sonic from knocking down the towers," The citizens are pleading with Knuckles.

"Please, Knuckles. We don't know who else to turn to."

"We're begging you."

"You just gotta talk to 'em!"

Knuckles closes his eyes as this needed to stop. "Alright, I'll give it a try."

"You'll really talk to 'em?" They all look happy. "Thanks Knuckles!"

"He's gonna do it!"

"You're the best, Knuckles!"

His fist is shaking as he doesn't wanna hurt Sophia. _You've gone too far, Sonic and Princess Sophia. And I've got to stop you._

* * *

Chris is staring out to the pool, lost in thought. "Hey Chris?" his head lifts up as he turns to Tails and Amy standing there. "Is something bothering you?"

"No," Chris rubs his nose with his finger. "I'm fine."

"You haven't been yourself lately," Amy walks up to him with Tails and he looks away.

"Me?" he groans as he can't keep up this façade. "Well...one part of me thinks Sophia and Sonic could never do the things they say they're doing. But...well...I just don't know what to believe anymore."

" _We know you think they knocked those towers over."_

" _But they'd never do that!"_

"I wish I could have total faith in them, but I just can't understand what they're doing." First there was the whole Shadow ordeal and now his faith is being tested again.

"If you wanna know how to have faith, ask Amy," Tails turns to the pink hedgehog.

"It's easy," she miles at him.

"Maybe for you," Chris sighs, as Amy never really lost faith in Sonic or Sophia. Sonic was her hero and Sophia was like a sister to her.

"Listen, there's been lots of times when Sonic did something or didn't do something that made me wonder why I ever liked him," Amy steps away a few feet. "But in the end, he always comes through for me. He may do crazy things and he may do stupid things, but he never does dishonest things. That's why I'll always have faith in him! And Sophia...despite her not being an actual princess now...she never let herself stay down. She's dedicated to saving this planet, and she's not gonna stop now. She may sometimes have us doubt her loyalty, but that's because of her past. She'd never let herself go down that path."

 _Amy's right, always trust them. It is easy! I do have faith in them!_ Chris beams as he remembers all the good things they did. "Thanks a lot, Amy!"

"Sure, anytime Chris!"

"Come on, Tails. We better go and look for them," Chris stands up, Tails nodding in agreement. Amy looks away, happy of what she did.

"Am I good or what?"

Chris looks up at the sky as Tails flies the X Tornado. _Hang on, guys. Your friends are on the way._

* * *

Meanwhile, Knuckles is standing near a mirror tower as he waits for the two to appear. It's one of the few that has not been knocked down, so he knows they'll eventually show up. He sees smoke in the distance, which means they're on their way over. "At last."

Robots fly overhead as they fire at them, but they jump into the air, defending themselves. They slide onto the dirt, coming to a stop in front of Knuckles. "Hey Knuckles, good to see you, old buddy," Sonic waves slightly. "What's up?"

"Hi Knuckles!" Sophia smiles brightly, Knuckles confused by her speech. "Yeah, what are you doing here?"

"This." Knuckles goes in to punch Sonic, but Sophia pulls the hedgehog out of the way.

"Hey!" They both protest. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to pick a fight."

"Right!" He knew he promised the people that he would just talk with them, but his fists can do the talking better. He goes in to punch Sonic, knocking him back.

"Knuckles, stop!" Sophia yells as she places her hands on Sonic's shoulders.

"This is no fight if that's all ya got!" Sonic exclaims and when Knuckles goes to punch him again, Sonic jumps into the air and kicks Knuckles repeatedly. They continue fighting, to Sophia's horror.

 _Why is Knuckles fighting Sonic? The last time this happened, Eggman had tricked him. Is that what's happened? Why is he so angry?_

"Come on," Knuckles challenges, jumping when Sonic goes in to attack. They jump to a cliff, Sonic and Knuckles chasing after each other. "I'm gonna teach you a lesson, Sonic!" They both hit each other with a kick and punch respectively.

* * *

Rouge and Topaz have come across a transmitter, which Rouge sensed, but they are unable to damage it, let alone leave a mark. "No luck. It doesn't look like there's any way in, Rouge," Topaz calls out. Rouge looks up into the sky.

"That's too bad, because this looks like the power station." The antenna is pointing straight at the Egg Moon.

* * *

Sonic and Knuckles are still fighting when the X Tornado comes in. "Ah, look down there!" Chris speaks up. "Sonic and Knuckles are fighting!"

"That's news," Tails says innocently, as he's seen them fight before. Knuckles and Sonic attack each other in midair, falling towards the ground. They land on their feet, panting. Sophia steps in between them.

"Stop fighting! Why have you attacked Sonic?" She glares down at Knuckles.

"Wanna call it quits?" Sonic questions Knuckles, ignoring her.

"Not until I make you pay for the damage you've done." They jump towards Sophia, hoping to pass her, but instead she grabs Knuckles and throws him to the dirt. He grunts, looking up at her. She spins around to Sonic and ducks, with his face landing in the dirt. Knuckles looks up at Sophia as she's panting, trying to suppress her anger.

 _I can't believe I just did that..._

The X Tornado lands between them, Sophia sighing in relief. "Alright you guys, cut it out right now!" Chris demands.

"Don't interfere!" Knuckles yells at him.

"Knuckles!" Sophia warns him.

"You stay out of it!"

"Sonic!" Chris calls out.

"Hey, I'm all for keeping the peace, pal. It's Knuckles who started it," Sonic points at him and Sophia places her hands on her hips.

"Whatever it is, you can kiss and make-up later. Knuckles, stop fighting him and apologize!"

"You bet I started it! Do you two ever stop to think about the trouble you're causing innocent people? Do you?!" He shouts at them.

"Knuckles, they're not innocent," Sophia shakes her head.

"Huh? What trouble?" Sonic asks innocently.

"Okay, that's it!" Knuckles growls at the fact that not only Sonic doesn't seem to care, but Sophia is saying that the people are wrong? A light turns on, everyone turning away.

"Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia."

"Huh?" Chris asks in confusion as the robots are surrounding them. "What's going on?"

"Stay where you are, you two," The chief demands. "We've got you both surrounded. Just turn yourself in quietly and there won't be any trouble." The robots get a lock on them.

"Look out!" Chris warns.

"I'll take care of them!" Knuckles declares, as he wanted to take care of Sonic by himself.

"Knuckles, no!" Chris yells at him.

"You stay put," Sophia points at the echidna, walking up to the car with Sonic.

"Hey, chill out, everybody. Let's all stay calm."

"You stay calm!" Knuckles retorts, Sophia looking a little annoyed.

"Knuckles!" Chris protests, Knuckles looking up at him.

"Wake up, kid! Don't you know it's them who's been knocking down all these towers everywhere?!" Knuckles shouts in anger.

"...Yes, I know," Chris closes his eyes. "It's just...well I have faith in them! And if they're doing it, there must be a good reason!"

"Oh yeah, well what good reason could there be? You tell me. I'd like to hear just one!" Knuckles shouts back.

"KNUCKLES!" Sophia shouts at him in frustration, causing him to back away slowly in fear. "Just listen!"

"We'll give you one, Knuckles. Up there," Sonic points up to the Egg Moon. Everyone turns to it in confusion. Sonic points to his head. "There's something about that Egg Moon that's been bothering us."

"There's much about you that bothers me!" Knuckles steps closer to him, Sophia standing in front of Sonic.

"Yes, Knuckles, don't listen to me again. I dare you," she challenges and he keeps his mouth shut. "We can explain this."

"Well...what is there to explain? The Egg Moon won't move until it gets fixed. We know that," He defends, Sonic turning to him.

"Maybe you do. But we know differently."

"What?" Knuckles asks, baffled.

"Let us give you a little astronomy lesson. But, since I'm not from space, Sophia can!" Sonic gestures to Sophia, who pulls a chalkboard out of nowhere for everyone to see.

"If the Egg Moon," She points to a drawing of the black moon. "Was really standing still, it could not block the sun all the time."

"Hey, that's right," Chris realizes. "It only looks like the Egg Moon standing still because we're moving too."

"And there's one more thing you can't forget," Tails smiles as he and Amy look relieved.

"The Earth and the moon both revolve around the sun," Sophia points a ruler at the diagrams, but Chris is still confused.

"I'm confused!"

"You can tell all your 'devoted' Eggman fans that if they're both revolving around the sun, we shouldn't be getting total darkness 24 hours a day," Sophia explains, pointing to a diagram that shows the Egg Moon and the regular moon.

"She's right! The Egg Moon would have to be moving too," Tails tells the boy.

"And as you can clearly see, the Egg Moon has not moved at all," Sophia gestures to the moon.

"Eggman has been controlling it so he could con everybody into buying those silly Sunshine Balls he invented," Sonic holds up a finger. "It's just a cheap get-rich-quick scheme."

"That lousy...!" Knuckles exclaims, clenching his fists. "Everybody thinks he's the big hero!"

"That is because the Egg Moon transmitter is making everyone think that we are the villains through the Sunshine Balls," Sophia points to her head. "I sensed a familiar source when Sonic and I were running around a while ago."

* * *

Eggman grins as he waves to the crowd. "Just listen to those cheers, doctor!"

"Doesn't it make you feel good?" Bocoe turns to a crying Eggman.

"It's all going just as I planned."

"Oh?" The robots open their eyes, confused.

"What do you mean by that, doctor?" Decoe wonders, as they didn't know.

"Don't tell me you metallic meatheads think this hero act is for real. Why, I planned this rocky little coup right from the beginning!"

"You did?" Decoe asks in confusion.

"Certainly I did! Look closely at those yahoos down there," He points to their wide eyes.

"They look like they're in a trance," Bocoe points out. In fact, their eyes are spinning with Eggman's face on them.

"Eggman. Eggman. Eggman."

"Here's my secret," Eggman grins at them. "Every Sunshine Ball has a hidden subliminal message that compels everyone who has one to hail me as their hero."

"You mean all those people down there are hypnotized?" Decoe points at them.

"To think you are good?" Bocoe leans his head back in surprise.

"And that's not all. The Egg Moon is in place, and ready for stage 2." He chuckles at how well his plan is working. "The Eggman Empire is nearly here."

"We are not the good guys after all," his robots look dismayed.

"Oh well, it was fun while it lasted."

* * *

"So Eggman's no hero," Sonic tells the two government agents.

"And you were going to arrest us?" Sophia grins at them as they smile sheepishly.

"Why didn't you explain to us before you knocked down the towers?!" Knuckles shouts at them.

"I thought it was obvious. I can't help it if you're slow," Sonic shrugs it off.

"Watch it," Knuckles warns him and Sophia crosses her arms at him. He smiles sheepishly and she raises an arm. "No wait, I'm sor-" Sophia smacks him all the way to the rocks, sweeping her hands.

"Now I accept your apology," She hums, knowing that Knuckles won't get his revenge as he's still her friend...not as much as before after his accusations, though.

* * *

Rouge and Topaz were listening, the bat looking up at her partner. "Now what?"

Topaz pulls out her walkie talkie. "This is Topaz. I need to speak to the president immediately."

The president hangs up the phone after the conversation, furious. "Mr. President, what is it, sir?" He stands up.

"Dr. Eggman," He turns around to see Eggman sitting in his chair. "He's tricked us again!"

Eggman just chuckles, not even bothering to deny it. "You found me out, eh, Prez?"

"You've made a fool out of me for the last time, you hear?!" The President points at him threateningly and Eggman just chuckles at the fact he thinks he can stop the doctor.

"From the sound of the crowd, I'm the hero, and you're the fool, Mr. President," He turns to his 'adoring' fans. The president realizes that there's nothing he can do about the public. He can't believe that he fell for this...he thought Sonic and Sophia were on the other side...and for what?

"This is terrible!"

"Listen to those numbskulls," Eggman jerks a thumb to the window behind him. "They're calling for me to be their new leader."

"But...what about me?" The president gestures to himself, Eggman grinning widely.

"You, Mr. President, are my hostage."

* * *

At the Thorndyke Mansion, all of them are gathered to figure out what their plan is. "Now what do we do?" Chris asks as Sophia looks outside.

"Well I say if we can't destroy the Egg Moon controller from down here," Rouge looks up at the Egg Moon. "Then we'll just have to get rid of it from up there."

Sonic turns to Knuckles. "Well, what do you say, Knuckster?"

"The name's Knuckles, wise guy!" Knuckles exclaims, causing Topaz to back away at his tone.

"Hey, easy boy," Rouge warns him.

"Perhaps you would like another slap?" Sophia looks down at Knuckles and he smiles sheepishly.

"If I may, I would like to pilot." Everyone turns to Mr. Tanaka in a pilot suit.

"Works for me," Topaz comments, Sophia glancing at the two adults. Rouge sighs slowly. Meanwhile, not too far away, Queen Valentina and King Elliot are watching their daughter from afar. Valentina sighs, as she hasn't said a word to them ever since they returned. She probably still needed time, but...she missed her daughter. She wasn't usually like this, but could she blame her? Her whole life was a lie...

* * *

The citizens continue to cheer, unaware of the new situation inside the White House. The police are standing behind him, having been called to deal with the hostage problem. "It's no good, sir. We can't get through. There are just too many people out here."

A brick is pushed from the outside of somewhere, Mr. Stewart having gotten through. "Homeroom, I'm inside and starting the search."

Christina and the president are tied up, gagged as the man glares at Eggman with hate. Bocoe and Decoe are keeping watch and Eggman holds up a dollar with his face on it.

"Perfect. It's the new Eggman dollar bill."

"That is nice, doctor, but I made a Bocoe 100 dollar bill!" Bocoe speaks up.

"I have got a Decoe 1,000 dollar bill," The two hold up their bills in their likeness.

"Keep your two ugly mugs off my money!" Eggman shouts and they sweat nervously.

The X Tornado crashes through the office, with the door lifting up to reveal Sonic and Chris. Sophia jumps down from the plane, holding her sword.

"Let's go, Eggman! Your little political party's over," Sonic threatens, landing next to Sophia.

"Sonic and the princess," Eggman says bitterly, grabbing the president. "Stop there!"

"Yeah, right," Sonic jumps down further.

"I warn you, one step closer and he's finished."

"Careful you don't squeeze the air out," The president warns him with a smile, him and Christina already free. Eggman looks at the fake rubber President.

"Oh no!"

Mr. Stewart sees that they're safe, having planted that fake model. "Mission accomplished."

"Nice work," Sonic gives a thumbs up, him and Sophia running towards Eggman.

"Keep away!" He places the model in front of him, but they pop it, causing him to fly out of the White House. Sophia tucks her sword away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Topaz and Mr. Tanaka have almost reached the repaired moon. "You're amazingly good at this, Mr. Tanaka," Topaz compliments and he turns to her.

"As a butler, one must have the skill to do much more than simply answer doorbells."

Rouge turns to Knuckles. "Okay, Knuckles, hit it."

"Here goes!" He turns to the Egg Moon transmitter, falling towards it. He punches it and the Egg Moon finally moves, finally giving the planet its much deserved sunshine again. Everyone gasps in relief, Helen's family looking out the window.

"It's back, honey," her mom smiles.

"Yes, and it's still beautiful," Helen sighs in relief.

* * *

At the Thorndyke Mansion, they all celebrate having the sunshine back, and for the new year. Valentina and Elliot smile at the happiness and joy. The ship flies away as they watch the sun, Mr. Tanaka turning to Topaz. "We should watch the sunrise from here sometime."

"We should," Topaz agrees and Rouge stares at them. The door opens.

"Taht's that," The bat turns to Knuckles who returns. "Hey, what's the matter, Rouge? I thought you'd be pleased."

"Eh, I like this place better when it was in the dark," She comments.

* * *

Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe are on the run. "I like it better when we were heroes!" Decoe exclaims tiredly.

"Quiet," Eggman glares, "Just keep running. They're after us!" They stumble upon Chris holding a yes and no sign. Yes points to the right while no points to the left. They skid to a stop in front of the boy, as he's blocking their path.

"Question one, I first met Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia when he fell into my living room. Yes or no?"

"No!" Eggman turns to his left and he comes across Tails who has another yes or no sigh. "Next one. The X Tornado can fly more than 300 miles an hour and can withstand attacks by changing into battle armor mode."

"Yes!" Eggman runs to Tails' right. Then they get to Amy who has another one of the signs.

"Yes or no, Sonic says I'm the prettiest girl in the whole world."

"No way Jose!" They run to the right and she frowns.

"Well, you don't have to rub it in..."

Then they get to Sonic and Sophia, who are both holding a sign with their faces and Eggman's on it, smirking. "Just one more to go."

"Think carefully, Doctor," Bocoe warns him. "If you answer this one correctly, you will be the big winner."

"Don't worry, with my exceptionally high IQ, I'm bound to get it right," Eggman strokes his mustache.

"We'll see," Sophia smirks at Sonic before turning back to Eggman. "Who are the coolest people around? Us or you?"

"What a ridiculous question, it's me, of course!" He turns to the left, but a large pan falls on his head. The police surround him and tackle, finally putting cuffs on him. Sophia smiles at the police, waving to them. They wave back to her as she called them. He growls as he clutches the back of the van. "I'll be back."

"And to think this morning we were flying high," Bocoe laments as he and Decoe are handcuffed too.

"Now look at us: jailbirds!"

"You fools!" Eggman shouts, "Let me out of here!" The doors close and they take him away.

"From a big hero, to a big zero," Sonic smirks, Sophia nodding.

"It's about time," She winks at him.

"Sonic, Sophia! Sonic, Sophia!" They turn to the cheering crowd.

"Uh oh." They run down the street, their friends laughing as everything is finally restored to how it should be.

 _Looks like they're the real heroes, but we knew that all along._ "Didn't we?" Chris asks, winking.

* * *

Sophia is looking out the bay window as she sits on the bench, staring out as it's dark, but for the right reason. The 'princess' wasn't able to sleep so far tonight. So much to think about ever since what happened with Shadow, the ARK, and Maria...but it feels like her choice was already made for her, the right choice. She hears a knock and turns to her door as her 'parents' walk inside. The girl turns back to her window, saying nothing. They were expecting that reaction.

"My daughter..." Elliot sits in front of her, placing a hand on her knee. "We did what we had to...because we love you."

"Yes," Valentina whispers, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We never meant to hurt you...we only wanted you to be happy."

"...You stole memories from me. You could have told me about this long ago instead of having to find out...from Shadow," She frowns as she still doesn't know where to find him... "You made me live a false life...while my real one was erased..."

"We only wanted what was best for you," Valentina sits down next to the king.

"Just because you are not our daughter does not mean we do not still love you...please, let us make it up to you."

Sophia sighs slowly, turning to them. Their eyes are so remorseful, how could she turn them away? Besides...it's not like they actually harmed her physically. And they did have good intentions like her real parents would've wanted for her... "I do still love you, and...I just want things to be normal again."

Valentina and Elliot glance at each other, as they know that they can't make her forget...not again. Sophia reaches out and hugs them. They hug her back, trying not to cry out of happiness. Sophia only smiles as she looks out the window.

She may not be normal...but she still has a family...so she'll be okay. Now she just had to find her friend and make sure that he's okay too...

She wasn't going to be angry about this anymore...despite knowing the truth...she accepts it now. She would rather be herself, her true self. And that was...to protect people, including her friends and their planet. That wasn't just her life, it was her duty. She still has a responsibility to them, and to the people in Station Square. She needs to embrace both lives that she had and cherish both of them. No matter what...

She'd help protect both planets.


	42. A Date to Forget

Guest893: A nicely written chapter for the first day of 2019. Happy New Year.

 **Angel: Thanks! I was hoping to be done with this by the time it was 2019, but oh well...I guess it was just meant to be that the previous chapter was about the new year ^^'**

Bajy: I knew it! And the day is saved thanks to Sonic and Sophia! And amends have been made between Sophia and her adopted parents! Great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Sophia: Yes, well...staying mad forever wasn't going to bring me peace. And I know that my real parents wouldn't have wanted me to be full of hate...**

Challishanlon99: Poor Sophia I feel bad for her I wish I can just give her a big hug I'm trying to make her feel better but I don't think that she'll accept it anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more PS don't worry Sophia everything will turn out okay I promise.

 **Angel: I don't see why Sophia wouldn't accept it. She's not Knuckles.**

 **Sophia: Thank you for that.**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia remember a robot named Eml.

 **Angel: No, she doesn't know him.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sophia, Sonic, and Tails recovered from their last battle and Knuckles came along with them to get Amy back from Eggman. I like the new transformation the X Tornado has, but too bad that Egg Carrier also has a new transformation. It was surprising that the remaining robot found Froggy for Eggman and let Amy and Lily go. I wonder what will happen to everyone.

 **Angel: Lately I haven't seen Tails much lately...wonder what's going on with him XD**

Johanvanguard: It's great that everyone escaped from Eggman's fortress, Knuckles got his answers from Sophia, and Tails saved the city.

 **Angel: Tails is one of my favorite genius characters overall.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sophia helped Tails escape his many fans, and that Sonic defeated Eggman. It's nice that Amy and Gamma helped Lily reunite with her family. I wonder what Eggman plans to do with Chaos.

 **Sophia: Sure, I'd help Tails any day. I know how it feels to be chased by fans and he doesn't want that kind of attention.**

Johanvanguard: It's fantastic that with help from their friends and enemines, Sonic and Sophia defeated Chaos, who could finally leave in peace with Tikal.

 **Angel: Too bad we never see her again...**

Diana: Cool I hope Sophia's parents know what they are gonna do for their daughter in the next chapter.

 **Angel: I think I remembered to write it...?**

"Hey, Emerl! Wake up!" A screen turns on to show Bokkun blinking at something. Bokkun is at Eggman's base, the one that was destroyed long ago. "I said wake up! You can hear me, can't ya? Turn yourself on. What's the matter with ya?" Emerl is a humanoid, mostly mustard-yellow, robot. He possesses five-fingered olive-brown hands and feet in the shape of shoes with orange soles. His upper arms, abdomen and thighs are olive-brown, and he has spherical orange joints as shoulders and pelvis-legs joints. He also has relatively thick armor around his forearms and lower legs, (each one possessing orange cuffs), thick kneecaps, and some kind of jetpack on his back. On his chest, he has three beige circles. Lastly, he possesses a spherical head with a beige mouth plate, blue eyes, orange caps for ears, and a curved orange horn on his forehead.

"Did your brain short-circuit? Come on, get up! We've got an important mission to carry out and there's no time to lose!"

Emerl's eyes blink blue and Bokkun is confused before the robot finally stands up. "Good. I hope your batteries are all charged up. We're gonna have a really busy day!"

The eyes activate before they shine.

"I'm in charge of this operation, so you have to obey all of my commands, okay?"

Emerl slowly nods and Bokkun starts flying with his jetpack.

"Alright, Emerl, let's go!" He takes the lead and Emerl starts walking, ripping off the wires he was attached to. Bokkun flies up to a garage door, laughing as he presses in the code, opening the door. Emerl is immediately hit with the sunshine. "We're gonna give Sonic and that stuck-up princess a real bash today! Forward march!" Bokkun laughs as they both walk out of the building.

Some citizens are running through the park as some of them are wearing Sonic and Sophia t-shirts. "City Park has been overrun. Overrun by fitness fans obsessed with running," Scarlet is reporting over the matter. "This new craze is all thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia. Their heroics are inspiring thousands of people to put on their jogging shoes and run for fun." Scarlet holds out a microphone to a citizen. "Why did you decide to take up running, sir?"

"I dunno. Sonic and Sophia have such a great time racing around, I thought I'd try."

"School officials and athletic coaches report that their track programs are more popular than ever and new records are being set daily." Cream, Cheese, Chris, Vanilla, Rose, and Sophia's parents are sitting around in the living room, listening to the news. Ella gives Sophia's parents a gift basket full of candy. Ever since the whole Eggman ordeal recently, Sophia's been getting all of these treats as an apology for their doubt, and as well as her dedication. It's also out of sympathy for her forgotten past, but no one was really bothered that Sophia wasn't a real princess. To them, she was already one since she cares about them, and watches over them. She's very brave and knows what to do in a difficult situation when push comes to shove. Also, she has given back to the community. Not just through heroics, but she also donated some money to charity—once she figured out how to do it, that is. But by now, she's well-adjusted to life in Station Square.

Back then, she was just a girl who didn't know anything about the human world. Now, it's like she's one of them.

"Experts in sports psychology are baffled by the sudden turn-"

"SONIC!" Amy bursts into the room, storming in. This surprises everyone.

"Hi Amy," Chris says in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Cream asks and she stands on the table, looking around. She has a flower over her left ear.

"Alright, where are you hiding, Sonic? You better come out now!" Amy demands, Chris bending down to her.

"He's not here," Chris explains and she pulls him closer, glaring.

"You can't fool me. I know you're hiding him. Chris is covering for you, so come on out, Sonic! Or better yet, the princess herself should be able to tell me!"

"I'm not covering for him. Sonic was here earlier, but he left. And he didn't say where he was going," Chris tells her, Valentina nodding.

"Yes, Sophia took her leave also, so therefore she would not know either."

"They're telling the truth, Amy," Cream speaks up, all of them wondering why she's so mad. Cheese and Rose agree, Amy bending down on the table.

"I better find him right away, or there's gonna be big trouble!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Chris questions, as he thought this was an emergency of some sorts.

"Is a monster attacking the city again?" Cream wonders.

"No, it's worse." She growls, clenching her fists in anger as there's a red aura around her. Cream hugs Cheese, a little scared.

"I'm sorry, Amy, I didn't mean to make you angry."

"Calm down, young one," Elliot places a hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Take it easy. Just tell us what's going on and maybe we can help," Chris holds up a hand.

"Nobody can help! Sonic had a date with me and he never showed up!" She shouts, lightning striking from nowhere.

"Is that all?" Chris asks and she turns to him.

"Oh, so you think I'm overreacting?"

"Well, just a little," Chris murmurs and Amy stomps her foot.

"That's easy for you to say! It took him forever to ask me out. I was so excited I went out and bought brand new shoes!" Chris looks at her shiny new footwear. "And a new hair ribbon!"

"You look really nice, Amy," Cream comments, but that does nothing to assure the hedgehog.

"It doesn't matter how I look because Sonic stood me up!" She starts crying, Valentina rubbing her back as Chris places a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure there's a good reason Sonic missed your date." He cringes at Valentina, who shrugs helplessly.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Amy asks tearfully.

"Well...maybe he...I know! He had to stop Eggman from destroying the planet!" He points at Elliot and Amy looks up.

"I thought Dr. Eggman was in prison!"

"Yeah, I forgot," Chris places his hand over his mouth. It's been several days since Eggman was arrested, and there has been no reports of him breaking out.

"Just like Sonic forgot our date!" Amy exclaims bitterly.

"Maybe he is going, but he's running late," Chris suggests nervously. The doorbell rings, causing Amy to turn around happily.

"He's here!" She dashes to the door. "Sonic!" Cream, Rose, Cheese, and Chris all cough from the smoke she left behind. "I'm ready!" She opens the door, but is confused to see Sam standing there.

"Hey, Sonic and Sophia around, Amy? I owe Sophia her candy for this month and I just put a new engine in my car. He said they'd race me."

Amy blinks in confusion that Sonic would actually race against Sam willingly. "I can't wait! My new engine runs on high-octane rocket fuel! It's got more horsepower than you can find in a rodeo! With this baby under the hood, I'll be taking a victory lap before they leave the starting line!"

"Hi Uncle Sam," Chris greets with a smile.

"I hope they're not getting cold feet. When I called Sonic this morning, he said he didn't have anything else to do today."

Cream and Chris both gasp as Amy is shaking with rage. Blue fire comes from her body as she growls, Chris and Cream hugging each other in fear. Valentina and Elliot back away nervously.

"What's wrong? You look steamed," Sam is oblivious to what Sonic was supposed to do today.

"SONIC HAS A DATE WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"She's upset cause Sonic missed their date," Chris is explaining as Valentina managed to calm Amy down. She holds out some tea to Amy, who sips it slowly, playing with the top of the hood from Sam's car.

"Well, that's a bummer," Sam rubs his neck. "Looks like Sonic made two different appointments and stood both of us up. And Sophia stood me up...I wonder what's got her so busy, she's always on time."

"She stated it was of utmost importance that could not be rescheduled," Elliot holds up a finger as he remembers what Sophia told her parents this morning.

"That doesn't sound like them," Chris glances at Cream.

"The truth is Sonic doesn't care about me. That's why he didn't show up for our date," Amy says sadly.

"Amy," Cream replies in sympathy.

"Sonic's a busy guy, and so is Sophia since she's a princess...well, not technically anyway. I bet it takes lots of patience to date him. Not to mention a pair of really excellent running shoes to keep up with him!" Sam smiles at the thought, laughing. "I bet that whatever Sophia had to do couldn't be moved."

"Uncle Sam!" Chris scolds him.

"I know!" Everyone turns to Amy. She jumps into the passenger seat of the car. "Since Sonic bailed on both of us, we'll go out together!"

"You two?" Chris asks in confusion, as she's never really hung out with Sam before.

"Come on, we better get going before the whole day is shot." To Amy, she couldn't just sit around and mope. Life was made to have fun, so why not take a chance?

Sam smiles at her and gets in. "Alright, Amy. Let's show Sonic we don't need him to have fun."

"Hold on, Uncle Sam," Chris steps up to the car. Amy could be very...unpredictable.

"Don't worry, we won't be long. Last year I set a world record for speed dating." Valentina and Elliot both sweat at the pun before he leaves with Amy.

"This is crazy!" Chris states his opinion.

"Poor Amy. She's been waiting to go out with Sonic for a long time."

"Yeah, guess Sonic doesn't take dating as seriously as she does," Chris places his hands behind his head.

"I think that's awful," Cream gasps in horror to Chris' confusion.

"Wait, don't get mad at me. Get mad at Sonic! Guys," Chris turns to Sophia's parents, who glance to each other.

"Perhaps there was a better option," Valentina murmurs slowly, walking away with her husband.

"Oh, come on!"

Sam drives down the highway. They didn't know where they were headed, but it didn't matter as long as they had a good time. "Sonic is the most self-centered guy I've ever met!" Amy declares, swinging her feet back and forth.

"Ah, this wind is really refreshing!" Sam ignores her complaints.

"He's always running off on adventures without telling anybody. And I end up alone," Amy looks at her feet.

"This new engine is great!" Sam exclaims, "And it gets awesome mileage too."

Amy looks up at the sky. "Even if I could keep up with Sonic, he's not the kind of guy who could settle down and even stand still for long."

Sam looks at the road ahead of them. "Whoa, S turns! Wait till you see how this baby handles!" Amy slams down her hands on the dashboard.

"You haven't heard a word I said!"

"Hang on, here goes," He warns the hedgehog, confusing her. He starts making turns efficiently. "Why waste time on Sonic if you can't catch him? After all, in life you only get one lap around the track."

"I don't know for sure that it can't work out with Sonic," She speaks slowly as she's being jerked around, but she makes no comment on it. That's just how Sam was, so she's used to it by now.

"I still say you tell him to hit the road, but I guess he already did!" He laughs at his joke and Amy groans, facepalming.

"Let's drop the subject and figure out where we're gonna go."

"You just name it," he tells her.

"The beach!" She yells at him.

"That's kind of far."

"Well Sonic doesn't like water so we won't run into him there!" She explains and he winks.

"You win, princess. If you wanna hide out from Sonic at the beach, then we'll coast to the coast."

"Alright! Thank you. One more thing. Let's agree not to talk about Sonic, okay?"

He winks, giving her a thumbs up. "The hedgehog is now history." He continues driving straight for the beach.

Meanwhile, Eggman is not enjoying prison at all. "Prison food is the pits!"

"This looks more like sewage than soup," Decoe comments as they look over their bowls.

"It is lucky for us that we have no taste circuits," Bocoe agrees as Eggman is already finished. He taps his spoon against the bowl.

"I'm hungry, bring me more!"

"We demand refills now," Decoe starts doing the same.

"Hurry up, waiter!"

A guard comes by, glaring at them. "Can it or I'll throw you in solitary! Dinner time's over!"

Eggman grips the bars, gritting his teeth. "Don't you realize a genius like me needs more food than the average person? My superior brain burns up millions of calories!"

"This kind of treatment is inhuman!" Decoe protests also.

"And it is not for robots too!"

"Knock it off!" The guard yells at them, as he doesn't care how superior they might be. "This is a prison, not a four star restaurant. Here!" He puts down a bucket of soup. "Now pipe down!" He walks away as Bocoe takes his portion.

"Slop some of that slop in my bowl," Eggman demands and they eat their seconds.

"One more meal like this and I am going to self-destruct."

"I wish we were back at the base. I am dying for a drink of motor oil," Decoe says sadly.

"We cannot take much more of this. When are we going to get out of here, doctor?"

Eggman sips the rest of his soup, grinning as he returns to them. "Relax, we'll be checking out of this dump any minute. If everything goes according to plan, our breakout team is about to give Sonic and Sophia the runaround."

Sonic and Sophia are running around the city, looking for Shadow. So far, they haven't found a lead. They skid to a stop as an explosion happens in front of them. Bokkun is laughing as he's riding a tank, causing them to back away. "What a coincidence running into you!"

They glare at him as inside the tank, Emerl is running it. His eyes are red instead of blue. "I have an idea, let's play a game!" He drives over to them, but they leap to the other side. "Fire!" Two missiles are fired at them, but Sonic ducks past it. Sophia jumps into the air and hits the missile with her hand. The missile drops to the ground, cut in half. More of them are fired and Sonic dodges them while Sophia destroys them with her sword. The next thing Sonic knows, he's getting a cannon to the face.

Bokkun grins evilly, giggling. "Get 'em!" It fires and he looks away from the explosion, seeing Sonic and Sophia gone. "Alright!" He looks down in confusion to see Sonic and Sophia sitting below him. They run away as Bokkun chases after them. "Hold it there!"

The tank fires after them. "Yeah! Keep firing!" Bokkun laughs evilly as explosions keep happening.

A bunch of sheep are eating in a pasture. "Oh great." Amy complains as their car is in the middle of it all. "Didn't you tell me you knew a shortcut to the beach?"

Sam laughs nervously. "Sure, but I didn't say I was taking it."

"I bet you're lost, aren't you?!" Amy points to him accusingly.

"Hey, I never get lost," Sam winks. "I just can't figure out where I am sometimes." He laughs at how many times he's gotten lost, the sheep laughing along with him.

"This day is a disaster!" Amy shouts in disbelief.

They've reached a general store, the owner confused as Amy walks in with dirt all over her. "I need a map." She says simply and he stands up.

"Sure thing. Looks like me like you could use a bath too."

"I know!" She dusts the dirt off as Sam walks in, leaning against the door. "I guess I should've put the top up when we went down that dirt road."

"We're not taking any more shortcuts!" Amy tells him, hands on her hips. "I'm buying a map and I'm gonna figure out the best route to get to the beach."

"Huh, what have we here?" He takes a leaf out of her hair. He blows it away.

"How can you be so easygoing?" She asks in shock. "Don't you even care if we're lost?"

"It doesn't matter to me where I end up, as long as I have fun getting there," He remarks to her shock. She blinks slowly.

"That sounds like something Sonic would say..."

"Sonic?" The shopkeeper walks up to her. "You just said the magic word, miss. You don't happen to know Sonic, do ya? And Sophia too?"

Amy chuckles, clasping her hands. "Of course I know them! Sonic and I are extremely close, and Sophia and I are best friends!"

"Except when they have a date!" Sam laughs and she groans at the reminder, stepping on his foot. He hops up and down, leaving the store.

"I owe your friends Sophia and Sonic more than I could ever repay."

"Why? What did they do for you?"

 _A horse had gone out of control as the shopkeeper was chasing after a little boy on t the horse. "Help! I can't stop the horse!" The boy clutched the horse in fear, but the shopkeeper couldn't keep up with them, tripping. He gasped in exhaustion as he could only watch._

" _Help me, Grandpa!"_

" _Now what'll I do?"_

 _Suddenly, a pink and blue blur passed by him. Sonic grabbed the boy while Sophia jumped on the horse, making it stop. The shopkeeper stood up to see Sonic landing with the boy in his arms._

" _Joe!"_

" _Grandpa!" They hugged each other as Sophia joined them, the horse trotting over. Sonic patted the boy's head as Sophia jumped down, patting the horse. Sonic gave them a thumbs up and Sophia smiled softly._

"They came to the rescue again," Amy says in awe.

"The welcome mat will always be out on my front porch for Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia. And any friend of theirs is a friend of mine! Here, take it." He hands her the map. "And some candy too," He gives her a bag. "With my compliments."

"Bye bye!" Amy waves to the nice man. "Thanks for everything!"

He waves back as they leave. "Bye! Tell Sophia and Sonic I said hey!"

They continue on their way to the beach, hopefully going the right way. "You know, I just remembered something," Amy looks up at Sam as he's speaking. "Sonic, Sophia, and I are supposed to have a race tonight, not today."

"Then Sonic only stood me up," Amy looks up at the sky.

"I forget sometimes," Sam puts a hand on his head sheepishly. "I guess when you move as fast as I do, it's hard for your memory to keep up with ya!" He laughs at his joke and Amy smiles a little.

 _I wish I could forget Sonic..._

Sam speeds down the road.

Meanwhile, Sophia and Sonic are still running away from a laughing Bokkun. "Get ready for the power blast! Fire!" The tank fires a bunch of TVs. Sophia turns around while running, firing lasers at them with her eyes. They run up a building and jump, heading towards Bokkun.

"Look out below!" Sonic shouts and he waves his arms in panic.

"Help me!"

They land on the cannon, twisting it. They jump towards Bokkun, only to be caught with robotic hands. They're thrown into a pile of crates.

"Bokkun has never had this amount of power!" Sophia says and Bokkun raises the hands, trying to smash them.

"Let's give 'em a hand!"

He reaches out to them and they jump onto the hands, Sophia grabbing them and twisting them into a beautiful bow. The tank flies down and Bokkun stumbles to the ground. "Thanks to you, we're running late for my date with Amy!" Sonic kicks the panel and a TV pops out, held by a string. It sparks and causes an explosion.

"I own you! While you were running away from me, another robot was breaking Dr. Eggman out of prison!" he shouts down at them, flying away laughing. Sonic throws a gear at him and it hits Bokkun in the head, making him fall to the ground.

The two step out of the smoke. "Thank you," Sophia grins gratefully at Sonic. She found Bokkun more annoying than ever today.

"You're welcome," Sonic winks at her before they both frown at what the robot said.

"Another robot...?" They turn around to the tank, but Emerl is already gone.

"I guess I should just face facts," Amy says as they're parked near a café. "Sonic's always gonna be on the run. I guess the two of us aren't meant to be."

"Here," Sam walks up to her, giving her an ice cream.

"Thank you." He sits down with her, both of them eating for a few seconds. "You're like Sonic, aren't you?"

"I wish!" Sam looks up at the blue sky. "When Sonic and Sophia wanna hit the road, all they need are their feet. Unfortunately, I can't travel very fast without a car."

"No car in the world can keep up with them when they're running at full speed," Amy looks down at Sam's car. Sam looks back to the sky.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Then why race them?" Amy wonders and he shrugs.

"Hey, still have to try."

She nods in agreement, looking down. "Yeah, that's the same way I feel."

Another car suddenly speeds by them and they grow curious, following after it. Sam's talking to one of his S-Team members. "Roger, I'll stay on its tail." He hangs up on the radio. "Headquarters thinks that machine's headed for the jail where Eggman's locked up!"

"That thing'll break in so Eggman can break out!" Amy says in realization. "If we let that thing get to the city, Eggman will be on the loose again! We've gotta stop it somehow, Sam!"

Sam smirks to himself. "You're right. But my car's no match for an armored beat like that."

"If you catch it, I'll stop it!" Amy exclaims in determination. She couldn't let the people suffer from Eggman again.

"Okay, then hang on, Amy!" He laughs as he presses a few buttons. "I changed to racing mode!"

"Huh?" Amy asks in confusion before the car lights, the hood, seats, and back changing to look like one of his racing cars

"Now let's chase that mean machine down and run it off the road!" He has his helmet on while Amy has on visors. They get closer to the car, but not that close.

"We're losing it!"

"Don't worry, I know a shortcut!" Sam calls out, getting off the road and onto the grass next to them. He maneuvers around and Amy could only stare as he drives near the city, skidding around so that he's going towards the car from the front.

"Steady, Sam!" Amy tells him as the car keeps moving forward. Amy pulls out her hammer.

"You only have one swing, Amy," Sam replies.

"That's all I need," She grits her teeth and he gets closer. Amy prepares herself and when they pass the car, she swings, losing her hammer in the process. The hammer supposedly does nothing until the car sparks. Amy watches as the car explodes. "We did it!"

"Great work, Amy! Isn't this a great feeling?" Amy turns to him, curious. "We're almost at Sonic's speed." He gives her a thumbs up and she feels the wind in her hair, beaming in realization. She could feel the rush within her.

"Sonic, now I understand why you love to run!"

Back in prison, Decoe, Bocoe, and Eggman are glaring down at Bokkun, who returned. Eggman grits his teeth at him and Bokkun smiles nervously. They continue to glare at him and he gets tears in his eyes.

"Oh, don't be angry at me. It's not my fault you're still in jail. Honest!" He starts bawling his eyes out, crying.

Amy and Sam have arrived on the beach, looking out at the sunset and water. "When we were racing down that road, I felt so alive! It was incredible!" Amy exclaims happily.

"You could go even faster. You should try supersonic speed!" Sam grins as his arms are crossed.

"Maybe someday," She murmurs dreamily.

"You know, this turned out to be one of the best dates I ever had."

"This is beautiful. And getting here was sort of fun," Amy admits. They smile at each other. "Thank you, Sam. If it wasn't for you, I'd spent all day feeling sad."

"The day's not over yet," Sam smiles, "You could still be in for a surprise." He turns around and Amy follows his gaze to see Sonic and Sophia standing there. Sonic waves at them. Sophia smiles to herself. With all that was going on, she hadn't had much time to get to know her parents. But they'd wait for her. After all...they've decided to make her a true princess when they returned, and Sophia couldn't ask for a better life than what her real parents would've wanted for her...

"Hey there! Sorry I'm late!"

Amy stands up, laughing as she starts running over to him. "Sonic, you do care about me!"

Sonic moves past her and she falls onto the sand as Sonic approaches Sam. "I'm ready to race, Sam!"

"My car has a new engine. It'll blast right past ya!" Sam brags and Sophia sweats as she looks at Amy.

"Yeah? We'll see about that!" They both smirk at each other and Amy groans as she sits up slowly. "Come on, Sophia!"

Sophia helps Amy to her feet before she runs up to them. "Ready when you are!"

"Get set, go!" The three race off together and Amy slowly walks up, wondering what just happened. She growls, gritting her teeth.

"Those two guys...this was definitely the worst day ever!"

"It's getting late, Cheese and Rose," Cream says to the two Chao. "We better go inside or Ella will get worried." Cream's walking in the garden. "I hope she's cooking us a big dinner cause all that playing made me hungry!" Rose cheers, flying around her. Something shakes in the bushes. "Hey look!"

They both gasp as they look past the leaves to see Emerl sitting there...


	43. Mean Machines

Bajy: Great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks!**

Johanvanguard: It's interesting that Sophia and the others are helping clean up the city after the Chaos incident, and Chris is in a temporary new home. Now that Eggman has Shadow, I wonder how Sophia will react to him.

 **Angel: It was shocking what happened.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sonic and Sophia finally met Shadow. I wasn't expecting for Sophia and Shadow to have some history together. With Sonic in jail and Sophia in Eggman's clutches thanks to Shadow, I wonder what will happen to the heroes.

 **Angel: At first, I didn't really know what to do with Sophia meeting Shadow, but then I thought since she's from space, why not have Shadow remember her?**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sonic and Sophia were able to escape thanks to Tails, Amy, and surprisingly Eggman and Shadow. It's interesting that Sophia can also see the memories that Shadow is slowly remembering. I wonder if Sophia, Shadow, Rouge, and Chris made it out of the fire and if Eggman will activate the Eclipse Cannon.

 **Angel: Considering how this show was limited by 4Kids, they won't show people dying.**

Challishanlon99: Wow I wish I was as fast as Sonic and Sophia anyway I was wondering Sonic, Sophia what did the stars look like at night where I live you can barely see any star I've never seen a lot of them I've only seen one or two oh and one more thing if all of you could wish on a shooting star what would your wish be my wish would be to see all of you and spend time with each and everyone of you Sonic, Sophia, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese everyone and I think it would be really cool and I can't wait for the next chapter till then bye.

 **Sophia: They look like little dots that you can just stare at for hours.**

 **Sonic: The stars are beautiful at night. I remember when I first saw them with Sophia.**

 **Sophia: That...was a different time since we had only just arrived at Station Square ^^' My wish would be to meet my real parents...**

 **Sonic: My wish would be that Eggman would be stopped for good.**

Johanvanguard: It's interesting that Sophia and Chris are on a space colony with Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge. Eggman's Eclipse Cannon is terrifying and has the entire Earth in panic. I can't believe that Sophia was born in the space colony with Shadow and she was friends with him and Maria. Now with Sonic and the others on their way to space to save Chris and Sophia and stop Eggman, I wonder what Sophia will do when the time comes.

 **Angel: That's up to her to decide what she'll do.**

Myarosado049: Are you going to write Sonic games and Sonic Boom games and episodes?

 **Angel: Ummm, no...there are at least 50 games that either feature Sonic or have him as a playable character. I obviously haven't played them all and I don't have a gaming system TO play most of them. That would take a lifetime to do all the games, especially if it includes Sonic 06 and Sonic Boom. Those were sadly the worst blunders in history, and I would not want to do it regardless. As for Sonic Boom, same thing goes. They're not exactly well-received either, and I draw the line at the TV show. I did not watch most of the second season and I am not doing any more Sonic TV shows after this one. I think Sonic X was enough to ask for, don't you think? Not only that, I am still doing TMNT stuff that gets updated still.**

Johanvanguard: There was so much drama. Mr. Stewart and Garcia got the story from Mr. Schmitz about what happened on the space colony 50 years ago. Chris was sort of a jerk to Sophia, who was struggling with learning about her past with Shadow and Maria, because she seemed to be on Shadow's side. Sonic and the others made it to the space colony, but ran into some trouble with Eggman. Knuckles got the Master Emerald back, Rouge revealed to Shadow his true origins, and Sonic and Sonic and Shadow faced off against each other. When Eggman got the final emerald to fully power the Eclipse Cannon, Robotnik's final act was revealed to destroy both the space colony and the Earth. I wonder how Sophia will help stop the destruction.

 **Angel: Loved writing all the drama for that episode. And he was only wanting justice for his granddaughter...he just went too far.**

Johanvanguard: I'm glad that Chris convinced Shadow to help humanity. With millions of lives in danger, it's fantastic that Super Sonic, Super Sophia, and Super Shadow were able to stop the catastrophic collision. Too bad that Shadow wasn't found, but it's great that Sonic and the others are safe.

 **Sophia: I will find Shadow...I promised him.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Vector, Espio, and Charmy made it to Earth safely, learned about Sonic and Sophia's heroic deeds, and were on a mission. I'm glad that Cream reunited with her mother and Sophia reunited with her parents. While Sophia gets the truth from her parents, I wonder what Eggman is up to by repairing the damaged moon.

 **Angel: Ah, that episode was a definite favorite. I wouldn't say it was a successful mission, though, since they were kinda hostile.**

Johanvanguard: It's too bad that the New Year celebration was ruined by the solar eclipse caused by the Eggmoon. Sophia is really struggling with being lied to about her past by her parents, but at least she is adjusting well to being human. In the darkest moments, it seemed that Eggman really wanted to help the people by giving them light, but Sonic and Sophia thought otherwise. With Sonic and Sophia knocking out the mirror towers, now it seems they are bad guys and Eggman is the hero. Hopefully, whatever Sonic and Sophia know will prove they are innocent and Eggman is the villain.

 **Angel: This plan was despicable and if I was there, I would've slapped him.**

Johanvanguard: Chris' trust in Sonic and Sophia is a bit shaken, but thanks to Tails and Amy, his faith in the heroes are restored. Thank goodness Sonic and Sophia's explanation about the moon helped prove they are innocent and Eggman is up to no good again. I'm glad that Sonic, Sophia, and the others proved to the world that Eggman is evil and put him in prison. It's great that Sophia made up with her parents.

 **Angel: I know that Sonic is a private person, but Chris also needs to understand that he IS a private person. So sometimes I don't understand why he has to lose trust in Sonic because of all the tricks Eggman pulls because I know for a fact he wasn't affected by the mind control.**

Johanvanguard: The day didn't start well for Amy and Sam, but at least they had fun together. It's great that Sonic and Sophia stopped Bokkun from releasing Eggman, and that Amy and Sam stopped Eggman's machine from doing the same thing. Now that Cheese has met Emerl, I wonder how how Sophia will react to the robot.

 **Angel: Did you mean Cream? Because she's the one who actually discovered him.**

It's daytime in Station Square as more animals from Sonic and Sophia's world are running around free. Speaking of Sonic and Sophia, they speed up a building and land on the rooftop. Sonic looks up at his friend. "Do you sense it?"

Sophia steps up to the edge, her hair flying in the wind. "Yes, but there's another one over there," Sophia points to the right. Sonic tsks a little. He knew Sophia was trying her best to find Shadow, but this was ridiculous. They both see something and gasp, jumping off the building.

Kids are running around in the park as a man relaxes in a tree just like Sonic would. A woman is doing a bead piece of Sonic and Sophia. They're even giving out buttons, whittling statues, and more. The two stumble upon the park.

"Look everybody."

"Oh wow, Sonic's here!" They gather around as some have Sonic hair and a few ladies have dyed their hair pink like the princess. The crowd starts running towards them.

"Calm down, will ya?"

"RUN!" Sophia calls out and they run away as the crazed citizens go after them.

* * *

Nelson is typing away in his office as a woman walks up to him. "Good morning, Mr. Thorndyke."

"Morning, Suzy."

"Those documents I mentioned are ready for you, if you have the time," She offers.

"Ah, just leave 'em right here please." He goes back to his computer.

"Yes sir." She snaps her fingers and five stacks of documents are placed in front of Nelson, making him confused. "Huh?" He glances at all of them, wondering just what was going on. "Hey, what is all this stuff, Suzy?"

She walks up to him, laying down a paper. "Apparently, our home appliance division has been absolutely flooded with customer complaint forms."

"Are you kidding me?" He asks in disbelief. "This can't be! Why, we've hardly ever received any complaints about our products before. How could this have happened now?"

"I think you'd better watch this," Suzy turns on the news as Scarlet Garcia is at the same park that Sophia and Sonic were at.

"Sonic and Sophia's popularity seems to be affecting people throughout the city in all sorts of amazing ways. From groups of children playing games of catch the hedgehog and dress-up princess to adults sleeping on rooftops like their heroes, Sophia and Sonic's fame seems to be reaching astonishing proportions. In fact, a large number of citizens are leaving their jobs in order to follow their idols. From Station Square Park, I'm Scarlet Garcia, SSTV News."

Suzy stops the broadcast there and Nelson laughs nervously. "I knew Sonic and Sophia were famous, but that's ridiculous." He continues to laugh before he stops. "But what does all this have to do with those complaints, Suzy?"

"As you know, many of our employees are wild about them too," Suzy explains, Nelson humming in agreement as he puts his hands on his hips. "Well, some of them have left the company and started Sonic/Sophia fan clubs, and most of the assembly line workers spend so much time talking about Sonic and Sophia that their work has become shoddy. And now our customers are complaining like crazy!"

Nelson screams in horror, holding his head. "If this keeps up, we might have to go out of business."

"I'm not losing Thorndyke Industries over some silly hedgehog and little girl! Although she has been taking care of my son...and is like the daughter we never had..." The phone rings and he answers it. "Thorndyke here. What is it, what's the matter, Ella?"

"I just thought you should know that I kept Chris and Sophia home from school today because he has a snuffle in his nose and Sophia is out looking for her friend." Chris is lying down in a smothered bed of pillows.

"It's no big deal, Dad, I'm totally fine," Chris denies, but Ella doesn't listen.

"I'm giving him plenty of fresh orange juice and he'll have a nice big bowl of my homemade chicken soup for lunch," Ella reports, smiling. "If he gets some rest, I'm sure he'll be better in a day or so."

Nelson is pacing around in his office. "But what if he gets worse? I'm leaving the office right now. Just tell Chris to sit tight!" He hangs up, turning to Suzy. "Suzy, get my helicopter ready immediately."

"What's wrong, Mr. Thorndyke?" She asks in concern.

"My son may be gravely ill. I've got to get home right away before it's too late!" He rushes out of the room, worried for Chris. Today is not starting out well. "Suzy, get Ed from home appliances in here and tell him I want these complaints taken care of by the end of the day!" He then leaves.

* * *

A woman on a pink motorcycle drives down the highway. It turns out to be Lindsay as she's recording a scene. A helicopter suddenly comes in, which is not scripted. "Hey, what's that helicopter doing up there?"

Lindsay skids to a stop, picking up her phone. "I hope this is important. I'm in the middle of a scene!"

"I'm sorry, Lindsay, but we've got an emergency!"

"Emergency?" She asks in confusion as a ladder flies towards her. She runs up to it and jumps, grabbing onto the rung.

"Hey, what about me?" The director asks bitterly as the helicopter flies away.

* * *

"Hurry, hurry!" Eggman urges.

"Yes doctor!"

"Next!"

"Yes doctor!"

They're moving around equipment. "Hurry, hurry!"

"Yes doctor!"

Eggman builds a fridge and Bocoe takes it away. "Hurry hurry!" He fixes a washer and Bocoe puts it into a truck. His repairing skills are very efficient as Bocoe is runnng back and forth until the truck is full. The items fall on him and he stands in front of Eggman.

"Please slow down, doctor. I cannot keep up!" Eggman then starts remodeling him. "Watch it! That tickles! But I do not need to be fixed!" Eggman puts him back to normal.

"Aren't you getting a bit carried away, doctor?" Decoe asks in concern as it's like Eggman's on energy drinks. "He is a robot, not a refrigerator."

"You think is all a joke, eh?" Eggman demands as he glares at him. "Well, do you see this? Huh, huh?" He shows his arms. "You know who's to blame for this heap of lemons here?" He shows a newspaper that has Sonic and Sophia on the front page. "Those perky little pests, Sonic and Princess Sophia, that's who! Because of them, every fat headed fool in every factory is spending less time on a job and more time lollygagging and dilly dallying! That means I fritter away my genius slaving away in a prison sweat shop fixing all their blunders! And I have those horrible heinous hedgehog and girl to thank for it!"

"But if it is all their fault, why do we have to do the dirty work?" Decoe wonders.

"Dirty work is right. I almost got flattened by a falling bridge!" Bocoe points to something.

"Don't you worry," Eggman grins evilly. "For I have developed an exceptionally eggcellent plan to get revenge!"

Decoe and Bocoe turn around. "I hate it when he goes that egg thing."

"Me too."

Eggman laughs, grabbing them by the shoulder. "Now, pay attention, and I'll show you my greatest stroke of genius yet! How's this?!" He shows them a chip that glows.

"Ooo, what is it?"

"It's the end of Princess Sophia and Sonic the Hedgehog," He explains, laughing evilly as the trucks leave to send out the appliances.

* * *

Mr. Tanaka is signing off for the repairs to the vacuum cleaner and he hands the clipboard over. "No tip? Lousy butler."

Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Rose, Vanilla, the king and queen, and Chuck are all enjoying tea together. Emerl is there too, sitting there. Ella comes in with dessert. "Well, how's our little patient feeling, Ella?" Chuck wonders.

"Right now he's taking a nice long nap," Ella stands up with a smile. "I'm sure the rest will do him lots of good."

"Wonderful!"

Mr. Tanaka comes in with the vacuum cleaner. "Good news, Ella, your vacuum cleaner just came back from the repair shop."

"Ah, welcome home my little amigo! I hate to say it, but Mr. Thorndyke's company doesn't make the good products the way it used to," She frowns a little, hand on her cheek. "They're always breaking."

"Please forgive me, Ella," Chuck speaks up, "I would've fixed it for you myself, but lately I've been spending all my spare time trying to figure out what's wrong with Emerl."

"Oh, sure, I understand, Mr. Thorndyke," Ella says with a small smile.

"Isn't Emerl feeling sick too?" Cream wonders as the robot has made no movements.

"Yes. When I examined him yesterday, I found that all his program data had been erased somehow," Chuck explains.

"Poor Emerl," Amy replies in sympathy.

"Maybe I can take care of Emerl like Ella takes care of Chris," Cream suggests as she's holding a half-eaten donut.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Cream," Vanilla smiles softly.

"Yes, and perhaps our Sophia could determine the engineering," King Elliot suggests, everyone turning to him in confusion.

"She can do that?" Amy asks in surprise and Tails nods.

"I've been showing her how to recognize other inventor's works," He explains, "Whenever she gets back, she can take a look. That is, if she'll suddenly give up looking for that person she's searching for." Sophia has only told Sonic about her searches for Shadow. It was just something she had to do with less people knowing. Vanilla then looks up as they hear a helicopter approaching the house. They open the door to Chris' room, shocked to see Nelson and Lindsay waving to them.

"Why are...they here?" Chris asks in shock.

"How you feeling, honey? I heard you were sick, so I rushed right home r-"

Lindsay pushes past him. "I'm here, baby," She kisses him on the cheek and Nelson does the same thing. Elliot and Valentina glance at each other. They understood their love for their son, but even children need their space...

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Chuck asks them. "It's just a common cold. Everyone gets them."

"Yes, I know," They turn around, Chris blushing in embarrassment. "But when I heard, I just couldn't keep my mind on my work."

"Same here."

"Now, son!" Chuck shouts, pointing at them. "You're impossible! Don't you see? What kind of example are you giving your son abandoning your workplace just because of a harmless little cold?!"

"But Dad, I just wanted to-"

"Don't you 'but dad' me, Mister Big Shot Goof Off! How irresponsible can you get?!"

They're all shocked at his outburst, Elliot placing a hand on his shoulder. "Now now. I am sure we can all resolve this peacefully and-"

"Butt out, you old fart!" Chuck yells at him.

"Now, listen here, Dad. If I wanna take a day off to visit my son when he's got a disease, it's nobody's business but mine!" Nelson argues back.

"If I were you, I couldn't afford to take time off! Not when every product you make rolls off the assembly line straight into the junk shop!"

"I'll have you know the real reason behind those bad appliances are your friends Sonic and Sophia! Your daughter is ruining my business!" He points to Valentina and Elliot.

"How DARE you put the blame on Sophia and Sonic!" Chuck gets in Nelson's face. "Can't you even take responsibility for your own incompetence?!"

They suddenly cringe and fall to the floor, revealing that Valentina had knocked them out. "Wow, how'd you do that?" Chris asks in shock.

"Pressure points," Valentina holds up her hands. "No one shall be exempt for insulting my daughter."

"Darling," Lindsay says sadly to Chris and Nelson stands up.

"Sorry about that, big guy. Guess we got a little carried away there," He rubs his neck.

"And I'm sorry about that...old fart comment," Chuck looks embarrassed at Elliot. He just smiles widely and pressure points him too.

"Is this what you came home for? To argue? If you care about me, you have a funny way of showing it!" All the adults gasp at his comment.

"Sorry..."

The vacuum cleaner suddenly rearranges itself, moving and planting a chip in the TV. It moves to the kitchen and places a chip in all the appliances there. Everyone has been kicked out of Chris' room except for Sophia's parents, since they weren't arguing.

"Chris didn't mean what he said," Ella's trying to reassure Nelson and Lindsay. "It's just a reaction to the antibiotics. Ah, I just had the most wonderful idea! I'll make his favorite cherry pie. One big bite of that and he'll be smiling from ear to ear!"

"How marvelous!" Lindsay clasps her hands as the two Thorndyke men are looking away from each other. "Pie. Let's all pitch in and make it together. Huh?" The two men huff, turning their heads. Emerl is just watching.

They've gathered in the kitchen, Nelson and Chuck still ignoring each other. "Alright, everybody, let's get started."

"Let's," Lindsay agrees, "It looks like we've got everything we need. Everything except the cherries." She turns around to the fridge, but she can't open it. "It won't budge."

"That's strange," Ella walks over to help, but nothing. The mixer suddenly moves on its own, having red eyes as it goes towards the two women.

"Watch out!" He pulls them out of the way as the mixer crashes right through the fridge, to everyone's shock.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing!" Chuck exclaims as the mixer crashes out of the fridge, heading towards Nelson, Lindsay, and Ella. Sonic and Sophia suddenly come in, knocking it away. Emerl's eyes turn yellow at the sight of them, analyzing their speed. He copies their skills.

"Alright! Now that's what I call mixing it up! I just beat the beater," Sonic grins playfully as Sophia shakes her head at the puns. The fridge suddenly opens, shooting out the food. Amy jumps up, hammer ready.

"Just leave these to me!" She knocks the food away from Sonic and turns to him, hand on her hip.

"Nice work, Amy," Sonic tells her, but the fridge comes to life as well. It starts walking.

"Freaky freezer!" Amy swings and the fridge crashes against the wall, shutting down. Sophia hums in thought as she looks at the fridge. Those eyes seem very familiar...They hear three screams, looking towards the second floor.

Chris' TV has come to life as it approaches. Valentina and Elliot stand in front of him protectively, but they're not sure of what to do. The vacuum cleaner goes to attack, but someone crashes into the room and takes it out. By the color of yellow, it is not Sonic or Sophia.

"Thanks, Sonic!" Chris cheers happily, with Sophia and Sonic entering the room not too long after.

"Chris!"

"Mom, Dad!" Sophia exclaims in relief, all of them looking in shock. He glances to the robot who saved them, Emerl. He walks up to Emerl.

"How'd you learn to do that?"

"Do what, Chris?" Sonic asks curiously.

"Emerl spun around like you two do when you go real fast," Chris explains and Sophia glances at her parents, who nod in confirmation.

"You're kidding me!" Sonic says in shock.

"Perhaps there is more to Emerl than we thought..." Valentina murmurs to herself as she stares at it.

Suddenly, the TV comes back to life, standing up and looming over them. The speedy duo go into their spin mode and Emerl does the same. Together, they attack the makeshift robot and destroy it.

"Hey, good job, you guys. You got him," Chris says in surprise, only to see more of them. Suddenly, they're surrounded and then there's an explosion. This sets off the sprinklers and all the machines shut down. Sophia turns to her father, who's smirking. She smiles a little at him before Nelson and Lindsay run into the room.

"Chris!" They're followed by everyone else and Lindsay bends down to her son.

"Are you alright, my darling?"

"Sure Mom, the water stopped them," Chris tells her.

"Those sprinklers came on just in time, but I have a bad feeling we haven't seen the last of these monsters," Chuck speaks up.

"Eggman must be behind this," Sonic grits his teeth.

"He must've done his dirty work while still in prison," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"If we don't act fast, this city could be headed for a catastrophe!" Chuck exclaims in realization. Right at this moment, all of the machines are attacking the residents of Station Square. Fridges, washers, vacuum cleaners, basically any machine. They attack not only people, but cars and buildings.

"But now that we know water can short-circuit them, maybe we can stop them," Chris suggests.

"That's right," Lindsay tells him and the sprinklers stop, to their confusion.

"Oh no! They've done it! They've gone and shut off the water supply!" Chuck exclaims in realization.

"That's our cue, kids. Gotta run!" Sonic declares, running off with Sophia and jumping out the window.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Chris calls out and Nelson stands up.

"I'm going too." They turn to him in shock.

"What?"

"My company distributes every drop of water in this city," Nelson explains, "Customer service is what Thorndyke Industries is all about. I won't let my customers down any longer."

"I'm proud of you, Nelson," Chuck tells him, turning to the others. "Fire up the X Tornado and take my son wherever he wants to go."

"Roger!" Tails and Amy reply, running out the door with Nelson following.

"Mom, can I-"

"No dear," Lindsay interrupts him. "I can't let you go with them."

"But Mom-"

"You're staying in bed. Now let's get you out of those wet pajamas." Chris looks down at the fact that he can't help his friends. Valentina places a hand on his shoulder.

"It is only for precaution, young one," She whispers softly and he nods slowly. Being a mother herself, she can understand Lindsay wanting to keep Chris safe. After all, he's still sick.

"Ella, how about some hot chocolate?" Lindsay suggests.

"Coming up!" Ella calls out.

* * *

A guard walks past Eggman's cell, suspecting nothing as he leaves. Soon after, they continue playing their card game. "Yippee!" Decoe cheers for his win. "I won, I won!"

Eggman grits his teeth as he glares, Decoe laughing nervously. "I can't imagine how I could be crushing you, doctor!"

"If you keep winning, I can imagine crushing you," Eggman threatens before part of the wall breaks apart, hitting Decoe from behind. Bocoe and Eggman look shocked at the irony.

"Look doctor, it happened sooner than you thought it would."

"How lucky!" Eggman smiles at this. They turn to see Bokkun laughing, flying in front of the hole.

"Come on! This is the break you've been waiting for!" He flies away to let the Egg Mobile take them away, the alarm going off as they make their escape.

"I don't get it," Decoe sounds skeptical. "Why didn't we escape sooner?"

"Quiet!" Eggman shouts at him. "My genius is too great for you to understand. Just you wait, Sonic and Sophia! My appalling appliances aren't through with you!"

* * *

The machines continue terrorizing the city until Sophia and Sonic step in, knocking out some. They run up to some citizens in trouble and Sonic goes into spin mode. There's a glint as Sophia jumps into the air. Sonic gets rid of half from the ground as Sophia swings her sword at the appliances. She lands in front of the citizens as the appliances behind her split into half, falling onto the ground. Sophia puts her sword back in her sheath.

"Water stops them, so get your hands on some H20 and let it flow!" Sonic tells the people they saved.

"We knew we could count on you, Sonic and Princess Sophia!" One of them states.

"Soak it to 'em, guys!" Sonic replies and Sophia waves at them.

"Please, protect yourselves and this will all be over soon!" They run off and go to the police.

"I got firefighters in every part of this city and trucks that are on the lookout! We'll blast those bad boys till they're good and soggy!" The chief declares and they wave at him.

"Thanks, captain!"

"Good luck!" They run off and just down the street, they're shocked to see Knuckles there, fighting off the appliances.

"Yo, Knuckles!"

"Knuckles! Hey!" Sophia smiles widely as they step in to help.

"Well it's about time! I'm getting attacked by everything but the kitchen sink," He punches one away.

"Too bad using our fists isn't gonna work for long," Sonic punches one away and Sophia uses her laser eyes at one. "Water's all that really works on 'em! The firefighters are on the way! You two and I'll have to do our best to fight 'em back in the meantime!" Sonic kicks one away and they hear laughter, looking up to see the one and only Eggman.

"Well, Sonic and Sophia, I must commend you in your valiant efforts to annihilate my army of attacking appliances, but I'm afraid my menacing machines are still on the march!" Sophia growls at seeing him again, gripping her sword. An antenna emits from the Egg Mobile, sending out a signal to all of the appliances nearby to come and attack the trio.

* * *

Meanwhile, the firefighters are handling the appliances, shorting them out. More approach and they hit them with water. "Somebody wants to cut down the main supply. We're losing water pressure by the minute."

"Get on the horn to the water bureau right away!"

The X Tornado lands in front of Thorndyke Industries. They jump down and land to see appliances coming out of the building. "Okay!" Amy holds her hammer and attacks, swinging them away from her. They get to the control room and Nelson works quickly.

"It looks okay!" Tails exclaims to their relief.

"Well, the water supply system itself has been restored, but I'm afraid something must be jamming the main sluice gate. And whatever it is is blocking the flow of water," Nelson says in concern.

"Is there any way you can fix it?" Amy asks him.

"There's only one way, Amy, but it's not going to be easy."

* * *

Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, Chuck is getting a call from Nelson. "What's happening, son?"

"Well, I was able to restore the main supply system, but there seems to be something in the way of a sluice gate so the water isn't getting out. We've got to get that gate open, and fast!"

"I'll take care of it," Chuck tells his son and leaves on a helicopter with Mr. Tanaka. Lindsay and Chris watch them leave.

"Mom, can't I please go too?" Chris pleads and she places her hands on his shoulders.

"No, Chris."

"Ah, please let me! Honest, I already feel a lot better! Come on, I promise I'll be okay!"

She touches his forehead to be sure. "Well, if you really truly want to go, I'll let you. But under one condition: I'm coming along with you, okay?"

"Sure it's okay!" He beams at her.

* * *

The machines are roaming the streets, Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles trying to deal with them all. They punch and kick while Sophia slices at them with her sword. Eggman is just chuckling at his revenge. "Battling a washing machine, one can't be wishy-washy. My, these modern household conveniences certainly are inconvenient, aren't they, Sonic and Princess Sophia? By the way, princess, how's human life treating you?" He laughs and Sophia pauses at that.

"Hey, Bocoe, they sure do look worn out, don't they?" Decoe leans over to watch.

"You can say that again. A part of me feels bad for them. But I can always have that part removed, I suppose."

"Wow, just look at 'em! They're really mangling those machines!"

Sophia growls lowly, glaring up at Eggman. How dare he bring that up...

"Man, I'm running out of steam."

"I can't keep this up much longer," Knuckles complains as they continue to fight.

* * *

Chuck, Chris, Lindsay, and Mr. Tanaka arrive at Thorndyke Industries to deal with the water supply problem. "Listen up. The main sluice gate's been destroyed for good, which means our only choice is to open up this valve. Alright now, everybody get into position!" They all grip one part of the valve. They try to pull, but it doesn't budge. Suddenly, the X Tornado comes in and they all smile.

"Here comes Dad!" The plane lands right next to the helicopter and the three jump out.

"What are you doing here, son?" Nelson asks Chris as they approach. "Shouldn't you be at home in bed?"

"I had to come and help," He smiles at his father. "It's my responsibility." Lindsay hums in agreement.

"That's my boy," Nelson grins at Chris.

"We've got work to do, darling."

"Right."

They all pull at the valve and together, they manage to spin it so that all the water bursts out from the gate. They smile at their success. "We did it!" Chris hugs his mother. "We did it!"

"Good job, dear," Nelson hugs his wife and son.

"Oh, darling!"

Chuck and Mr. Tanaka fist bump each other, Amy and Tails high fiving. The water eventually makes it into the city, spraying all the appliances around Sophia, Sonic, and Knuckles. They use hoses to get hit all the appliances.

"Well I guess that does it," Sonic looks down at them as Sophia wipes the sweat away from her forehead.

"Yeah," Knuckles grins at the two.

"Impossible. I could've sworn we cut off the water supply!" Eggman exclaims in disbelief.

"Someone must've turned it back on, doctor," Decoe suggests.

"Looks like your plan is a washout, doctor," Bocoe gestures to the ground.

"And just when we were this close to stopping Sonic and Sophia once and for all!" Eggman clenches a fist.

"I thought they were goners, but they sure showed us, didn't they?" Bokkun complains, hands on his hips.

"Well what is the plan?"

"Yeah, doctor, what do we do now?"

"On to the next strategy!" Eggman declares.

"Which is flying," Sophia smirks up at them and they look at her in confusion. She pulls out her sword and they sweat nervously.

"Oh no."

With a yell, Sophia jumps into the air and knocks them back with her sword, sending them flying until they disappear. "Hey, wait for me, will ya?" Bokkun shouts after them and Sophia kicks him in their direction.

"About time," Sophia huffs, still a little angry.

"Well, what do we do now?" Chuck turns to the others. "We've got a city full of defective dishwashers and mashed-up microwaves."

"If I stay on the job, cleanup should be a piece of cake," Nelson puts his hands on his hips.

"How about pie?" Chris suggests and they all laugh.


	44. Sewer Search

Guest: Sophia you bond with Cream the Rabbit like sisters.

 **Angel: They do?**

 **Sophia: When I'm not searching for Shadow, I'll play with Cream sometimes, but I already have enough people in my human life.**

Johanvanguard: It's nice that Sonic and Sophia have become a popular craze and are still on the search for Shadow. Too bad that Chris got sick, his parents stopped their work to check on him, and Eggman used an evil chip to make the machines cause havoc. I'm glad that Emerl helped deal with the machines at Chris' home by copying Sonic and Sophia's moves. It's great that Sonic, Sophia, and the others stopped Eggman's evil plan, but the evil genius escaped prison and got away. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to Emerl's power.

 **Angel: I've seen that episode so many times that I already knew what happened. That got aired so many times back then...**

Bajy: Great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thank you! I have 6 more episodes until the end of this season. I think it'll be 5 episodes left by today.**

Challishanlon99: That's so cool anyway thank you for letting me read these chapters I can't wait to read more. Ps please be careful I don't like you guys getting hurt and stay safe please I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything I'm just saying

 **Angel: Calm down XD The only person I let boss me around is my mother, so I don't really give in when people on here are pushing me for more Sonic stuff. This story was enough to ask for.**

Myarosado049: Will Sophia turn into a hedgehog and make Shadow come back and fall in love with each other?

 **Angel: Why do I still get questions about Sophia dating someone? The answer is no! She can't even shapeshift anyway, and personally, I think she's fine the way she is. It's supposed to be ironic that she and her parents are the only humans besides Eggman on their world. To have her be like Sonic and the others would be redundant. Besides...she was born a human, after all. No need to change that formula of her past.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, while locked up in jail, Dr. Eggman worked overtime to set a treacherous trap for Sonic, Sophia, and friends. Hordes of household appliances soon developed menacing malfunctions, turning Chris' kitchen into a combat zone! As a vacuum robot threatened to clean Sonic and Sophia's clock, Emerl spun to the rescue and a whole gang of gadgets were washed out! Sonic and Sophia raced to run the remaining robots, but they and Knuckles were ambushed by mobs of mechanical marauders!_

 _Our heroes seemed headed for a crushing defeat till Chris' family helped turned the tide. Taking advantage of the confusion, Eggman escaped from jail and went into hiding to plot his next monstrous move. Can the devious doctor be stopped before he strikes again? Find out next on Sophia X!_

At the White House, the president is pacing around, having been informed of Eggman's escape from prison. _Eggman escapes. The press will have a field day. And I don't blame them. We nab the world's greatest menace, and let him slip right through our fingers! How could this have happened?_

He comes to a stop in front of his desk. "We just have to do whatever it takes to find him!" He declares, narrowing his eyes. "He's out there somewhere, dreaming up another scheme to take over the world. We have to capture him before he strikes again!"

"I think it's got to be your number one priority, sir," Topaz states as she was listening to him by the door.

"Topaz!" He exclaims in surprise.

"He's probably hiding under a rock with the rest of the worms," Rouge comments from his desk.

"Hello Rouge," he looks happy to see them.

"Do you have any idea where Eggman might be, sir?" Topaz asks him.

"No, but we have agents everywhere looking high and low for him. I would ask Sophia, but her parents said she's not home."

Mr. Stewart is on lookout for Eggman somewhere. "This won't be easy. Eggman could be anywhere."

"If you two can track down Eggman and put him out of business, you can name your own reward," the president tells the two.

"Really?" Rouge asks in interest.

"Gold, diamonds, rubies, whatever you like," The president encourages her.

"I love them all," Rouge smiles at the thought. "They're bright and beautiful, like me." She chuckles at her joke.

"Oh brother," Topaz rolls her eyes.

"Just find Eggman," The president declares.

* * *

At school, the bell rings as classes are over for the day. Students are stepping out of the building as Chris is with his friends.

"I wonder what adventure Sonic's having today," Chris voices.

"He sure is lucky. Sonic gets to travel all around having fun and helping people," Helen looks up at Chris.

"Chris, did Sonic tell you where he was running off to today?" Danny asks curiously.

"I asked him."

"You did?" Frances wonders.

"Yeah, he said he'd know where he was going when he got there," Chris smiles at the memory.

" _I'll see you later!" Sonic ran off to who knows where._

"That's kind of funny," Helen chuckles a little.

"That's Sonic," Chris chimes in and Helen giggles.

"So what about Sophia? She's been missing a lot of school, you know," Frances adds in and Chris looks up at the sky.

"Yeah, it's kind of boring without her," Danny murmurs to himself.

"I agree...sometimes she hangs out with me after school, but not anymore..." Helen says quietly.

"It's not her fault, guys," Chris tells them, causing them to stop walking. "She's still conflicted on who she is and what she's supposed to believe. After all, her 'parents' did kind of make her forget her childhood. But...I think now she's starting to accept that part of her life, the one that she thought she was living. She can't forget about both parts of her life, and...she lost her real parents. But...she still has a family. I think deep down, that's all anyone can ask for...friends...family...being happy. And besides, we can't just ask her to drop everything and come back to school. That's something she has to decide for herself."

"...You're right," Danny says eventually.

"Yeah, we shouldn't be selfish," Frances nods at him.

"Hi Chris!" Cream calls out as she, Emerl, and Cheese are waiting for them across the street.

"Hey you guys!" Chris smiles at them. "I didn't expect to see you down here."

"Cheese and I wanted to give Emerl a tour of the neighborhood," Cream explains as they're walking down a path. "Next we're planning to show him the park!"

"Cream and Cheese found this robot in my yard and now he's staying at my house too," Chris explains to his friends.

"That's cool," Helen looks at Emerl, who scratches the side of his head.

"There's Mr. Stewart," Frances points to the teacher staring at a tree.

"Hmm, I wonder..." He murmurs to himself. "This tree is huge. If the trunk is hollow, Eggman could be hiding inside. Hmm..." he looks up at the tree and puts a listening device to it so that he can tell if someone's there. He hears these noises, Decoe and Bocoe jumping out of the tree.

"They're on our trail!"

"That poor Dr. Eggman!"

"Hey!" Mr. Stewart shouts after them and is about to go after them.

"Mr. Stewart?" He freezes at Chris' voice, hiding behind the tree. "What's wrong, Mr. Stewart?" Chris leans to see him.

"Are you playing hide-and-seek with somebody?" Helen wonders as she and Danny are on the other side.

"No, I'm bird-watching!" He says quickly, holding up his binoculars.

"Hey, let me see!" Danny snatches the binoculars from him and he sweats nervously. He only wished Sophia was here so that she could get them to stop. "Whoa..." Danny can see into the city. "You can see everything with these!"

"Danny, let me try!" Frances is standing behind him for a turn and he gasps, seeing Eggman walking around! He zooms in closer. "Hey, there's Dr. Eggman."

Mr. Stewart looks at him in shock. Eggman...is walking around in the city freely? Wasn't he supposed to be in hiding? "Looks like he's buying a book."

"Really?" Chris leans in closer, interested. Why would Eggman go to the city and risk his life for a book?

"My turn!" Mr. Stewart snatches the binoculars away from Danny, looking in the direction that Danny was. "It IS him!" He actually pays for this book.

"Awesome!" Helen cheers, "If we hurry, we can catch him!"

"Yeah!" The others agree with her and Mr. Stewart turns to them sharply.

"No, you can't. Capturing Dr. Eggman is too dangerous." Not only that, it's his assignment to keep an eye on Eggman himself. He couldn't give that away. "That's a job for the police. I'll phone the authorities and let them know. You kids should go home immediately. Do not go after Dr. Eggman, understand? Don't even think about trying it! Okay?"

"I think that Mr. Stewart is right and we should all head home," Cream replies, Chris looking away. He really wanted to catch Eggman for all that he did. Mr. Stewart sighs in relief and they all take their leave.

"Later."

"Bye bye."

"See ya."

"Bye, Mr. Stewart."

"Wait up, Chris!" Cream calls out, running after him. Once they're gone, Mr. Stewart turns around, continuing to watch Eggman. "I'll tail Dr. Eggman and try to figure out what his next move is!"

Eggman walks out of the bookstore, holding up his leg. "Yo, taxi!" The car immediately arrives, causing Mr. Stewart to gasp. He rushes to his car and jumps into the driver's seat. All of the kids, Emerl, and Cheese rush over, jumping into the car. "Hey, what do you kids think you're doing here?!" He turns to them sharply. "I thought you were all going home!"

"You can drive us all home, after we catch Dr. Eggman of course," Helen tells him. He sighs in defeat, as he feels like if he did drive them home, they'd stow away regardless.

"Great..." He drives off after Eggman.

* * *

Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, Sonic is laying on the roof, sighing in content at the natural light hitting him. He puts his hands behind his head.

"Sonic!" He opens his eyes at the voice. "Sonic!" His eyes widen further and he looks down to see Chuck standing there. "Do you know if Chris had anything special to do after school today? He hasn't arrived back home yet, and Cream and Cheese are also missing. I can't find Sophia, so-"

"So you want us to find them?" Sophia lands on the roof besides Sonic, as she took a break from her search. Chuck's eyes widen at her sudden appearance. 25 leads today and still nothing from Shadow. Without another word, she and Sonic go off to find them.

"Hope they're okay..." Chuck murmurs in worry.

* * *

Mr. Stewart follows after the cab, with the kids staring after the car. "The taxi's pulling over!" Danny warns and the cab comes to a stop in an alley. Mr. Stewart slowly stops the car, watching as Dr. Eggman steps out of the taxi. He has multiple books in his hands.

"Where's he going?" Chris murmurs as the cab drives away. They all gasp as there is no trace of Eggman. "He got out...but he disappeared."

They look around for a lead. "There are no fire escapes in this alley, and I don't see any doors," Helen speaks up as there's nothing...

Mr. Stewart hums to himself, hoping that this would work. He puts a device into the ground, listening for something.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stewart?" Helen asks curiously and he doesn't answer. He listens closely as he hears the footsteps of Dr. Eggman. He's still in the area, but he's walking down stairs...stairs in the sewers.

"Eggman's underground," Mr. Stewart reports as he stands up.

"What?" Chris asks in surprise that Mr. Stewart could tell.

"Underground?"

"How do we get there?"

"Down there," Mr. Stewart points to a staircase that leads to the sewers. Deep down there, Eggman's Egg Mobile is waiting for him. Mr. Stewart drives the car down the stairs, causing all the kids to shriek at each step. The car drives into the water and they think they're gonna sink until Mr. Stewart presses a button. This causes his car to turn into a water glider. All the kids cheer and Danny screams.

"Waht's the matter, Danny?" Frances asks him.

"There's a lizard in the car!" He panics and they look around, seeing nothing.

"Where?" Helen questions and he points.

"There! Right there!" He points to a tiny lizard that can easily be missed.

"Aww," Frances and Helen coo at it. The lizard licks its eyes before disappearing and Danny sighs in embarrassment, Frances crossing her arms.

"Danny, you don't really believe that harmless little lizard was going to hurt you?" Helen asks him and he looks at her.

"You're not scared of lizards?" He asks in disbelief.

"Of course not! I catch them all the time!" She says confidently, as she does that with her parents.

"Oh really?" Danny wonders skeptically, Chris jerking a thumb to Helen.

"She catches snakes and bugs too!"

Danny cringes in disgust at the thought. "You must be crazy!" He tells her, causing her to be defensive.

"You're a baby!" She retorts back and Mr. Stewart turns to them.

"That's enough. This is no time to start an argument." Cream and Cheese laugh at the two. "Remember, we came to stop Eggman."

"Ah!" Chris shouts in alarm as he can see the back of the Egg Mobile. Mr. Stewart quickly follows as Eggman chuckles, turning around. He then goes faster and Mr. Stewart floors it, hair and ears flying.

"Faster, Mr. Stewart!" Danny yells in excitement as he points forward. "Don't let him get away!"

"I'll stop them with my network," Eggman grins as he pushes a button and a net looms over the car, all of them screaming as it comes closer, threatening to capture them.

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the city, Rouge and Topaz are eating dessert together at a café. "How's your dessert?" Topaz asks the bat.

"Dreamy." Two blurs, one pink and one blue, zoom right past them, but they don't make an indication that they felt it.

"Instead of eating, we should be looking for Eggman," Topaz states.

"I'm sure he'll turn up soon," The blurs pass by them again. "Eggman's too full of himself to stay out of the spotlight long."

"That's true," Topaz agrees with her and the blurs run by for a third time. "It certainly has gotten breezy. You don't suppose it's Sonic and Sophia, do you?"

"I'm sure it's them," Rouge takes another bite of her dessert. "I wonder what they're up to." When they run by again, this time Rouge calls their names and the two stop in front of them. "Why are you two whipping around like a tornado?"

"We're looking for Chris," Sonic tells them.

"How come?" Topaz asks and Sophia sighs.

"He never came home from school. Cream and Cheese are missing too," She crosses her arms before eyeing the plate. "Ooo, that looks delicious."

"If you happen to run into Eggman, let us know," Rouge replies and they both smile.

"Will do. Order a dessert for me," Sophia winks and they both take their leaves. Rouge goes back to eating her plate.

"I think I'll have some coffee."

"Me too," Topaz smiles at her.

"Hey, Sophia," Sonic speaks up as they're still running. "That connection you have with Shadow? Do you think you could do that with Chris?"

"I could try," She calls out and she closes her eyes.

* * *

Mr. Stewart, the kids, and Emerl have been unfortunately captured, Eggman laughing at them. They're inside a cell. "Excuse me?" Helen calls out and he looks at her. "How come you're carrying all those books?"

"I'm doing some research for my new attack plan," He answers confidently.

"What are you planning on doing?" Chris asks him.

"It's going to be big! Oh, you shouldn't be so nosy, kid, especially when you're trapped in a sewer!"

Bocoe and Decoe walk up to him. "Dr. Eggman!"

"What do you two boltheads want?" He asks bitterly as they interrupted his bragging.

"Look," They dump down some of Mr. Stewart's spy objects. "We found this inside the car."

Mr. Stewart gasps in shock that they were going through his stuff. "It must belong to him!" Bocoe points to the 'teacher.' "Why do you have this equipment? Are you a spy?"

"Of course not!" Mr. Stewart immediately denies.

"Then what are you so nervous about?" Dr. Eggman notices the sweat coming from Mr. Stewart.

"I thought spies were supposed to be cool," Danny whispers to Frances. "Not wimpy."

"I know. Try to imagine Mr. Stewart as a spy," Frances thinks of him walking and then looking at the screen like he's James Bond. Mr. Stewart is shaking as they're staring at him.

"Professional spies stay cool under pressure. He's shaking like a goldfish in a shark tank," Eggman denies it. "Sorry to leave you, but I have to go prepare my next mind-blowing attack. Toodaloo," He walks away and Mr. Stewart sighs in relief.

"Why are you acting so relieved?" Decoe interrogates and he looks up in shock. "Maybe he is a spy after all."

"I'm a school teacher!" He denies sharply.

"It's true, he used to be our teacher till he got transferred," Helen speaks up.

"There, you see?" Mr. Stewart asks, hoping that there's no more suspicion.

"Oh." Decoe and Bocoe look embarrassed.

"Hey, can you guys tell us about this new attack Dr. Eggman's planning?" Chris wonders.

"You will not get any information out of us!" Bocoe exclaims sharply.

"We will never talk, because Dr. Eggman never tells us anything," Bocoe says sadly and Decoe sobs.

"We get no respect..."

"And no time off, either."

"We better go dry our tears before we rust..." They continue to cry as they walk away.

"Those two should get their bolts tightened," Mr. Stewart comments to himself and Cream looks up at him.

"We should try to get out while nobody's guarding us," She suggests and Mr. Stewart leans closer to Helen.

"Helen, may I borrow this?" He takes a hairclip out of from the top of her head, the others turning to him in confusion. He picks the lock and soon enough, the door opens. They gasp at his lockpicking skills and he shushes them. They glance to each other, as maybe there actually is more to Mr. Stewart than they thought... "Come on, we have to move fast."

They walk though the sewers as they're trying to find the car. "Wouldn't it be cool if it turned out Mr. Stewart really is a spy?" Chris asks Frances.

"In your dreams," She denies and then they're met with a large metal wall. There's no apparent way to get past it.

"I guess we're trapped," Danny murmurs since there's no other way out.

"Not yet," Mr. Stewart walks up to the wall. They silently watch as he bends down near the door. "Let me show you a little chemistry experiment." He pours a tiny blue bottle into a brown bottle. "When I mix the acid in the blue bottle, with a chemical solution in the brown bottle, the reaction is very interesting." He puts down the brown bottle and runs over to them. "Now stay back!" He pushes them away slightly as the brown bottle explodes.

The door slowly lifts up, opening. They all gasp in shock. "He did it!" They all run past the door, coming to a stop as there's a second door blocking their path. Mr. Stewart plugs his computer, bending down to it.

 _The only way to open this electronic lock is to find a password._ The kids look over as he goes to work, hacking into the lock. "Got it!" Eggman's face appears on his laptop. "Eggman...?"

"So all you have to do is type in Eggman to open the door?" Chris asks, as he should've seen that coming.

"No, Chris. That would be too easy," Mr. Stewart murmurs, "Something's not right."

"Why not?" Helen wonders and he narrows his eyes, realizing what's going on.

"It's a trap!" _He typed in Eggman and suddenly the door blew up. I can't take the chance of putting the kids in danger._ "We'll have to get this door open another way!"

"But how?" Chris asks him and he turns away, thinking to himself. "Maybe we should try knocking."

Helen thinks about Chris' suggestion. "It would be easy to get out if we could only reach Sonic and Sophia."

Chris nods at her, but they have no way to contact them. He looks around and notices something. "Hey look! Bokkun!"

Bokkun is sleeping on the door, snoring softly. "He must know how to get us out of here," Cream murmurs as they look up at him. However...Bokkun is not exactly willing to help, and Chris knew that. But it was probably their only chance.

"Helen, what if we..." Chris whispers a plan to her and she nods.

"Okay!" She clasps her hands together. "I don't know how she does it, but Ella bakes the most delicious apple pies in the world!" Her voice is loud enough for Bokkun to open his eyes slowly.

"You haven't had apple pie till you tasted Ella's apple pie!" Chris hollers and Bokkun's eyes shine at the thought.

"Apple pie?!" He thinks of the crust...and the softness of the dessert. "Can I have some?" He looks down at the others.

"You can only taste Ella's apple pie if you go to Chris' house," Helen tells him.

"Go tell Ella you saw me here and that I said she should give you some pie!" Chris calls out.

"You bet I will!" Bokkun flies off, not even bothering to question it. "Apple pie, here I come!"

They stare at him in shock that he actually fell for it. "If he tells Ella we're here, then she'll let Sophia and Sonic know too!" Chris grins at his plan.

"And they'll come save us!" Helen says in realization.

"That's right."

* * *

Bokkun pushes the manhole cover from the inside, eventually sliding it away. "Apple pie..." He peeks his head out. "Apple pie...!" He stands up, not sure where to go. "Which way now?" He takes a look at his surroundings before Sophia and Sonic speed right past him, making him spin around. They come back, screeching to a stop.

"Hiya Bokkun," Sonic smirks at him. "Where you going?"

"I saw Chris in the sewer and he sent me to his house for some pie."

"The sewers?" Sophia looks down at the open manhole cover.

"We didn't think of looking underground." Sonic jumps down and Sophia looks at him.

"I definitely sense Chris down there, but he's not alone."

"Eggman's probably there," Sonic guesses, turning to Bokkun. "Will you get a message to Topaz and Rouge for us, pal?"

"No!" he denies and Sonic grins. "If you like Ella's pies, you'll love her strawberry shortcake."

"Strawberry shortcake?" Bokkun beams at the thought. Drool seeps down from his mouth. "Will she make me one?"

"Only if you deliver our message," Sophia smiles slightly at him.

* * *

Topaz has ordered a dessert now, eating some chocolate ice cream. "Mmm. The chocolate's even tastier than the vanilla."

"Dee-licious," Rouge comments and Bokkun suddenly lands in front of them.

"I have a message for you two from Sonic and Sophia!" He states to their confusion. "They're in the sewer!"

"They're in the sewer?" Topaz asks in disbelief.

* * *

Chris, Frances, and Danny are trying to kick or punch their way out, but nothing. "It's no use," Mr. Stewart tells them, "You're just wasting your energy." _We have to think of something else._

"There is no escape!" Mr. Stewart's eyes widen at the voice and giant robotic legs approach them.

"Eggman!"

The doctor chuckles as he's in a new robot. "My Eggsfighter will soon have you insects wrapped around up in a web of misery!"

"Back off!" Mr. Stewart stands in front of the kids and Emerl to protect them.

"Let's mix this nerd," Eggman raises a robot claw, intending to grab them. Chris looks away before two people fend off the claw, making the robot fall. Sophia and Sonic land in front of the smoke.

"Sonic! Sophia!" The kids cheer and Sophia turns to them.

"Is everyone alright?" She asks seriously and they all nod in unison.

"Blast 'em!" The robot flings a claw, the two jumping over to it. Sonic speeds right through the claw, breaking it into pieces. Sophia slices another one until they're grabbed and pinned to the wall.

"SONIC! SOPHIA!" Chris screams as they struggle. Eggman chortles evilly.

"Hang on, guys!" They hear and the two turn to Topaz and Rouge running up to them. Rouge jumps up into the air.

"Screw kick!" She spins into a tornado, setting Sophia and Sonic free. They jump out of the claw.

"Thanks!" Sonic calls out.

"Thank you, Rouge!" Sophia winks as she lands. Emerl makes a noise and Sophia turns to the robot, confused.

"I've had it with that hog and brat! Fire!" Eggman opens fire on the two, but they run against the wall, dodging the missiles. Rouge flies past the missiles with ease and Cream narrows her eyes, clenching her fists.

"Copy Rouge, Emerl!" She demands, wanting to help her friends. Emerl scans Rouge and her moves, obtaining her skills. He does her screw kick and pierces right through the door, causing it to explode. "Emerl broke down the door..." Cream murmurs in shock and the robot lands in front of the now open hallway. The others turn to him in shock, wondering how he did it. Emerl jumps into the air again and spins around, breaking right through the robot, causing an explosion.

"Let's go! This way, everybody! We have to hurry!" Mr. Stewart urges while Eggman is distracted. They all take off into a run, leaving Sonic and Sophia as they look up at the flying Eggman.

"Sonic, princess! I always knew you two were sewer rats!"

They growl at the insult. "Till next time!" He giggles, but the Egg Mobile malfunctions and they lose control, the two running away. They crash into a wall and the explosion is so big, the smoke goes all the way to Mr. Stewart's car outside.

They all cough as they step out of the smoke. "Everybody okay?" Sonic asks while coughing.

"I think so," Chris calls out.

"Everyone's accounted for," Mr. Stewart says in relief. "Thanks, Sonic and Sophia."

* * *

Later on, they return home. "Ella, we're home," Chris calls out, Ella walking up to them. Valentina and Elliot hug their daughter happily.

"Thank goodness you're back, I was so worried. Your poor friend has been waiting hours for you to come home," She frowns in worry and they're all shocked to see Bokkun eating apple pie and strawberry shortcake. The fact that he was waiting is what shocks them. He stuffs himself with delicious desserts, Sonic and Sophia laughing.

 _Hmm..._ Sophia glances at Emerl. _Where exactly did Emerl come from? I've never seen anyone like him, I don't recognize his mechanics at all. How can he spin like Sonic and I AND do Rouge's screw kick? No one's ever done that before. There must be more to him...I should keep an eye on him..._


	45. Prize Fights

Bajy: Great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks! I'm close to the finale!**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia I think you find Shadow in Season 2.

 **Angel: No she does not. Only I know where he is and I'm not having Sophia find him right now.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sonic, Sophia, and Emerl helped save Chris, Mr. Stewart, Cream and the others from Eggman. For the next chapter, I wonder who Sophia might fight against in the tournament.

 **Angel: Forgot the tournament started in this chapter ^^' I don't have as involved with the fighting since there's an odd number of fighters instead of an even number like how it is in the episode.**

Challishanlon99: Baldy mcnosehair is very very mean I'm sorry for calling him that but still anyway please be careful down there in the sewers and Sonic did you know that there's a dragon that's as fast as you! Well actually there are a lot of dragons that are as fast as you but this dragon can only run on land and water I think you would win for sure on a land run I think that he would be best friends with a dragon or any type of dragon but please be careful and I can't wait for the next chapter.

 **Angel: Baldy mcnosehair XDD Ha ha. Wish I thought of that. And wasn't he friends with a dragon in a different show?**

 **Sonic: Yeah, Dulcy.**

 **Angel: I haven't seen Sonic SatAm for years now, but Sonic was friends with a dragon in that show. Too bad no one from that show appeared here...Eggman doesn't count though, he's in everything XD**

Gwen: Oh I can't wait to see the martial arts competition that's my favorite episode I always wanted to see how Sophia does in hand to hand combat and I wonder if her parents participate in it I can't wait to see it next

 **Angel: She's done hand to hand combat before, I think. I don't have the best memory, but she mostly fights with her sword. And if she hasn't done hand to hand combat, I plan on doing it soon. No, her parents don't participate...it wouldn't be fair XD**

Jake: Alright the martial arts episode can't wait to see how it'll be like and Sophia is really suspicious about Emerl.

 **Sophia: For Cream's sake, I haven't attacked him, but...I still have my doubts.**

Eggman, up to no good again, seems to be building something. Becoe and Decoe watch him as he wipes the sweat away from his forehead. The doctor notices them watching and glares down at them. "Make yourselves useful, you dawdling dunces! I'm out of supplies!" He throws down a list of things to the ground.

"What's this?" Decoe asks curiously as he goes to pick it up.

"A shopping list?"

"Three tons of extra-large nails, five thousand cans of spit and sparkle varnish? When you buy supplies, you do not mess around," Decoe looks up at him.

"But how do we get all that back from the store?" Bocoe wonders.

"With a great degree of difficulty!" He retorts, "Now hunt down that hardware or else!"

"Yes sir!"

"Aye aye!"

They both salute to him.

* * *

Cream and her mother are outside in the garden with Cheese, making flower crowns together. "We'll both have necklaces now, Mama." Cheese chirps, flying above them. They suddenly turn around to see a bouquet of pink flowers. "Oh hi Emerl!" She sees the flowers in his hands and he holds them out, the rabbit beaming at them. "Wow! Are these for me, Emerl? They're lovely! Thank you so much! Aren't they beautiful, Mama?"

"They certainly are, Cream."

Amy is looking down at the scene from the balcony, eyes sad. _I wish Sonic would do that for me._ She can just imagine it as she giggles. A mosquito flies past her and she gasps as that mosquito is killing her daydream. She huffs, crossing her arms at it. She claps her hands together, but doesn't squish it. She claps her hands as she jumps around, trying to kill it. She pulls out her hammer, swinging around wildly. She prepares to get it as it lands on the wall.

"Miss Amy!" Mr. Tanaka calls out as he stumbles upon the scene. "Please don't swing that hammer," He bows respectfully and the mosquito flies away to her disappointment.

"I almost had it!" She glares at the butler. "But thanks to you, he got away! Oh!" She places a hand on her hip.

"I beg your pardon, but I believe you would've smashed both the bug and the window," He informs her and she looks down as she wasn't even focusing on the wall. She just wanted to get the bug.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." She closes her eyes. "I just don't know what's wrong with me, Mr. Tanaka." She sighs sadly, turning back to the balcony. "Seems like I can't get anything I want, especially Sonic..."

He says nothing as he knows fully well that Sonic wasn't the romantic type. But to say that to Amy...well, he couldn't do it.

* * *

Ella holds out her latest dessert to Amy, to try and cheer her up. "My chocolate peanut butter pie. It's warm right from the oven!"

"Do not worry so, Miss Amy," Mr. Tanaka tries to reassure her, pouring a cup of tea. "Try to cheer up. Things will be much brighter before you know it. Just when it seems the clouds will never pass, the sun comes shining through your window!" He places the tea in front of her.

"I hope you're right," She murmurs as she looks at the drink. "I won't think about him anymore!" She gasps as she takes a slice of pie, hanging her head upside down. A blue blur passes right by the window and she blinks slowly.

So much for not thinking about him.

She whines at this as Sophia comes into the room, Rose following after her. The princess sees Amy's state, glancing at Ella and Mr. Tanaka. They both shake their heads and she takes a seat next to the pink hedgehog.

"Amy? Is something bothering you?"

She sighs slowly, sitting up. "Sophia? What would you do if you liked someone, but they don't pay any attention to you at all?"

Sophia raises a brow in confusion. "As in, if I like a boy?" She takes her own cup of tea and starts to sip it.

"Well, yes. You have Knuckles, Shadow, Chris...Sonic..."

The princess chokes on her tea a little at the mention of all of them. "Erm, Amy...hypothetically, if I did like any of them, I would remember my duty to our world first..."

"But what would you do?"

Sophia sighs, wiping her mouth with her sleeve as she has to remember it's Amy who needs help, and not her. She wouldn't consider herself the best person to romantic advice, but if she has to...

"Hypothetically...I wouldn't give up on that person. Hope is...something you should cherish. Even if it seems like there isn't a chance, there will be one. Don't give up just yet, Amy. I may not be experienced with these kinds of things, but I do know how to see it." She already knew the hedgehog was talking about Sonic. The way she said his name made it obvious.

"...Thanks Sophia," Amy smiles at her helpful advice.

"You're welcome, Amy." The phone suddenly rings and Mr. Tanaka answers it.

"Hello? Yes, she is right here. Sophia, someone is on the phone for you."

"Me?" Sophia asks as she takes the receiver. "Hello?"

"Sophia?"

"Mr. President?" She murmurs in confusion.

"I need to meet you. It's very important."

* * *

"Yesterday SSTV News reported that the notorious Dr. Eggman had escaped from jail along with his two mechanical henchmen. Officials now believe that Eggman and his robots are hiding underground plotting their next assault." Wanted posters of Decoe, Bocoe, and Eggman can be seen on a wall. "In an effort to undermine the plot, the president has formulated a plan that will involve Sonic, Sophia, Knuckles, and Rouge the Bat. While information is sketchy, it appears some sort of tournament is in the works. Luckily I've been granted an exclusive interview with the participants to talk about this exciting development." Scarlet is escorted into the room. All four of their eyes are closed. Rouge is to the right of Knuckles and Sophia is sitting between the echidna and Sonic. They don't seem too pleased.

"Uh...well, it doesn't appear that Sonic, Sophia, Knuckles, and Rouge are as excited about this competition as one might expect them to be."

The president gasps as he sees them. "Maybe once we begin our interview, they'll tell us why they seem so glum."

"Spread out!" The president orders as he pushes them away. He steps up to the four as Topaz is standing nearby. "Well Topaz? Are they in or out?"

"Well sir," Topaz salutes, "They-"

"I don't know about this plan of yours," Sonic interrupts with his concerns.

"I have to agree," Sophia murmurs, sipping her tea.

"This tournament idea sounds kinda screwy," Knuckles looks at them.

"How about you?" The president looks at Rouge.

"I might consider helping you out with this plan of yours, but if I do, it's going to cost ya."

"Rouge," Sophia warns with a sigh.

"What exactly does that mean?" The president asks in confusion.

"Well, I do have a weakness for jewelry," She states and Knuckles shakes his head at Sophia.

"I can't believe you two are friends," He voices his opinion.

"Me neither," Rouge and Sophia say in unison, shrugging.

"I'll tell you what. If you all agree to battle in our tournament, we'll offer a grand prize to the winner. Whoever wins the competition gets...a chaos emerald!"

They all stare at him, each with different looks. "You want me to waste my time for one Chaos emerald? Sorry, but you can count me out," Knuckles closes his eyes.

"Knuckles, a Chaos Emerald is beneficial to getting us home," Sophia reminds him, but he says nothing.

"Ah, could it be Gloomy Gus over here is too chicken? I bet he's afraid I might beat him," Rouge teases.

"Look here! I'm not afraid of anybody!" Knuckles defends and Sophia sweats a little. "Got that?"

"It's too bad." Knuckles looks at Scarlet. "It would've been such an exciting tournament."

"Oh well, if he really doesn't wanna prove himself, there's no use forcing him to," The president closes his eyes.

"I suppose not, Mr. President."

Knuckles blinks at them. "Our viewers will be so disappointed. Especially the millions of rabid Knuckles fans out there."

"Kids who just want a glimpse of their hero," Topaz leans in, Knuckles sweating a little. He growls at the temptation and Rouge leans towards him.

"You don't want 'em to think you're a big scaredy cat, do ya?"

"This will be the perfect way to prove just how tough you are," The president smirks at their plan. "Unless of course you're secretly a sniveling coward!"

Knuckles screams out loud, Sophia covering her ears. Sonic just looks away as he jumps down from the couch. "That does it!" He stands on the table. "Nobody calls me a coward and gets away with it! I'll enter the competition and win the Chaos Emerald!"

Rouge looks away. "That was easy."

The adults all clap at their success. "Man, talk about being a first-class sucker."

Knuckles grunts, sweating. Sophia can't help but laugh at what Sonic said. Topaz leans in towards Rouge. "I can't believe he bought all that flattery."

"He's a knucklehead," Rouge comments, Knuckles turning to them with a grunt. Sophia pinches her nose to keep herself from dying of laughter.

"Just one little detail," The president whispers to Christina. "Do we have any emeralds?" Christina simply nods.

* * *

He appears on TV with Scarlet Garcia to confirm the tournament. "This is Scarlet Garcia. The president has just announced that Sonic, Sophia, Knuckles, and Rouge the Bat will take part in an exciting martial arts tournament!" Everyone else at home is watching the news as well. "Mr. President, would you like to say a few words to our viewers? Here," She hands him the microphone."

"In addition, we would like to open the tournament to anyone who feels they'd like to participate, so sign up today!" He winks at the camera. "Tell all your friends to tell all their friends!" Pictures of the four are plastered everywhere. "This competition promises to be the most exciting event ever! The grand prize is a genuine chaos emerald! So come on down if you think you've got what it takes to battle with the best! Yah!"

Scarlet stands in front of a few teleprompters. "Would you like to compete? Operators are standing by so call today! Uh..." She glances at the phones as no one calls. "We'll be...right back!"

Footage of Knuckles punching rock is shown along with a fake explosion. He punches steel and lands in front of water. "Ha! Think you're tough enough? Well, what are you waiting for?"

Scarlet stares at it in confusion. A blonde operator turns to a brunette one. "Maybe you could win that chaos emerald, Tiffany!"

"If I did," Tiffany starts off, "I'd turn it into one awesome earring!"

Everyone at the Thorndyke Mansion just stares at the commercial. "Well Chris," Tails starts off, "Guess we better call that number and enter."

"But Tails, are you crazy?" Chris asks in concern. "Didn't you see that commercial?"

"You know you can't believe everything you see on TV," Tails states, holding up a finger. Ella, Mr. Tanaka, and Chris stare at him. The phone rings and the butler goes to answer it.

"Hello? Yes, I'll put him on, Mr. Thorndyke," Mr. Tanaka holds out the receiver to the boy. "Here, Chris. Your father, he would like to speak with you."

"Okay, thanks," He takes the receiver. "Hi dad. Yeah. You're signing up for the competition? But how come? You think you have a good chance of winning?! And you thought it might be a lot of fun to enter me, Amy, Tails, Mr. Tanaka, Grandpa, and Ella too?" He asks in mortification. The mentioned people stare at him in shock.

"He wants ME to battle?!" Ella points to herself, Mr. Tanaka practicing his moves.

"Listen, maybe we-" The call ends there. "Uh, he hung up on me! Well I guess it's settled! Are you going to compete too?" Chris looks at Valentina and Elliot.

"No. It would be unfair as we could potentially harm others," Valentina shakes her head.

"But we will be in the crowd with our support," Elliot bows his head.

"The martial arts tournament planners have just released the official events scheduled. They've also begun announcing who will be competition. Slots are filling up fast, so call now! We'll be right back after this."

"And roll commercial," One of the visual staff announces, Scarlet shrugging.

"I'm doing an infomercial. This is gonna kill my credibility." The two turn to each other in confusion. The phones are on the brink as they're getting many calls.

* * *

Eggman hammers a nail until he hits his thumb. He shouts and blows on it quickly, frowning a little. "Now thanks to those loitering layabouts, my thumb is as flat as a flapjack! How dare those two slowpokes keep me waiting? Bokkun, come here right away!"

"Here I am," Eggman looks to see Bokkun laying on a piece of metal hanging from the ceiling. "What is it, Dr. Eggman?"

"Find those two tiny tin cans and stop on it!" He orders and Bokkun salutes.

"Yes sir, doctor!" He laughs as he flies away.

* * *

Fireworks go off at the stadium. "Welcome to the first annual Chaos Emerald Martial Arts Mashup!" The president announces as the crowd cheers. Elliot and Valentina have already arrived, clapping as they have front row seats. "Today's participants will be competing for this authentic Chaos Emerald!" He holds up a shiny red emerald for all to see. It's a Chaos Emerald alright.

Bocoe and Decoe are looking at the board of participants. "Looks like a picture of my insides."

Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla are with Sophia's parents as well, Valentina holding Rose.

"The atmosphere here at the stadium is absolutely electric and rumor has it that a special surprise participant is about to kick off its martial arts challenge," Scarlet announces, the president punching his boxing gloves together. Christina looks worried for him as he's a participant as well.

"This is a bad idea," She voices her concerns and he winks.

"I may have a punch, but I've still got a punch!" He punches the air and Scarlet turns to the arena.

"The crowd is cheering for today's master of ceremonies, the owner of Diamond Stadium, Elmer Johnson. Let's listen as he introduces our first two competitors."

Elmer waves, leaning in towards the microphone in his hand. "In this corner, the president!" He points to the man who has no shirt on, with orange boots and yellow shorts. He pumps his fists to the crowd. "And his opponent, in black armor, the Black Knight!"

Some people clap while others are booing. Black Knight glances at the president, who looks a little nervous. "Are you sure you wanna do this, Mr. President?" Christina calls out from the cockpit.

"No," He admits, sagging his arms.

"Let the mashup begin." Scarlet rings the bell to start the match, the president staring at his opponent. He growls as he lunges forward, punching the armor as hard as he can, but nothing. It's like his armor AND his body are made of metal. The Black Knight stares down at him as he continues his attack, laughing at the man as he raises his arm.

"Oh no!" Christina cries out as the president shields himself. A towel is thrown on him and Elmer holds up the Knight's arm.

"The Black Knight moves to the second round!"

"The president's aide threw in the towel," Scarlet says in surprise. The president looks to Christina.

"Why'd you do that?" He demands to her.

"I think you had more power lunches than power punches," She admits sheepishly and he bawls, stomping the ground.

"Now let's move on to our next exciting matchup." Scarlet rings the bell again as Chris and Danny are next. Danny clenches his fists.

"Look out."

"It looks like one of these young classmates is ready to rumble," Scarlet points out as Chris hangs his friend. He should've known Danny wouldn't miss the opportunity to prove himself, but for him to be the one he's fighting...

"Huh?" Danny looks at him in confusion, stepping up to the boy. "Chris, what's the matter?"

"I'm sorry. I don't wanna fight."

"Yeah, but Chris, we could win that Chaos Emerald," Danny states as he wanted to help his friends get home. Chris looks up as he's crying.

"I don't wanna get hurt!" He sobs as he stands a few feet away, bawling.

"Take it easy. Fine, okay? I won't punch you. See? I'm not even near you," Danny calls out as an attempt to calm him down.

"Perfect," A glint appears on Chris' eye and Danny screams as the boy tackles him. "Gotcha!" He pins Danny long enough to win.

"No fair! That's fighting dirty!" Danny shouts and Chris grins.

"Who cares? It worked, didn't it?" He laughs as Elmer holds up his arm.

"Tears to cheers in seconds flat. Young Christopher Thorndyke wins the match!"

Danny shouts as he slams his fist against the floor. Chris hums as he walks away. "Nice work, Chris."

He turns to his grandpa, who's wearing a kimono of some sorts. "Hi Grandpa. Hey, what's with that weird bath robe?"

Chuck chuckles as he pulls the kimono to reveal a wrestling outfit that looks too small for him. "Back in my day, I was known as Thorndyke the Throttler!" He does some exercise...until he cracks his back.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Chris questions in worry and it's so bad he has to go to the hospital. He cries out as he's taken away.

"Professor Thorndyke has been forced to withdraw from competition due to a warm-up injury," Scarlet says sheepishly to the camera. She gestures to Chuck's opponent. "Therefore, the winner by forfeit is Lucky!"

Lucky cheers at the win, waving to the crowd. "He won," Decoe says in disbelief. "Lucky certainly is lucky, isn't he?"

"His name says it all," Bocoe comments as they're both in white robes. "Wish me luck, Decoe. I battle next!"

"Hey, so do I," Decoe says in realization...and then that's when it strikes them that they're battling each other. They bow to each other respectfully.

"I will not hold back!" Decoe promises to his pal.

"Neither will I!" Bocoe tells him and they both start wrestling each other. However, there's no winner as police sirens can be heard. They're both alarmed to see the police cars.

"Freeze! You're both under arrest! Surrender, you can't escape! We've got you surrounded!"

"We're in trouble," Bocoe comments as they both sweat.

"Quick, run for it!" Decoe screams and ALL the cars surrounding the two chase after them. Scarlet opens the umbrella.

"Our next match pits Hawk against everyone's favorite high-flying fox, Tails!" She rings the gong, Tails staring at the obviously taller man.

"Ready when you are," He prepares himself. Hawk strikes the air, attacking first. Tails growls at him as the man as he flails his arms.

"Hawk is on the offensive, showering his opponent with lightning-fast moves and fists of fury! But Tails is keeping cool and letting his twin tails take the punishment." Tails blocks all attacks with his tails, as they didn't hurt much. Hawk jumps into the air. "Here comes the kicker." Tails gasps and bends down, showing his tails. "Looks like the tails are ready to attack."

"Those things don't scare me," Hawk says confidently, grabbing them. "I got ya."

"Oh yeah?" Tails narrows his eyes at them. "Think again!" Spinning his tails, he manages to knock Hawk unconscious, giving him the win.

"Hawk has suffered a dizzy defeat."

"And I win!" Tails declares happily as Hawk groans. Some of his fans take pictures, waving at him. He smiles bashfully. "They like me...they really like me."

It's Bokkun against Amy now as the bell rings. "Hi there!" He greets and she places her hands on her hips.

"No way! They let you enter this thing?"

"What's wrong with me?" His eyes turn watery as he starts crying, falling onto the ground. The crowd starts scolding Amy and she sweats.

"There's nothing wrong with you, you're great. I was joking. Please don't cry, okay?" She sees the cameraman and turns to him. "Sorry about that, folks. He's just a little bit nervous, that's all. Totally not my fault." She winks at the camera.

"Liar!" Bokkun calls out and she pulls out her hammer, Bokkun cringing. She turns to him slowly.

"What did you say?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing!" He protests quickly, "Honest!" He then screams as she raises her hammer and knocks him out of the arena.

"And the winner by a knockout is Amy!"

"I couldn't have done it without the support of all my fans."

"Hey Amy!" A little girl waves to her.

"We love you!"

Amy giggles at them. "Thanks everybody. Right back at ya!" She winks at them.

"Well folks, thus ends the first half of this exciting tournament. We'll be taking a short intermission."

* * *

Outside, Knuckles signs autographs for the kids. Tails takes some pictures and Sophia gives out some crowns she brought with her. Eggman, flying in his Egg Mobile, looks around for Bocoe and Decoe, not aware that they're on the run.

"Those loafing lunkheads. Where could they be? Just wait'll I get my hands on them!"

Sonic sits in a chair, away from all the fans as they could go crazy when he's around. "Boy Chris, I couldn't believe that was you out there." Sophia opens the door and steps in, needing a break from all the fans.

"Why, because I lied and cheated a little?" Chris is leaning against the wall, holding a cup of juice. "So what? Is that so wrong?"

"Kind of," Sonic shrugs at him.

"Yes," Sophia raises an eyebrow, knowing what they're talking about.

"It's just-!" Chris turns to them. "I'm always the good guy! I just wanted to see what it felt like to be bad. It doesn't feel good."

Sonic chuckles at him and Chris blushes in embarrassment. "You know?"

"Ha," Sonic gives him a thumbs up. "Then don't do it again!"

"Danny will forgive you," Sophia gives a small smile and Chris giggles, returning the thumbs up.

* * *

"Welcome back. We're ready to begin the second round of the first annual Chaos Emerald Martial Arts Mashup. First up it's tough guy Knuckles versus the mysterious Black Knight."

Knuckles clenches his fists. "Let's go, metal man!"

The Black Knight just laughs at him and Knuckles growls. "Tough guy, eh? We'll just see about that!" He charges forward and the Black Knight screams, falling as he holds out a palm.

"Don't hurt me, Knuckles! Just let me win! Please, I'm begging you!"

Knuckles stares down at him, wondering how he knew his name. That voice does sound familiar. "Who are you, anyway?"

"It's me," He lifts the helmet to reveal himself as Jerome Wise.

"You're the Black Knight?" Knuckles murmurs in confusion.

"I need that Chaos Emerald! I don't have any money! And I need it to make Sophia pay for what she did to me! She's the reason I'm even here!"

Knuckles growls at the insults. "There's two things I cannot stand. A whiner and someone who insults the princess!" He raises his fist and Jerome screams as he runs out of the arena, giving the win to Knuckles.

"The Black Knight turned yellow so Knuckles wins the match."

Chris peeks out to Knuckles. "Hey Chris." He turns around to see his friend.

"Danny!"

"I just wanted to wish you good luck."

"Thank you," Chris murmurs, hearing a helicopter. He looks up at it, confused before someone jumps out. The parachute deploys, falling towards the arena.

"Our next fighter is dropping in just in time for the next match."

It's Nelson as he lands in the arena, standing up with a smile. "Dad?!" Chris exclaims in shock. And that's who Chris is fighting in his round.

"Well son, if you wanna make it to the quarter finals, you'll have to beat your old man first. Let's go!"

Chris tries to look tough as he clenches his fists. Lindsay and Chuck look worried. "He'll have a hard time with Nelson. I taught him everything he knows," Chuck brags as Chris has Nelson pinned down, the man screaming for mercy.

"I give up!" He slams down his hand. "Uncle, uncle, uncle! Stop!"

Lindsey and Chuck sweat. "I guess talent must've skipped a generation."

It's now Sam against Mr. Stewart. "Let's see what you got," Mr. Stewart encourages.

"Okay," Sam rushes forward, tackling the 'teacher' onto the ground.

"Uncle Sam, don't!" Chris calls out from the audience since he's already won.

"I can't go easy on him just because he's your teacher!" Sam says.

"I know, but they didn't ring the starting bell yet," Chris explains as Danny and Ella both cringe. Sam sweats a little and because of this, he is disqualified from the competition.

"Oh well. I'm in a hurry anyway," He uses his car to leave the arena.

"Saved by the bell, Mr. Stewart is the winner! And since both robots are on the run, Lucky and Sophia win. Lucky guys." Lucky and Sophia leave the arena. Sophia would've had to go against whoever won that match, but since they are still missing, she wins by default.

Mr. Tanaka and Topaz are against each other, the woman lifting her arms. "Come on." He simply steps forward, confusing her as he holds out a gold necklace. She gasps sharply at it and he puts it on her. "Is...this for me?"

"Yes," He smiles softly at her. "And so m I."

"I'm...so happy," She blushes at him, hugging him.

"Ella, what just happened?" Chris asks in confusion.

"It's that simple. You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar," She recites.

"What does that mean?" Danny turns to her.

"You'll both understand when you get a little older. Now it's time for my match!" She steps out from her seat as she's going against Emerl. Sophia walks up to the boys, staring at Emerl.

"Emerl, I know you can win!" Cream encourages as she waves at him. The robot turns to her, looking at his hands. "Whatever happens, be extra gentle with Ella, okay?"

He doesn't seem to understand that. "What's wrong with Emerl?"

Ella turns to him. "He doesn't know how he can win if he's gentle."

"Oh that's terrible," Cream frowns slightly. "What should we do, Cheese?" She looks at her Chao and Ella smiles.

"Oh, I have an idea. I'll forfeit the match."

"But...are you sure?" Cream asks slowly.

"Sure I'm sure," Ella nods at her, "After all, I've got dinner to make."

Vanilla and Cream smile at her. "You're the best, Ella!"

It's Tails against Rouge now. "Not exactly what I call a challenge, but here goes," She jumps at Tails, who jumps away from her swiftly.

"Oh yeah?" He makes himself fly and he rolls near her, causing her to gasp. She forgot Tails can fly.

"This exciting grudge match is up and running! Or should I say flying?"

Rouge lands on the stone. "You're not bad, for an amateur."

Tails charges at her, but Rouge does not move. "Watch out, boy." She holds out her arms, confusing him as she leans in and kisses his cheek. She throws him over her shoulder, taking him out of the ring.

"Well it looks like Rouge the Bat sure gave Tails the kiss-off. That makes her the winner of this match."

Sophia giggles in amusement at them.

"Sorry to smooch and run, but I've gotta touch up my lipstick," Rouge grins at Tails, chuckling as she walks away.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're now down to the final battle of the second round. This next matchup promises to be a real crowd-pleaser. Let's see what happens."

Amy is standing there, hands clasped. "I never wanted this to happen. Just think." She looks at Sonic standing across from her, who opens his eyes. "Me against Sonic." He doesn't look like he wants to do it either.

The bell rings and they just stand there, not moving. Amy closes her eyes. _How can I do this? How can I fight someone I care for so much?_

"Sonic!" Her eyes shine as she opens them. Sonic sweats a little.

"This won't work. You gotta think of some way to get her mad at me, Chris." He'd rather let her win than to fight her.

"Don't look at me!" Chris exclaims from the crowd.

"And I can tell he doesn't wanna fight with me either," Amy smiles slightly. "Cuz he cares."

Sonic turns to the crowd. "Chris, Sophia, please. Help me out."

"When she's acting like this, nothing can get her mad," Chris says and Sophia sweats a little.

"Sonic, you know as well as I do that Amy wouldn't fight you," She shakes her head.

"Says you, you didn't even have to fight," Chris retorts back and she glares at him, hands on her hips. Well, he can make a girl mad, just not Amy.

Eggman is flying above the arena and he sees Sonic. "Huh? That's Sonic! I better check this out." He gets closer as Amy is walking to Sonic.

"Sonic, I understand."

"Understand what?" He asks in confusion as he backs away slightly. He looks up and sees Eggman heading straight for Amy, who doesn't hear him. Sophia gasps at seeing him, standing up sharply.

"Amy, get out of the way!"

"Say goodbye." He fires a laser at her and he gasps, running forward and grabbing her. He jumps away from the laser and she looks up at him in awe.

"Oh Sonic, you really do care about me."

"Missed!" Eggman flies away.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Sonic jumps out of the area, forfeiting the match. Amy looks up at him.

"Sonic..." She bashfully turns left and right. "Oh well. At least now I know how he feels about me."

"I don't think he said anything," Sophia whispers to Chris. Chris sweats a little.

"More trouble with Eggman."

"What a shocker, folks. Our friend Sonic has forfeited the match, and that means we're down to the final 9." It's Knuckles, Chris, Mr. Stewart, Lucky, Mr. Tanaka, Emerl, Rouge, Amy, and Sophia. "Who will be the winner? Tune in next time to find out!"


	46. A Wild Win

**For those of you who added my story as a favorite, you may be confused as to why I switched the category. That's because I didn't know where to find Sonic X when I first started, so I had to put it in the game section (some episodes are based off some of the games, anyway). I didn't think people would care since Sonic X isn't listed in the cartoon section or the game section.**

 **So imagine my slight annoyance when someone finally told me Tuesday it was in the anime section, something that didn't cross my mind. I forgot to check the anime section, and since no one mentioned it, I forgot to check it until now. You guys could've said something about it XD**

 **Then again, I was never planning on writing this at all, so I didn't know where to look. Still, after a year, would've been nice to know.**

Johanvanguard: It was funny that Sophia tried to give Amy some romantic advice, but had no knowledge of romance herself. It's interesting that the president and others convinced Sonic, Sophia, Knuckles, and Rouge to enter the tournament. Those were some great fights so far in the tournament. I wonder how the rest of the fights will play out and if Sophia will help stop Emerl.

 **Sophia: I'm not really the ideal person to ask for that kind of advice.**

 **Angel: That scene is still my favorite part of the show. And no, she doesn't help him unlike someone keeps predicting.**

Bajy: Great job here! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks, I almost forgot to update this one ^^' I just got a new phone and I have to go to T Mobile later.**

Guest: Woah I wonder who will win and I hope the competition gets good.

 **Angel: If you've seen the show, then you should already know. Hey, that rhymed XD**

Challishanlon99: I don't like you guys fighting each other please be careful and what I mean by a dragon I mean from a movie in the TV show called How to Train Your Dragon it's about this boy from Viking times who makes friends with a rare dragon and it's really really cool the dragon I'm thinking of that as fast as you Sonic is called a Speed Stinger it goes really really really fast it can run on water and it's called Speed Stinger cuz well if it stings you you become paralyzed but the thing about dragons is that they eat fish yuck anyway I just wanted to tell you and I hope that maybe one day you guys will watch the movies or the shows it's really cool I hope that you guys aren't mad at me for telling you this.

 **Sophia: But it's only friendly fighting for a mutual prize, something that could benefit us into going home. The only person who would fight someone else in anger is Knuckles...usually because of Eggman ^^' Anyway, we'll still be friends. The tournament is for fun, we wouldn't fight each other for another reason than for entertainment.**

 **Angel: Besides...sometimes they don't want to harm others. Here's the thing, though...I already know the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. I've obviously seen the trailers for the new one, and my cousin watched the TV show when it was still airing on Cartoon Network. So I don't think any of us need a reminder of what it is XD I don't hate the franchise, but I've moved on without it, so I'm not really a fan. But other fans can't deny that Sonic technically _knows_ a dragon. That I'm not making up. It may be in another universe, but it still counts.**

 **Sonic: A Speed Stinger, huh? Cool name.**

 **Angel: Shows? Is there another TV show from How to Train Your Dragon that I don't know about?**

Guest: I can't believe Amy ask Sophia some advice on getting a boyfriend since she does have friends like Sonic, Knuckles, and Chris but it's nothing like that they're friends and nothing more.

 **Angel: That won't stop the shippers...they're everywhere...**

Sapphire: I wonder what will happen in the next chapter I hope nothing goes wrong in the tournament.

 **Angel: Wonder no longer!**

 _Last time on Sophia X, as part of a plan to capture Dr. Eggman, the president created a combat contest with a gem of a prize, a Chaos Emerald! As the battling began, the commander in chief got clobbered by a knight. And the other competitors duked it out in a series of kooky clashes. The odds-on favorite was Sonic, till he found out he had to face off against Amy. But the uncomfortable confrontation was avoided when Eggman butted into the battle._

 _Now it's down to the final 9 fighters. Who will prevail and pick up the emerald? Find out next on Sophia X!_

"Keep away from me!" Knuckles calls out as his match has started, paired up with Sophia, making it two against one. He gasps in shock as their opponent stands in front of them.

"We don't want to fight!" Sophia protests to Chris, who jumps towards them. They jump over the boy and he turns back to the two, determined to defeat them. He had to win that Chaos Emerald!

"Please, Chris, we don't wanna fight you!" Knuckles tries to reason with him.

"We're your friends, you can't do this!" Sophia tells him.

"I don't understand, Tails," Scarlet voices as Tails is sitting next to her. "Why are they running away?"

"Knuckles and Sophia probably don't wanna fight because they're afraid Chris is gonna get hurt," Tails suggests, the crowd just watching them in confusion.

"Let's go, guys!" Chris eggs them on to try and make Knuckles angry.

"No!" They both shout.

"Why won't they fight?"

"Quit running away!" Chris yells at them.

"We won't! Cut it out!" Knuckles replies as they jump away from another punch.

"Come on and fight me!"

"We're not gonna fight you!" Sophia tells him sharply as they jump over him.

"Hey!" He charges again and they jump.

"That Chris Thorndyke certainly is brave."

"Why don't you just forfeit so I can win?" Chris grins at them.

"Chris, we could do this all day, but I don't think we should do that," Sophia cringes as Knuckles nods.

"Yeah, look who's in the next round!" Knuckles points to the left and he sees the roster.

"I'd have to fight Sophia, Amy or Rouge?! Ugh." _Rouge will do anything to win that Chaos Emerald, and if Amy gets mad enough, she'll knock me out of the stadium! And Sophia would beat me in five seconds since there's an odd number of players! There's no way to win._ He gulps at the thought of fighting either of them. He holds his stomach, kneeling. "My appendix! Get me a doctor!"

"Knuckles and Sophia move on!" The two smile at the crowd.

"I think you made a very wise move, Chris," Chuck comments as the two watch their friends.

"Yeah," Chris nods in agreement.

"I see you have your mom's acting talent," Nelson walks up to Chris, who laughs sheepishly.

"And now for Knuckles and Sophia to face off to determine who goes into the final 7!" Scarlet announces, their eyes widening. Sophia glances at Knuckles and then to the crowd before she steps up to the middle.

"I would like to forfeit the competition! I can't fight against my friend," She calls out, Scarlet nodding. Knuckles smirks at her.

"Alright then. Knuckles moves on, with Sophia giving up the tournament."

Sophia sighs in relief as she steps out of the arena to join the audience. She didn't want to fight against her friend, and she was glad to forfeit as Knuckles was the more stronger fighter.

* * *

It's Lucky against...Mr. Stewart. He climbs up the steps. Scarlet runs up to him. "Mr. Stewart, how would you rate your opponent?"

Mr. Stewart turns to her and she gasps as she recognizes him. "Franklin, what are you doing here?"

"I just look like me!" Mr. Stewart panics, running out of the arena. "My cover's been blown!"

"Ah..." Sophia sweats a little as she sees him leave. Elmer holds up a happy Lucky.

Now it's Emerl against Mr. Tanaka, who's dressed in a Japanese kimono. "Brace yourself, my little friend!" He warns as he holds a wooden staff. "I am going to stick it to you!" He jumps up into the air, allowing Emerl to scan him. He copies his skill, catching the staff just before it hit him. "Oh no."

Emerl grabs the staff from him, causing Mr. Tanaka to gasp in shock. Emerl jumps into the air.

"I think I got the wrong end of that stick!" Emerl lands above him, but doesn't hit him. "I give up!"

"Yay, Emerl!" Cream cheers for the robot. Sophia stares at the mechanical being, wondering how he managed to do what Mr. Tanaka was trying to do.

It's Rouge against Amy now, the hedgehog leaning against her hammer. The bell rings and she jumps into the air. "Let's go!"

"This oughta be interesting," Rouge leaps into the air and they both growl at each other, Amy slamming the hammer onto the ground. Rouge then kicks her, Chuck and Chris staring wide-eyed.

"I'd really be going to the hospital if I'd mess with one of them!" Chris comments as the two girls charge at each other. They crash into one another and Amy's hammer flies out of her hand, landing between the two Thorndykes. She pants heavily as she stares at Rouge, who turns to her.

"This just proves the hammer's no match for a bat."

Amy growls at how smug she's being, having lost. "We're down to the final four now. Emerl versus Lucky and Knuckles against Rouge," Scarlet announces as Rouge leaves the arena.

* * *

Decoe and Bocoe are still running away from the police. They have tanks chasing after the two robots. "I need a break!"

"Do not stop, they are gaining on us!" Eggman is flying above them as Sonic is chasing after them as well.

"You won't get away!" Sonic declares and Eggman flies further into the sky.

"If you want to keep up with me, you better take flying lessons!" He retorts back.

* * *

"The semi-finals begin with a showdown between robotic rivals," Scarlet announces as Lucky dances around, thinking that he'll just move on with no problem. He hasn't fought a single person this whole tournament, so there's no reason why the same thing shouldn't happen, right?

Emerl just stares at him as Lucky slowly shuts down. "Uh oh. It looks like Lucky's grandstanding has used up his power supply."

"Emerl is the winner!" Elmer declares.

"That means Emerl's in the final round! Yay!" Cream cheers for him.

And now for the second match, Rouge against Knuckles. They stare each other down as they hear the bell ring. Knuckles clenches a fist as he looks at the smug bat.

 _Knuckles is a heavy hitter, but when it comes to brain power, he's a real lightweight. I'll have to figure out some way to outsmart him. That's the only way of getting my hands on that gorgeous emerald. I've got it!_

"Hey, Knuckles," She crosses her arms. "Maybe you and I oughta settle this little thing in private."

His eyes narrow at that. "In private?"

She nods, winking at him. "Just you and me."

* * *

The crowd murmurs in confusion as there's now a black tarp over the arena, rendering them unable to see the fight.

"I can't see a thing in here. Rouge, how am I supposed to fight?" Knuckles demands.

"Like this!" She kicks him repeatedly, chuckling. As she is a bat, she has an advantage.

"We don't have any way of knowing who's winning the match right now, but it sounds like Knuckles and Rouge are in a slugfest," Scarlet turns to Tails. "Who do you think is winning, Tails?"

"Bats have sonar ability to sense things in the fark, so I'm pretty sure that Rouge has the edge here," He states and they can hear Knuckles getting his butt kicked.

"Sweet dreams, Knuckles!" She shouts and then there's nothing for a bit. The crowd is confused until Rouge gets out of the trap, having some bruises. "Things get intense, but I'm still standing!"

"Rouge the Bat is on her way to the finals," Scarlet announces as Rouge walks away until she grunts, haven fallen to the ground, meaning she actually lost.

"Ah, hey, wait!" Tails exclaims and the tarp lifts to reveal Knuckles. He has no scrapes whatsoever.

"I guess I stood up to her," He grins to himself.

"Knuckles is moving on to the final round!"

The crowd cheers for him.

* * *

Eggman is still flying away from Sonic in the desert. "Go away! You're like a wad of bubble gum I've sat on and no matter how hard I try to shake you off, you stick to my tail!"

"I'm not gonna let you get away!" Sonic declares, running underneath the Egg Mobile. "I don't know what new plan is brewing in that messed up mind of yours, but I won't rest till I stop ya!"

"Oh yeah?" Eggman looks over to him. "Well my latest and greatest scheme is so brilliantly planned in every detail that not even a loose cannon like you can blast it apart!"

"Sure, that's what you always say, doc," Sonic teases and Eggman glares at him.

"You think you're funny, don't you? Well this time I'm gonna crack you up! Once and for all!" And with that, he spins his Egg Mobile around to try and hit the hedgehog.

"Okay Eggman, it's game time!" Sonic jumps into the air, both of them charging at each other. There's an explosion which sends Eggman flying, Sonic landing and crossing his arms. "Well, looks like I hit a grand slam." He watches Eggman become a speck of dust in the sky.

* * *

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the final match!" Elmer announces, "The winner will take home a Chaos Emerald! In this corner, we have the world's toughest fist fighter, Knuckles! And in this corner, we have the master of computerized combat, Emerl!"

"Go show everybody you're number one, Emerl!" Cream cheers for him.

"With fighters this closely matched, I'd say we're in for the most grueling doubt of the tournament," Scarlet comments as Knuckles and Emerl charge at each other. He goes in for a punch, but Emerl jumps out of the way. He tries again, only to get the same result. He then tries kicking, but Emerl is dodging all of his attacks like it's nothing. Emerl spins around like a tornado, landing in the arena. Knuckles lands behind the robot, grabbing him from behind.

"Come on, Emerl," Cream pleads and Emerl spin dashes, taking Knuckles with him. He shouts in surprise.

"Hey, knock it off!"

"Emerl copied that from Sonic and Sophia!" Chris recognizes the move, Sophia gasping. Emerl flies into the air, Knuckles screaming for dear life until the two land in the arena, Knuckles' head face down. Sophia gasps in shock, covering her mouth. Never has she done anything like that with her spin dash, nor shoes she want to. It looked really painful. Emerl spins towards Knuckles, landing on his head. He tackles the echidna and hits him.

"Knuckles is totally outmatched, Grandpa!" Chris says to Chuck.

"Looks like Knucklehead won't be winning the Chaos Emerald either," Rouge comments, Sophia standing up.

"Rouge!"

"What?" She asks innocently, turning to Sophia in the crowd. Sophia sighs, facepalming.

"Poor Knuckles is hurt. He could really use a hanky," Cream takes out a handkerchief from her dress, throwing it to the arena. "Here!"

"That's it. Knuckles gives up!" Elmer steps up to Emerl as the match has determined the robot as the winner. "Our winner is Emerl!"

Knuckles growls at his loss, slamming down his fist.

"No, he thought my hanky was a white flag!" Cream runs up. "Please, wait, sir, there's been a mistake! I was trying to help Knuckles! He didn't quit the match, honest!"

"But I did quit," Knuckles looks at her and she's confused as the hanky lands on Cheese's head. She gasps in surprise.

"I feel a lot better now that I know you didn't lose the match because of me!"

Knuckles steps up to the robot, grinning. He holds out his hand for Emerl to shake. "Not bad, Emerl. We'll have to have another match when I'm not feeling so beat."

"I deserve some credit since I'm the one who wore Knuckles out," Rouge smirks at the scene. Emerl shakes hands with Knuckles, the crowd cheering.

They cheer louder as Emerl is preparing to have his prize. "Now it's time to present the grand prize to our champion," Scarlet turns to the robot who's standing at the steps.

"That's you, Emerl! Go up and get your Chaos Emerald! Then everybody will cheer for you and you can take a bow!" Cream says happily.

"Let's hear it for Emerl," Scarlet announces and the robot steps onto the platform. He walks up to Scarlet, the president, and Christina. The president smiles, bending down to him as he holds out his hand.

"Congratulations, Emerl. That was great."

The robot beeps as he grabs the man's hand. "Bring the award." Christina nods at him and grabs the red Chaos Emerald.

"The Chaos Emerald that the president is presenting to our winner is the most valuable bribe ever awarded in the sporting competition."

"Emerl, as we build a fighting force to combat, Dr. Eggman, your victory is an inspiration to all our fighting robots." He holds out the emerald to the robot, who takes it in his hands. The crowd erupts happily as he stares at it.

"I could've snatched that Chaos Emerald if it wasn't for you two leadheads!" Eggman is scolding Bocoe and Decoe.

"Why is it our fault?" Bocoe complains, holding his head.

"Why do we always end up losing the blame game?"

"Speaking of games," Eggman is watching the footage of the tournament right now, screaming as he sees Emerl holding the emerald.

"On behalf of the whole nation, I congratulate Emerl," The president gestures to the robot as there's a spotlight on him. The power of the emerald starts to do something to him as he starts sparking. The Chaos Emerald shines bright as he holds it, his eyes turning red. The emerald disappears into his hands and he jumps into the air, everyone gasping. He spin dashes right into the stadium seats, the people screaming as they run away. Sophia helps out a little girl by grabbing her and jumping away from Emerl. He starts destroying the place and attacking the people.

"Emerl! Is there something that made you angry? Why are you attacking everybody?" Cream asks in concern and Emerl steps up.

Rouge, Knuckles, Sophia, and Sonic rush towards the robot. He copies their skills, hitting Sonic first. He spin dashes towards Rouge, hitting her too. He then does a screw kick to Knuckles and throws some Chaos spears at Sophia. The people from the crowd scream at the destruction.

"Stop, before it's too late!" Cream pleads, but he doesn't listen as he's headed straight for Vanilla!

"I'll save ya!" Sonic grabs her and jumps out of the way just in time.

"Emerl, that's it. I can't be your friend," Cream declares since he tried to hurt her mother.

"I'll knock Emerl out so we can open up his control panel and check out why he's malfunctioning!" Amy runs up to the robot with her hammer in hand, jumping into the air. Of course, Emerl copies her skill and grabs a pipe, blocking her hammer. She swings it, but he deflects all of her moves. He eventually hits her with the pipe. "Sonic! Come help me!" She pleads as Emerl is jumping above her, ready to strike. Sonic lands in front of the pink hedgehog and punches the pipe in half.

"Emerl, this isn't a game. You've gotta stop right now or somebody is going to get hurt!" Cream calls out, her voice making Emerl turn to her. He jumps and prepares to attack her with a spinning drill from his left hand.

"Cream, look out!" Sonic shouts and Sophia grabs the rabbit, jumping out of the way.

"Are you okay, Cream?" She asks and she nods.

"I am," She states and Emerl jumps into the air.

* * *

Later, he's gone into the city, attacking everyone and everything. Chris, Cream, Chuck, and Cheese look over at the damage to the streets.

"Why is he acting this way?" Cream wonders.

"My guess is that the Chaos Emerald suddenly caused Emerl's memory unit to reprogram itself, but I don't have any idea how or why it happened," Chuck suggests, Chris turning to him.

"Can't we just fix Emerl and change him back to the way he was before?"

Chuck closes his eyes. "That would be very tough." He has no idea who created Emerl or why he was even created. To attempt to fix him back would take a miracle.

Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe are sitting in the Egg Mobile, flying above all the damages. "Wow, it looks like Emerl was a big hit in this neighborhood," Decoe remarks.

"He is a real blockbuster!" Bocoe teases.

"Emerl was designed to destroy. He was built a long time ago as a combat robot, and when he got that Chaos Emerald, its tremendous energy activated his original programming, then changed him from a nice docile robot into a mean machine." Eggman grins at this robot is doing what he's wanted to do ever since he arrived here.

Sonic and Sophia are looking at the damages to the city, waiting. Emerl shows up, running right towards them. He comes to a stop as he sees them, Sonic scratching his nose. Sophia puts a hand to her sword, gripping the hilt. Knuckles suddenly comes in.

"I'm ready to fight you again. Only this time I'm adding a little twist!" Knuckles spins into a tornado, Emerl quickly coping his skill. Sophia notices something from his eyes as Emerl does the same move as Knuckles. The echidna spins into the air again.

"Emerl's copying ability gives him a huge advantage," Chuck points out as Emerl performs the same move. "Knuckles' fighting skills don't matter. Emerl can match him blow for blow. When Knuckles attacks with all his might, he gets attacked with the same force. It's almost like he's fighting against himself."

"He can't win," Sonic whispers in realization.

"And if he can't win...what does that mean for us?" Sophia looks at Sonic and he doesn't answer. Rouge lands next to her.

"Give it up and give us a shot, Knuckles," Rouge calls out.

"I still have a chance!" Knuckles retorts, but Emerl is punching him.

"Yeah, a chance of winding up in the hospital," Sonic says back in retaliation.

"Let us handle this," Rouge tells him.

"I am NOT a quitter!"

"Knuckles, would you rather be beaten or alive?" Sophia asks him and he doesn't respond to that.

"I'll stop that robot!" Amy declares, glaring at Rouge. Emerl uses a spin dash to move past Amy.

"Amy!" Sonic holds her bridal style as he moves her out of the way.

"You saved me again, Sonic!" She says happily and he puts her down, going back to deal with Emerl. "Not that I needed saving!"

Sophia sweats a little, a hand on her forehead. Chuck, Chris, Cheese, Vanilla, Cream, and the king and queen watch in worry, as they know the extent of Emerl's power. Cream hugs her mother, upset at what the robot's done.

Emerl does Rouge's screw kick, pushing past Rouge and Knuckles. Sonic grits his teeth. _That robot must have some weakness._

"I'll take Emerl apart!" Tails calls out as he runs from the left.

"Let me have a crack at him first, Tails!" Amy shouts as she approaches from the right. Emerl jumps into the air, causing the two friends to crash into each other.

"Sorry."

"That's okay..."

Rouge does her screw kick, but Emerl also copies the same move, ultimately kicking Rouge away. Knuckles punches at him and so does Sonic. Sophia jumps into the air, firing her laser eyes at Emerl, but he copies this skill and uses laser eyes of his own to hit her in the stomach, knocking her down near Sonic.

"Well? Now what?" Sonic asks as he and the other three are exhausted. Sophia pants as she sits up. Her eyes widen as she realizes that if Emerl copies her endurability skill, they'll never be able to defeat him, so she has to sit for a little bit.

"Maybe if all four of us fight him at once..." Knuckles murmurs in thought.

"It's our only chance," Rouge finishes in realization. Emerl runs off and they chase after him.

"I'll cut him off!" Sonic tells the others.

"Then we strike!" Rouge says.

"Right," Knuckles agrees.

"We have to stop him no matter what," Sophia informs and Cream stares after them.

"I'm scared, Mama," Cream whimpers, Cheese agreeing with her.

"I hope they know what they're doing, Chuck," Tails states in worry, "I don't trust that Emerl."

"That robot's extremely clever," Chuck eyes Emerl.

"Where do you think Emerl's running to, Grandpa?" Chris turns to him. "Hey, I bet I know! He's leading Sonic straight to the sea!"

They run across the desert, the four hot on his tails. He spin dashes, knocking the four off. Rouge pants, holding her chest.

"Sorry guys, I can't keep up with ya."

Sonic turns around and gasps in shock as he sees the water up ahead. Chuck, Cream, Cheese, Tails, and Chuck manage to find them.

"I bet Emerl let 'em to the sea because he knows Sonic doesn't like water."

Cream looks really worried about what Emerl might do to her friends. Sonic is about to fall in the water as he had jumped at Emerl.

"Sonic, be careful!" Chris calls out.

"Let's go, Cheese," Cream uses her ears to make them fly, catching Sonic right before he fell into the water. Knuckles and Sophia turn around in surprise.

"Thanks Cream," Sonic tells her.

"I know how much you hate to get wet," She grins at him. Sophia and Knuckles charge towards the robot, but he uses Screw Kick on Knuckles, knocking him towards the water. "Knuckles!"

Sonic grabs his arm just in time and Sophia is knocked off by a punch from Emerl. Luckily her wings open and she takes hold of her friends. Cream turns to Emerl as he was about to charge at them.

"Emerl!" He stops in his tracks at her voice. "You just wrecked the city, and you attacked my mother and my friends. I wanna help you, Emerl, but only if you promise not to hurt anybody else. Do you?"

His eyes turn back to his regular blue and she smiles. However, the Chaos Emerl is still within him, causing the robot to revert back to his unstable state.

"NO!" Sonic runs towards the robot as he plans to hit Cream. She screams, but nothing happens as Sonic had stepped in front of her, taking the hit for her. "That was a real close one. Oh, he's almost as tough as me," He groans and drops to the ground, Sophia covering her mouth in shock.

Cream looks in horror at Emerl, slowly registering what Sonic did. If Emerl hadn't tried to hurt her, Sonic wouldn't have gotten hurt...

Cheese shouts in rage, hitting Emerl in the face twice. Knuckles gasps in shock, not knowing Cheese was even capable of that. Emerl tries to scan Cheese, but he can't as Cream jumps in front of him and kicks him away. Sophia's eyes go really wide in shock.

"Whoa," Chris is equally shocked. "They're tough."

"But how could they hurt Emerl?" Knuckles asks Rouge and Sophia.

"They're just a couple of squirts, but they've got that robot swamped," Rouge says and Sophia looks at Emerl.

"I think I understand..." The two turn to her. "Emerl can only copy someone's skill one at a time...and with two people attacking them, he can't copy their skill long enough to defeat them."

Cream flies towards Emerl and he looks to see her with a determined look towards him. He tries to scan either one of them, but Cheese flies in front of Cream, allowing her to kick him into the air. Amy is genuinely surprised as she didn't know Cream was capable of being a fighter. Usually, she would let someone else do it since she's so young.

"I get it," Chuck says to Sophia. "You're right. If you work together, he'll be overwhelmed."

"That might work," Knuckles grins, turning to the girls. "What do you say?"

"I'll try anything to knock off that knock-off," Rouge places her hands on her hips.

"No," Sonic speaks up, Rouge and Knuckles turning to him in confusion.

"Why not? Rouge, Sophia, and I can take him easy if we attack him together!"

"Yeah, I know," Sonic opens an eye. "But I think we should let Cream and Cheese handle this."

"They are strong enough," Sophia hums in thought. "And...it's personal."

"Now, let's go!" Cream declares, Cheese holding onto her dress. She soars towards the robot as he's still flying from her hit. _Emerl, I wish I didn't have to do this._

 _Cream peeked to see Emerl sitting behind the bushes. Her eyes widened at him._

" _Hello there!" She waved across to Chris and his friends._

 _Cream, Cheese, Chris, and Emerl ran towards Mr. Stewart's car._

 _He scratched his head as he walked next to Helen._

 _He, Cream, and Cheese sat together, the two laughing._

Closing her eyes so she didn't have to see him, Cream kicks Emerl down, where he crashes into the water below. The last thing he saw from Cream was a tear from her eye. Seeing her like that causes him to regain his memory and go back to normal, a tear coming from his right eye as he sinks down below.

Cream hugs the crying Cheese as she flies above the water, trying to stay calm for her friend. "Don't cry, Cheese. We had to do it." She closes her eyes and suddenly there's an explosion from the water, causing her to gasp as she knew what that meant. "Goodbye Emerl."

The others watch Cream as the water falls around her, with a rainbow in the sky...


	47. Map of Mayhem

GreenD109: It's a tragedy for Cream and Cheese to face off and defeat Emerl who they saw as a friend only for him to turn evil due to that red Chaos Emerald. It must've been hard for them to do what needed to be done, but I know that they didn't have any other choice. But, even with Emerl destroyed, they still have Sophia, sonic, and the others.

 **Angel: That's true...we never did find out where he came from in this adaptation of him.**

Crazycartoons5488: Poor Cream she is going to miss that robot.

 **Sophia: She...still believes that we can find him.**

Bajy: Poor Cream and Cheese...I just wanna hug them! *hug* *Sniffle* Looking forward to reading more soon! The battles were intense!

 **Cream: Thank you, Ms. Bajy...**

Johanvanguard: It's nice that Sophia refused to fight Knuckles because of their friendship. It's great that Emerl won the contest, but the Chaos Emerald reverted him back to his original programming, making him cause destruction. Emerl really put a fight against Sonic, Knuckles, Sophia, and Rouge. Cream and Cheese, wanting to help their friends, really showed everyone that they know how to fight by defeating Emerl. Though Emerl was stopped, it was a bit sad that Cream and Cheese had to lose a friend.

 **Angel: I wonder what happened with that Chaos Emerald...never saw them get that back. Rouge, Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles have been doing a lot of team-ups lately.**

Guest: Question, if you had to choose an ideal voice actress and seiyuu for Sophia in this fanfic, who would you go with and why?

 **Angel: If Starfire, the actual creator, wasn't able to choose for some reason...I don't know. Maybe Tara Strong since I'm so familiar with her. If she would even be available XD I don't really think about it since Sophia's not my OC. And seiyuu? The heck is that?**

Challishanlon99: Well one TV show of How to Train Your Dragon is called race to the edge and the other one is called the Defenders of Berk there are tons of different types of dragons everybody I think it would be pretty cool if all of you were friends with dragons I mean some breathe fire, ice, water, and there are a lot of different types of dragons anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more.

 **Angel: I would've updated earlier today if I wasn't checking to see for an episode for a different fanfic that I have yet to find -_- Even though it came out on Saturday!**

Far out at sea, a voice can be heard by a female voice through the fog. "Headquarters, this is the Seahawk. We've run into heavy fog. Visibility near zero. Come in, headquarters, do you read me?"

"You're breaking up, Seahawk. Please repeat." They can't hear Topaz because the radio is jamming.

"I don't know where all this interference is coming from, sir, unless there's somebody out there jamming our signals."

"What's that?" One of them notices something.

"Spot something?"

"We're picking up a large object heading straight for us, sir," Topaz reports to the captain.

"What is it, a ship?"

"I don't think so." He turns to the captain of the ship, who sees something glowing that's heading right towards them.

"Sound the alarm." It goes off not even a second later.

"Headquarters, this is the Seahawk calling, over," Topaz calls out.

"Go ahead, Seahawk."

The Seahawk stops in front of a glowing vortex that grows bigger. "We've encountered an unknown vessel and we're under attack." There's a bright blue glow and she looks up.

"Seahawk, what's going on? Over."

"Turn us around, before it's too late! Hurry!" Topaz shouts and the person on the line tries to talk to her again.

"Seahawk, what in blazes is happening out there?" They then hear screaming from most of the people.

"Mayday! Mayday!" Then the feed is cut off.

"Seahawk, do you read me? Seahawk, come in! Seahawk!"

The only thing left from the ship is a lifesaver with the ship's name on it. "SEAHAWK!"

The glowing vortexes disappear from sight.

* * *

Scarlet Garcia is reporting at the matter. "Naval authorities report that the research vessel Seahawk is missing at sea. Rescue teams are combing the area for its last known position. So far, there are no signs of the vessel. These pictures were taken two days ago when it left on its mission. Details about mission are being kept secret, but sources tell SSTV that everything seemed to be going well until early this morning when the crew radioed to report heavy fog."

Tails and Cream are playing Jenga while Sophia, Sonic, Chris, and Chuck are watching the news. "See, that's why i can't stand water," Sonic comments, Cream turning to him.

"You'd like it if it's in a glass. That's a start," Cream points out and he sweats a little, shrugging. Sophia giggles at his expression.

"Maybe the ship hit something after it went into the fog," Chris suggests to his grandfather.

"A ship like that has instruments that let it navigate through fog safely..." Chuck murmurs in thought. "There may be something else going on here."

"What do you mean, Grandpa?" Chris asks in confusion, Chuck turning to him.

"What if the Seahawk's disappearance wasn't an accident? Other vessels have encountered strange phenomenon in that area," Chuck rubs his chin as he has his doubts. "Perhaps we should take the yacht and have a look."

"Does that mean you're going out in the ocean?" Cream asks in concern.

"Yes, that's possible," He closes his eyes and her eyes get teary. They instantly know why she looks like this.

"You're thinking that Emerl's down there somewhere," Chris says slowly.

"Hey Cream, I'm gonna go outside and pick a whole bunch of flowers. Wanna join me?" Sonic winks at her.

"Sure, we can give them to my mom and Ella," She smiles at him and Sophia looks relieved. They couldn't tell her that Emerl would be impossible to find. That would break her heart, and it was already hard enough that she had to defeat him a few days ago. "Sophia, are you going to join us?"

"No," Sophia stands up, "The president wants to see me."

"What for?" Chris wonders and she shrugs, walking out the door.

"I'll be back soon."

* * *

The screams of the crew are played to the president. It stops at Topaz's scream and Sophia rubs her chin as she tries to figure out what happened. "Our rescue team searched the entire area, but haven't found a single sign of the Seahawk or its crew. How could a ship of that size disappear without leaving a trace?"

"Well what if somebody made the ship disappear?" Rouge asks and Sophia points to her.

"Right. They could've been snatched away."

"If a thief was planning to steal a ship, he'd make sure not to leave any evidence behind that could clue in the cops," Rouge turns to the adviser and Christina. "Maybe we have a robbery on our hands."

"I hope you're wrong, Rouge. That ship is packed with top-secret communications equipment that could easily tap into data from all of our military satellites," The adviser speaks up.

"What's your point?" The president asks.

"Mr. President, if some maniac were to capture that ship, he'd have access to all the data in our defense network and he could easily bring the entire country to its knees."

"I think we both know who'd be crazy enough to do that," Rouge looks at Sophia.

"A maniac like Dr. Eggman," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"Eggman!" The president whispers in horror. "I hate to say it, but you may be right, girls. This is just the kind of insane plot he'd come up with."

* * *

Eggman laughs as he types away at his computer. "Computers make evil so easy!" he laughs evilly.

"You have been hunched over that keyboard for hours, Doctor," Decoe points out, "It is bad for your posture."

"At least try to sit up straight when you type," Bocoe calls out, "Otherwise you may hurt yourself."

"I already have a big pain in the neck—you!" He slams down a key and Knuckles comes up on an article. "Knuckles discovers world's oldest map. Renowned archaeologist Dr. Cadbury studying the ancient document at Pucca Pidda Palace. Hmm, let's drop by."

* * *

At the palace, someone walks into a room, turning on the lights. The man steps forward and presses on the door frame, the door sliding open. He walks forward and pulls open a drawer to reveal a map sitting inside.

"This map proves my theory. I can announce that the world's oldest mystery has finally been solved."

Suddenly, two coffins open up from behind him, revealing two mummies.

"Are you ready?" Decoe whispers to Bocoe.

"For the first time, I feel totally wrapped up in my work," They walk towards the man and he turns around, confused.

"What the...?"

"Silence!" Bocoe orders him as they approach.

"Grave robber, give us our map!" Decoe says and he sweats a little as he stares at them. The two robots escape with the map.

"Mission accomplished!"

"We hit the money load this time! Now we must book back to the base," They slip out of their bandages, running off back to Dr. Eggman.

The alarm sounds off at the palace as the man drops to the ground, not sure of what just happened.

* * *

"Nice work," Dr. Eggman says to his robot minions as they're standing in front of him. "You deserve raises...if I start paying you." He laughs as he opens up the map. "Now let's check this out," He puts the map into his system to examine the old paper.

"Oh?" Decoe asks as he sees nothing out of the ordinary.

"Where is that?"

"It's this world as it looked ages ago," Eggman explains as he looks at it, "And the computer can take us even further back in the past." The countries shift around on the computer.

"Wow! That is cool."

"Can you visit chat rooms?"

"Can it, you clods. Now where could it be?" He examines the map until he finds what he's looking for. "Aha. There. Heh. Now I have exactly the information I've been looking for. The geographic location of Murasia!"

"What is Murasia?" Bocoe asks in confusion.

"I don't know, but it sounds contagious," Decoe comments.

"My dream of building an Eggman empire is alive and well. Thanks to the map, the people of this planet will finally be forced to acknowledge that I rule," Eggman laughs evilly at his plan.

* * *

A car is driving down the street until it arrives at the Thorndyke Mansion. The vehicle stops at the entrance and Ella opens the door when the bell rings. The man who found the map and Knuckles are standing there.

"Oh, hello Knuckles," She greets with a smile.

"Very nice to see you, Ella," He says and she eyes his friend.

"Have we met before?"

"No, madam, but I'm delighted to make your acquaintance now."

"Dr. Cadbury." They turn around to see Mr. Tanaka standing there as he's holding a rake.

"Tanaka," Dr. Cadbury says in recognition. "You were in my archeology class years ago."

"Your perfect memory has not failed you," He smiles softly, "That class changed my entire life, doctor." He starts crying at the memories.

"You mean that's what inspired you to become a butler?" Dr. Cadbury asks in confusion.

"Yes, you taught that household servants played a vital role throughout history!" He swings the rake up and down, Dr. Cadbury smiling in amusement.

"You always were unique."

"Mr. Tanaka has a lot of surprising qualities," They turn behind Mr. Tanaka to see Sophia smiling at them. "Hi everyone."

* * *

"I was at the palace doing some research when those two thugs attacked me and ran away with the map," Dr. Cadbury is explaining what happened to Mr. Tanaka, Chuck, Sophia, Sonic, Chris, and Knuckles.

"It's not a total loss, though. At least we have a digital copy," Knuckles states as Chuck brings up the file.

"Interesting. Why were you studying it?" Chuck asks the doctor.

"Are you familiar with the legend of Murasia?"

"Is it a place?" Sonic wonders and Dr. Cadbury nods.

"Murasia is a continent that sank into the sea. It was the home of a spectacular civilization that flourished and died long ago. According to the legends, the Murasians possessed the highly advanced culture and accomplished spectacular feats of Engineering. However, in spite of all its amazing achievement, the magnificent Murasian civilization was wiped out in an instant."

"If the legends are even partly true, then the ruins of that civilization could hold priceless secrets," Knuckles points out.

"First the Seahawk is lost and then this map is stolen. I have a feeling there's some kind of connection but I'm not sure what it could be," Chuck thinks to himself.

"Yes, that does seem likely the two are connected," Sophia rubs her chin. What that could be, she had no clue.

"The Seahawk was searching for Murasia. It was using this map as a guide. You see, the map reveals the continents of our world, as they were in the distant past. Here, I'll show you. Now, when we adjust the data," Dr. Cadbury types away. "It reveals how our world appears prior to the volcanic eruption that destroyed Murasia." The continents move to reveal the past civilization. "You see there? One piece is missing, just like in a jigsaw puzzle. It's the final clue we need to find the lost continent."

"I see it now. That is where Murasia was located," Mr. Tanaka looks at a body of water between two continents.

"Exactly. Further analysis reveals that a piece of the continent survived the disaster. A tiny island which exists to this day. And that's exactly where the Seahawk disappeared." A piece from a continent moves all the way to where Murasia was, which is also the same spot where the ship had disappeared.

* * *

A band is playing music as a yacht sits on the water. Cream and Vanilla hold streamers as they've arranged for a boat to take them to the island. The X Tornado is also on the ship, as a precaution. Sophia's parents are also there, smiling next to Vanilla.

"Have a safe voyage!"

"Good luck, everyone!" Elliot smiles at them.

"And please, be safe," Valentina waves, Rose on her shoulder. She waves up to her owner and Sophia smiles at her family.

"Bye guys!" Chris calls out.

"We'll take lots of pictures for ya!" Amy tells them.

"Bye sweetie!" Ella waves at Cream.

"Bye! Take care!"

The ship takes off and they head for the island. Along the way, they see the beautiful waters and sunset.

* * *

Knuckles, Sophia, Sonic, Chris, Chuck, and Mr. Tanaka look at the map with the captain. "Getting there won't be easy," Chuck states, Dr. Cadbury pointing to the left island.

"That island is really just the top of a huge volcano. There's a whole chain of volcanoes underwater here, making this one of the most unstable regions in the whole world."

"This whole story seems wacky to me," Sonic states his opinion.

"The doctor knows what he's talking about," Knuckles looks up at Sonic. "You're just getting nervous because you're surrounded by H20."

"Water doesn't scare me anymore," Sonic denies, looking at the map. "I just don't like getting wet."

* * *

The next morning, they reach one of the volcanoes. "Well, there it is, guys," Amy says to her friends.

"Let's go ashore now so we can get off this tub!"

"You're not in charge here, Sonic," Knuckles tells him.

Something seems to be coming towards them and the six gasp as they look at the water. The adults come in from behind, gasping as well. Dr. Cadbury's eyes widen.

"Look there!"

Something rippling in the water is in front of them and they all gasp before something rises out of the water, splashing them all. The plane falls down and Tails turns around, having heard it. "The X Tornado!"

An engine can be seen from the water...that has Eggman's logo on it. It looks to be a pirate ship, which is way bigger than their own boat.

"That ship belongs to Eggman!" Amy clenches her fists as she can see the logo. Bokkun laughs as he flies over, TV in hand. He lands on the edge.

"Captain Eggman has an important message for ya!"

Eggman's nose is shown as he puffs out air. "Surrender to me now. My new Egg Battleship has enough firepower to take on the Navy, the Air Force, and Sonic and Sophia too!"

"You stole that map from Dr. Cadbury!" Sonic accuses him.

"You think so? Now why would I do a thing like that?"

"Just because you're so despicable," Amy comments with a smug look, Sophia laughing at that.

"That's exactly right."

"That map led me here to the world's hotspot."

"I don't follow you," Chuck deadpans at him.

"I do," Dr. Cadbury speaks up. "The hotspot is supposedly the weakest part of the planet's crust. If a volcano inside the hotspot erupts, all the other volcanoes in the world erupt too, but no respectable geologists believe such a bizarre theory."

"Well excuse me, Doctor 'I know everything'!" Eggman brags, clasping his hands and mocking the doctor. "But whether you realize it or not, you're floating above a hotspot right now!"

"Now I see what you're getting at," Dr. Cadbury narrows his eyes, "The legends are vague, but it's possible that the Maursians somehow caused the deadly volcanic eruptions."

"Did any Maursian survive?" Chuck asks curiously.

"It's likely that the Maursians were all wiped out. There's no trace of them in the archaeological record after the volcano erupted."

"I don't have time to listen to you academic airheads discuss a bunch of scholarly mumbo jumbo, thank you!" Dr. Eggman retorts, "The Maursians cracked opened that hotspot and faked a continent! Now I'm going to blast it open and cause a worldwide catastrophe. And on the ruins that remain, I'll build the Eggman Empire!" His message cuts off.

"But that'll wipe out everyone!" Sophia gasps in horror.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic yells as he jumps into the air, spindashing towards the ship.

"Please." The metal sail opens up, knocking Sonic into the water.

"Sonic!" Chris jumps into the water to everyone's shock.

"Mr. Chris!" Mr. Tanaka shouts and Sophia jumps after him, her legs turning into her tail. Chris starts swimming to where Sonic fell, Sophia trying as best as she can to swim faster. The boy pants before he grabs a passing by Sonic in relief.

"Don't worry, I'll save you!" Mr. Tanaka shouts as he's holding a lifesaver. Sophia holds up her hand.

"Mr. Tanaka, relax! I've got them," She calls out but he throws it anyway and it hits Chris in the head.

"Thanks Tanaka!" Sonic retorts at him and something hits the water near them.

"Fire! Fire!" Eggman insists and more missiles are fired at them. Some of them are fired near the yacht and during the chaos, Sonic loses his grip on the lifesaver. Sophia grabs a hold of them.

"It's okay, Sonic! Sophia's got us!" Chris tells them and they get washed over by a wave. The missiles continue firing.

"They're in danger!" Amy urges Tails as he tries to fix the plane. "Can't you fix this thing faster?"

"I'm trying, Amy," He tells her as he has Chuck's help. "We need a little more time!" A burst of water knocks Amy down on the plane from another missile.

"It's hard to swim, the waves are really brought!" Chris calls out.

"We have to try!" Sonic says and Sophia tries to move her tail. Four missiles are deployed and Sophia sighs in defeat.

"It's no use. I can't swim with these kind of waters," She says in defeat. Eggman grins as he does something on his computer.

"Sir, we spotted something on the sonar." Chuck grabs the phone to talk to the crew member.

"Can't this wait? I'm a little busy right now!"

"But sir, there's another ship coming this way. It's surfacing now." To their confusion, they all look to see what ship he's referring to.

"Who could that be...?" Dr. Cadbury murmurs as they look at the water. A few seconds later, something emerges from the water: a large ship that can float into the air. It looks like a giant rocket, which fires straight at Eggman's ship. However, the ship seems to be very familiar, model-wise.

"We caught him by surprise," The pilot grins. "Dr. Eggman has his defenses down. Now we can blast him out of the water!"

Rouge is there with them, arms crossed.

"Alright!" Tails cheers at the help.

"It's a government ship!" Chuck exclaims and Eggman growls at the interference.

"Those blasted copycats salvaged my own ship from the ocean floor and now they're using it to attack me!"

"They certainly are clever," Bocoe comments.

"It just goes to show the importance of recycling," Decoe turns to him.

"Surrender now and Manner will destroy your ship! Prepare to fire on my order!"

"Aye aye!"

"I want in on the action too," Rouge speaks up.

"You're only aboard this ship as an observer, Rouge. Lock on target."

"You wanna play chicken? I'll be happy to clip your wings!" Eggman threatens and presses a button, the two robots gasping in shock. A red metal sail appears and the ship lifts up into the air, revealing that the Egg Battleship can fly too. It turns around, revealing a laser gun in the front. Amy, Tails, and Chuck gasp in shock.

Sophia, who had finally managed to get Chris and Sonic to the ladder of the yacht, gasps sharply. Sonic and Chris' mouths drop open.

"This will crush their party." He fires multiple projectiles at the government ship.

"Let's get him, guys! Fire!" They fire back, hitting his ship.

"I am so happy to see you!" Mr. Tanaka has tears running down his cheeks, Sonic and Ella looking a little embarrassed.

"Don't cry, we've got enough water!" Sonic reminds him and the government continues to attack the Egg Battleship.

"Do something!"

"You have to put up a fight, doctor!"

Eggman punches Decoe. "How's that for starters, big mouth?!"

The government pierces right through the masts of the ship. "Dr. Eggman should've surrendered when he had the chance."

The X Tornado is finally fixed, allowing Tails and Chris to get in. Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles are standing on top of the plane, ready to help out. "Everything's set for takeoff!"

Amy and Chuck watch as the plane lifts up into the air, flying towards the two ships. "Transform, X Tornado!" The ship goes from X Cyclone to flying mode.

"We're trapped!" Decoe exclaims with wide eyes, Eggman growling at his disadvantages here.

"There's still one way out!"

The Eggman logo fires a hologram of the passengers from the Seahawk, including Topaz.

"It's Topaz!" Rouge says in shock. "She's still alive."

Eggman laughs evilly at his leverage. "Stay away. If you destroy my ship, your comrades will go down with me!" He laughs again, Sonic, Knuckles, and Sophia gritting their teeth.

"Eggman, let them go!" Knuckles shouts angrily that he's using them as a way to get out of this.

"Fat chance. I'm holding them hostage, just to make sure I get what I came for." He laughs again and Sophia clenches her fist so hard it turns white. There's suddenly an explosion from the Egg Battleship, which was caused by the government ship.

"Wait!" Rouge urges, grabbing the captain's arm.

"Back away! Hostages are not my jobs to stop Eggman. If you try to stop us, we'll treat you like an enemy." Rouge lets go, holding up her hands. "Either way, we're doing our job."

The government ship fires repeatedly at the Egg Battleship. "They're still attacking me! What should I do now?"

"We could start filling out claim forms for your insurance company," Bocoe suggests nervously.

"Those hostages need our help!" Chris frowns in worry.

"No sweat, Chris. Ready for action, Sonic and Sophia?"

They both turn to him, Sonic winking at him. "Watch me!"

"We're always ready!" Sophia grins and Tails fires back at the government ship.

"Hey, whose side are they on?"

Rouge kicks the man in front of her down, catching a wire in her hand. She pulls it apart. "All I need is 10 minutes, tops."

"Okay," The captain agrees, "But when your time runs out, I start shooting."

Rouge runs as quickly as she can to help her friend and the other hostages.

"It appears they are holding their fire," Decoe points out.

"Now's our chance. Head for the island, quickly!" Eggman orders and before they can move, Rouge is shot out of a cannon.

"Not her again," Knuckles says bitterly.

"She's heading for Eggman's ship!" Sonic realizes what Rogue is doing. "We have to distract him somehow!"

"I'll go to Rouge, she might need help!" Sophia activates her invisibility and starts flying towards the ship.

"Go for it, Tails!" The echidna turns to the pilot, who turns his attention to the Egg Battleship. Rouge flies in through the Eggman logo, Sophia following.

"Rouge," She whispers, Rouge gasping in surprise as she turns around. Sophia makes herself known, smiling.

"Sophia, thank goodness it's you. Us girls have to work together on this one."

"Right!" They both head off to find the hostages.

Eggman growls as something smokes in front of him. "Why didn't I just become a dentist?!"

Tails continues his assault on the ship, the two robots shocked by all the damage that's been done. "It's time to use our heavy artillery."

"You mean?!"

"I'll finish them with one blast."

Bocoe and Decoe try to stop him. "But you have to make the volcanoes erupt! Are you forgetting that you want to rule the world?"

Eggman throws the two off of him. "I just changed my mind! I want revenge!" He exclaims, getting to work.

"He is dependable," Bocoe deadpans as the two give blank looks.

"Yes, no matter what, Dr. Eggman never fails to let you down."

A large cannon emits from the ship, both ships stopping as they stare at it. The cannon powers up, turning everything around it red.

"What's that?!" Sonic demands as everyone is engulfed in the color.

"Fire energy ray!" Eggman slams down a fist and the cannon starts to get ready to fire.

"There's nothing we can do!" Dr. Cadbury says in despair.

Sonic and Knuckles jump towards the energy coming from the ray, but they get shocked, causing them to fall back onto the plane.

"Surrender now or we'll fire the energy ray in ten seconds!" Decoe threatens at all of them.

"We don't have any time!" Knuckles shouts to Sonic.

"We can't give up! Maybe if we attack it together!" Sonic suggests and Knuckles turns to him.

"Worth a try!" They land back on the plane and jump, grabbing each other's hand. They spin in a circle, flying towards the energy cannon and causing it to explode. The red light disappears, Eggman and his two robots yelling in surprise at the explosion. Knuckles grins, Sonic landing on his back. Tails flies by and catches them.

"Alright!" The two high five with a wink and the ship starts to fall towards the water.

The three start panicking, running around as if they're chickens. "We are doomed!" Then they realize something. "We still have our hostages!"

Topaz and the others, led by Rouge and Sophia step towards them. "Not anymore."

Shocked, all of them turn to see that all of the people are free. "Face it, doc, there's no way out this time," Rouge says confidently and they all shout in surprise, looking around for a way out, but there is none.

"Hey, where'd my Chaos Emerald go?"

Rouge looks around and when she looks back, the three are gone. The ship falls into the water as the three are escaping via Egg Mobile. "Stop pushing! Back off, I can't steer!" They fly towards the volcano and then they're gone.

"Oh Rouge," Topaz scolds, Sophia shaking her head.

"Sorry..."

Dr. Cadbury looks down. "Maybe this trip was a big mistake. Maybe we never should've come." Everyone except Chuck walks away, leaving the two alone.

"If Eggman finds the ruins of Murasia, it could be dangerous."

"Yes," Dr. Cadbury closes his eyes before opening them. "I'm beginning to think that Dr. Eggman was right and that this place really is a hot spot."

Sophia, Sonic, and Knuckles look towards the island at the volcano, wondering what Eggman's next move is...


	48. The Volcanic Venture

**Angel: Well, I'm writing episode 50 as we speak. I haven't had the time to catch up on episodes because of a slew of schoolwork this week, so hopefully I'll be on track by next week since I won't have much. Also, I've had to wake up early three times in a row since Tuesday, so I'm not in an ideal mood right now. I slept in XD But after some lunch (that I have to order), I think I'll be okay.**

Bajy: Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thanks, hopefully I'll have this story done soon so I can work on other stuff.**

Challishanlon99: I'm sorry I didn't mean to stress you out about telling you about the TV shows I hope that you're not mad at me for telling you I'm really sorry but anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more and I think it would be pretty cool if Sonic and the others made friends with a whole lot of dragons do you like best friends and stuff I think that would be pretty cool. Like I wonder who would win the race a Speed Stinger or Sonic? But anyway thank you for letting me read this chapter I can't wait for more.

 **Angel: Frustrated is more accurate, but I wasn't really mad at anyone. I was just annoyed because they took more than a week to upload that episode that I hadn't done yet. I've already written and uploaded it to that story, so I'm not really mad anymore. Besides...Sonic is the fastest thing alive. He beat a cheetah, so I'm sure he can beat a Speed Stinger.**

Johanvanguard: I'm glad that Sophia helped Sonic and the others find Murasia and save the hostages from Eggman. Now with Eggman off to start the volcanic chain reaction, I wonder how Sophia will react to the creatures at the hotspot and how she will help stop Eggman.

 **Angel: There's not really much of a reaction, sad to say.**

Guest: Sorry if you didn't get it before, but by the word "Seiyuu", I mean a Japanese voice actor or actress. That's what the Japanese V.A.'s (Voice actors) are called in Japan. Just so you know. I'm guessing you pretty much watch more of the English dubs of anime than the original Japan dubs, right? Not that it's big deal.

 **Angel: It's really not, since I don't pay much attention to the Japanese dubs. If it's only in Japanese, and it's a good anime, then I might watch it. But most dubs are in English or are English in like mangas or other adaptations of a franchise. I think the only Japanese anime I really watch is Pretty Cure (not counting the three English dubs that are already out). But I don't know who would be Sophia's Japanese VA. I can't really answer that since I don't even know that much Japanese VAs that I would want Sophia to be voiced by. Sorry.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, a research vessel vanished at sea, leading to a maritime mystery, while Dr. Eggman's wrapped up robots reign a trap to steal a map. The ancient chart pointed the way to the legendary continent of Murasia. And our heroes set sail for the last remnant of that lost land: a volcanic island! When they found themselves attacked by Dr. Eggman, government agents roared to the rescue._

 _But the devious doc made his escape and he hatched a scary scheme to liquidate the world with lava! Can Sonic and Sophia stop Eggman before he causes a global eruption? Find out next on Sophia X!_

A lone raft sits on the sand of the island, the X Tornado having landed on the surface. Topaz is talking to the government agents who were piloting the other ship.

"If you'd put up a fight against Eggman instead of letting him capture you, we wouldn't be stuck here," The first one accuses her.

"Yeah, we had Eggman trapped, but he had you and your crew onboard, so we couldn't destroy his ship."

"Don't act like that was what stopped you!" She yells back, running off.

"She's upset," Mr. Tanaka sees her leave.

"Why don't you go and comfort her?" Chuck suggests, Sophia nodding.

"If you insist, sir. I will do what I can," Mr. Tanaka goes after Topaz.

"Meanwhile, I'll 'appeal' to those agents," Sophia winks at Dr. Cadbury and Chuck. Chuck sees him leave while Sophia approaches the two. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, what?" He asks and she knees him in the stomach. "Hey!"

Chuck and Dr. Cadbury open their mouths in shock. Sophia narrows her eyes at the men. "How _dare_ you? Pinning this on someone else to escape responsibility? I happen to know the president and he would NEVER allow that to happen."

"Listen, girlie, we don't care who you know. All we're doing is our jobs."

"Your **jobs** may have to do apprehending Eggman, but bluntly ignoring the hostages?! On purpose?! You're gonna risk peoples' lives just to stop him? There's another way to stop him _without hurting others in the process!_ You're just as bad as he is if you're going to ignore human lives, and I will be reporting this to the president himself!"

The men stare after her as she walks back to the X Tornado, having calmed down.

"Wow."

"Yeah, Sophia looks out for her friends, no matter what she has to do."

Topaz and Mr. Tanaka stand at the beach, Mr. Tanaka blushing at her. _Those two bullies._ He kicks and punches rock to let off some steam. Topaz stares at him in shock. When his hand grows red, she gasps in concern.

"That was awesome, Sophia," Knuckles winks at her.

"Topaz deserves some credit," Sophia crosses her arms. "If the ship hadn't disappeared, we wouldn't have figured out that Eggman was behind this."

"But I know I can fly the X Tornado down into the crater," Tails insists to Chris. He was planning on going into the lava, but Chris is not having it.

"It's too dangerous," Chris tells him.

"It's the only way to catch up with Eggman. I'm in," Sonic speaks up.

"I agree. If it's the only option, then there's nothing else we can do to stop him," Sophia looks at Chris and he sighs in defeat.

"Rouge?" Knuckles asks her, "What about you? You willing to come along?"

She clasps her hands, smiling. "Doesn't sound like I have a choice. If I stay behind, there won't be anybody on the team to look after you." Not only that, she could possibly ruin her skin, and this job isn't for her.

"Ha!" He scoffs at her, "Very funny."

Mr. Tanaka and Topaz return to Chuck and Dr. Cadbury. "We have found something," Mr. Tanaka holds it out to Chuck. "Here, doctor."

Dr. Cadbury takes a golden box with three squares on top. "Incredible. This box seems to be made of Ermurasium."

"What's Ermurasium?" Chuck asks curiously, having never heard of it.

"It's an unusual metal that was used by the Murasians." He opens it up to reveal a large diamond, which immediately gets Rouge's attention.

"Hello," Her eyes shine at it.

"According to my research, Murasia cities were filled with precious gemstones even larger than this one," He inspects it. "Amazing."

"I never knew archaeology to be so fascinating," She keeps staring at the diamond. Of course she didn't care about the subject itself, but if there were jewels involved...

* * *

Dr. Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe are in the Egg Mobile, flying down towards the lava. "Doctor, we will hit the lava soon!" Bocoe warns him in fear.

"Heh heh. I have a plan, don't worry."

"If it is anything like his past plans, we are going to get burned!" Bocoe says in concern.

"Are you two doubting Dr. Eggman?" Bokkun asks them. "Doctor, doctor, they're dissing you!"

"Know what I like about him?" Decoe questions with a blank look as Bokkun is waving his fists.

"Yes, nothing."

"Well I don't like you two either!" Bokkun shouts at the two.

"I've located a tunnel that will take us further underground," Eggman reports as he presses a few buttons. The Egg Mobile glows for a few seconds before two rollers appear from both sides. They land on the rock and the Egg Mobile moves like a truck.

* * *

Sonic, Tails, Chris, Knuckles, Rouge, and Sophia are on the X Tornado, ready to go after Eggman in the volcano. "Let's go check out that volcano!" Tails smiles and the plane takes off, moving towards the volcano. Tails slowly moves inside and they prepare for the worst.

When they land on rock, Rouge inspects the area where Eggman and his minions disappeared. "They blocked up the tunnel after they drove through. Ya see?" She looks down at the rocks blocking the path. Sonic hmphs as he crosses his arms.

"That won't stop me!" He spin dashes and cuts through the rock, Rouge and Knuckles covering themselves.

"If you don't stop that digging, you're gonna bury us here!" Knuckles calls out as several big rocks fall around them.

Sonic stops, chucking sheepishly as he turns to them. "Sorry." Sophia facepalms, shaking her head.

Rouge peeks up ahead. "There's another tunnel here, but it's pretty narrow."

"Let's see where it goes," Sonic suggests, him, Rouge, and Knuckles walking forward.

"What about us?" Chris calls out, him and Sophia being too tall to fit. Even with her powers, she can't shrink herself down to fit through a narrow tunnel. She could use Chaos Control, but she doesn't know where that tunnel is. The only disadvantage with Chaos Control is that she has to know where her destination is.

"We can look around in the X Tornado," Tails looks up at him. Chris glances at the tunnel, a little worried for Sonic.

* * *

Rouge leads the way as they continue to walk, the light getting darker and darker as they advance forward. Knuckles bumps into something and Rouge turns to him.

"Careful, you both have big heads. Good thing they're hard," She continues to lead, Knuckles growling in annoyance. As they reach light, Sonic gasps in awe at all the green substance lighting up the tunnel.

"It's some kind of fluorescent moss," Knuckles murmurs as he looks up.

"How'd you know that?" Rouge asks curiously.

"Easy," Knuckles gestures to himself, "When you're a treasure hunter like me, you've been everywhere. You've seen all kinds of-"

"Come on, Sonic," Rouge interrupts, Sonic following after her. She didn't need bragging or boring talk.

"I see!" Knuckles shouts after them, "It's two against one now!" He chases after them to catch up.

Rouge slowly climbs down a narrow pathway, Sonic and Knuckles doing the same. "These rocks are really slippery. Watch your step."

Rouge slips and falls on Sonic, who then falls on Knuckles. They land all the way down at the bottom, Rouge sitting on top of Sonic's quills. "Sorry."

Sonic looks annoyed, hand on his cheek as Knuckles glares up at them. "I'm always the fall guy."

They then walk on a platform near lava, Knuckles taking the lead this time. They walk across a narrow bridge above the fiery lava before coming across a lake. Sonic sweats nervously as he stares at it.

"It's...so wet."

Knuckles pops up from the water, having swam to explore. "It's too deep to wade across, we'll have to swim."

"But...that'd spoil my makeup," Rouge complains, Knuckles staring at her in disbelief.

"Maybe I should go and keep Chris, Sophia, and Tails company." Sonic tries to leave, but Knuckles grabs him.

"Hey, not so fast! The bat can rot in this cave for all I care, but you're coming with me!" He drags Sonic with him and Rouge glares at him, furious.

"You can't get rid of me that easy!" She jumps after them and they walk through the water, Sonic coughing when It's all over.

"What a nightmare," He murmurs in fright, Rouge looking around.

"I hear a waterfall."

Sonic perks up at that, running off. "It might be a way out!" He hoped that he didn't have to deal with any more water on this little expedition. He reaches the waterfall, looking down. There seems to be nothing at the end of it.

"Looks like a dead end."

Rouge looks up and uses her wings to fly. "Hey, wait!" Knuckles calls out before a vine lands on his head, causing him to fall down on his chin.

"Thanks Rouge," Sonic takes the vine, starting up to climb. Knuckles glares up at her.

"I'll get that bat!"

He grunts as he climbs up to the top, meeting Sonic and Rouge there. "Our exit's blocked off!" She points up at the ceiling.

"No sweat. I'll just dig us out." He chuckles with a big grin as he has the shovel claws. He starts to dig furiously, Rouge and Sonic blocking the dust with their hands. When they see light, Sonic spin dashes and lands on solid ground, surprised by what he's seeing.

"No way!"

It looks to be an ancient city. Chris, Sophia, and Tails arrive, seeing it as well. They knew immediately what it was.

"Murasia!"

Tails turns the front of the plane into a camera for Dr. Cadbury. "The Murasians built an underground kingdom..."

"But how?" Chuck asks in shock.

"As their continent sank, they must have fled to this huge cave and use the power of Ermurasium to make an artificial sun to provide heat and light. Once the Murasians moved underground, some legends say they encountered terrible creatures who destroyed their kingdom and drove all the survivors away. I always thought the stories about underground kingdoms and monsters were myths, but it seems there was some truth to them after all," Dr. Cadbury explains to Chuck, Topaz, and Mr. Tanaka.

* * *

Tails has retrieved Knuckles, Rouge, and Sonic, all three now standing on the plane.

"I don't believe those monster stories," Rouge dismisses it.

"I'd love to meet monsters down here," Knuckles smirks in amusement. "I could challenge them to a fight! I'd destroy 'em all!"

"You know, you're kinda cute when you talk about how tough you are," Rouge smiles at him teasingly.

"You know I can't stand you!" He screams at her.

"I'm not surprised," She turns her head away. "There's a very thin line between hate and love."

"Well, you make it thicker!" Knuckles places his hands on his hips, Tails and Chris staring at him.

"Could you two take it easy, please? We've got enough turbulence up here."

"Those two are like oil and vinegar," Chuck scratches his head. Topaz and Mr. Tanaka look at each other, smiling in amusement. They both smile at how love can be.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eggman is in a makeshift camp, trying to do something on his laptop. Bokkun pops up nex to him, holding a plate and fork.

"Hey, I need something yummy in my tummy!" He hits the fork against the plate in protest.

"Now that you mention it, I'm hungry too. Decoe, Bocoe, go grab us some grub, on the double!"

Bocoe and Decoe peek their heads into the tent. "But what if we get lost, doctor?"

"Ha! I'm not that lucky."

"Why don't you send Bokkun?" Bocoe suggests so that they wouldn't have to traipse through the forest.

"There might be wild animals around here," Bokkun explains, sitting near a machine, "I don't wanna be a snack for a snake!"

"Bokkun's right. You two are indigestible." Eggman chuckles, leaning back in his chair as he waves them off.

They glare at the two before going off to do what they were told, reluctantly.

* * *

All six of them stand in front of one of the buildings in Murasia. "Cross your fingers," Tails replies as he plants a device on the ground. He presses a button and it starts up, sending some data to Dr. Cadbury and Chuck.

"The seismograph seems to be working fine," Chuck smiles in relief.

"The seismic readings will give us an idea of how much internal pressure is building up inside the volcano," Dr. Cadbury points to the print.

"This is hopeless," Decoe complains as the two are out in the forest.

"Look, I found something!" Bocoe holds up an orange slug with eyes.

"Is it edible?!" Decoe's eyes widen as it doesn't look appetizing.

"It probably tastes like chicken!" Bocoe answers hopefully.

"I do not want to find out." Bocoe pets the slug and Decoe points up ahead.

"There! That looks more appetizing!" He's pointing to a large cherry.

"I have never seen such a huge cherry," They walk up to it.

"Our search has been very fruitful."

Bocoe laughs at his joke, putting Decoe on his shoulders. Decoe chuckles as he grabs it, seeing something behind the tree. It reveals itself to be a very large moth, as the 'cherry' was one of its antennas. The two scream as they run away, with the moth chasing after them.

The gang hear the screams, Decoe and Bocoe stumbling upon them. "Eggman's robots!" Sonic clenches his fists, assuming Eggman was nearby. The moth then appears and the others scream at it. They watch as the moth chases the two robots around.

"Maybe we should do something to help them," Chris suggests, Sophia rubbing her chin.

"This monster is bugging me out!"

"Right now, I would give anything for a giant moth ball!"

"Maybe I can distract that thing," Chris throws a rock, hitting the moth in the eye. It turns to Chris, who runs off with the robots.

"Look out!" Bocoe and Decoe push him down, ultimately saving the boy as the moth was swooping down. Unfortunately, they fall through a patch of grass, falling down a hole.

"Hey Chris!" Sonic shouts as they look around, gritting his teeth. _Where could he be?_

The trio continue to fall through the tunnel, landing right behind Eggman. He whips around to them. "What did you bring that brat here for?"

They chuckle nervously, standing up. "He risked his life to save us from a giant bug!" Decoe gestures to him.

"Really? Well he isn't going to save you from me when I tear out your power supply!"

Before he can make good on his threat, the environment starts shaking, Decoe and Bocoe running around Chris.

"The cave is going to collapse!"

Amy, Topaz, Mr. Tanaka, Chuck, and Dr. Cadbury look up at the volcano, having felt the shaking too. "I hope everything's alright in the cage," Amy voices her concern.

Dr. Cadbury looks at the seismograph, and things do not look well. "Are Sonic and the others gonna be okay?"

"That was just a tremor, so they should all be fine. But the pressure inside the volcano is building. Your friends are going to be in real danger if they stay down there much longer."

"How bad are things going to get, doctor?" Chuck looks up at him.

"The data suggests the volcano is about to erupt," Dr. Cadbury points to the machine. The others stare at him in shock and worry. The doctor then informs Tails through the X Tornado's radio. "If you're still down there when the volcano blows, you'll be in great danger. Forget about Eggman. Just pack up your gear and head for the surface right away."

"Okay, doc."

"What do we do?" Knuckles asks Sonic.

"We don't have any time to lose. We gotta find Chris fast," Sonic and Sophia start running.

"We should come up with a plan first!" Knuckles shouts after them, but they're already gone.

"The best thing for me to do is wing it," Rouge starts to fly away and he gasps in shock.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'll search for Chris in the sky. You and Tails can set up the equipment and look for that hot spot. Make sure you find it before Eggman blows it up," She explains.

"Alright, but be careful, Rouge. Good luck," He smiles to himself.

"I'll see you soon, handsome," She winks at him, hoping to find Chris as she flies off.

* * *

Eggman walks up to a tied-up Chris on the grass. "For such a small fry, you certainly are a big sap! You risked your neck to save these clowns and now you're my prisoner!" He points to his two robots mockingly. "How hilariously humiliating!" He laughs at Chris.

"I'm glad I tried to help them!" Chris shoots back to the robots' surprise. They basically targeted his friends, destroyed the city a few times, and done lots of things on Eggman's orders, and he still tried to save them. Something shakes and they all turn their attention to the volcano, which is starting to rumble. But there seems to be a pair of purple eyes watching...

"My analysis is finally finished," Eggman looks at his laptop. "And it shows the hot spot is only a few hundred yards away."

Bocoe and Decoe whimper, Eggman kicking them away. "Quit loafing and let's get moving!"

* * *

Knuckles looks over Tails' shoulder as the fox is doing what he can to find the hot spot. Sonic and Sophia run through the forest to find Chris before it's too late.

Rouge is peeking over all the trees when something glitters. "Huh?" She gets closer and finds herself in some ruins. "Oh my!"

There, sitting on a rock, are a bunch of tiny jewels. She walks up to them in awe. "Ah..."

* * *

Eggman lands the Egg Mobile at the same ruins that Rouge arrived at, taking his laptop with him. Chris is escorted by Decoe and Bocoe as the doctor laughs evilly. "Do you have the detonator?"

"Yes!" Bocoe holds it up and Eggman leans in towards Chris.

"Watch closely, kid. You'll see why I'm called a master of mayhem. By setting off a blast in this spot, I'll cause a chain reaction! This whole planet's gonna blow its top! Every volcano in the world with a rock leading to worldwide chaos! On top of the ashes of the old world, I can build my new Eggman Empire!" He laughs at the thought, Chris giving him a blank look.

"Sonic and Sophia will stop you in time," He says confidently.

"They'd better hurry, because I'm gonna hit the detonator switch right now!"

"Here," Bocoe gives Eggman the detonator, Chris shouting nervously.

"You can't set that off!"

"Just watch me!" He pushes Chris into a hole, getting stuck.

"Sorry about that, Chris. Dr. Eggman, that was mean," Decoe scolds.

"That klutzy kid gave himself the slip," Eggman looks away innocently.

Bokkun sits on a statue of a dinosaur. "This dinosaur rocks!" It suddenly starts to move and he hangs on as best as he can. "Not another quake!" He looks up as he hears another one, bits of debris falling from above. The statue starts to crack and it breaks apart, Bokkun screaming as he falls. A bird drill-like robot emerges and Bokkun screams, someone hearing him.

"Help!"

Rouge turns around.

Bokkun runs up to Eggman, screaming his head off. He shouts about something. "We have to get away fast! Where's the ship?! LET'S GO!"

Eggman scratches his head in confusion before there's a quake. He raises an eyebrow as it doesn't feel like a volcano quake. Suddenly, a shadow towers over him and Bokkun whimpers nervously. Everyone looks up to see the giant robot looking over them. Everyone screams and the robot raises a drill.

"SONIC! SOPHIA!" Chris screams and the two run as fast as they can. He covers himself and Rouge comes swooping in, having tracked down Bokkun's screaming.

"Need a lift?"

"Thanks Rouge," He smiles at her. The robot destroys the stone, Eggman and Bokkun running away. Decoe and Bocoe notice something on the ground.

"The detonator!"

"Oh no!"

The robot continues to destroy the ruins, Bocoe and Decoe running away. "Hurry, we must rush before we are crushed!"

Eggman flies away in the Egg Mobile, leaving behind his two robots. "He is gone!"

Rouge and Chris turn to them. "We are stranded!"

The volcano begins to erupt, the four of them staring at the robot. "The heat's on now."

"What do you mean?" Chris asks curiously and Rouge turns to them.

"This whole cave's gonna fill up with lava."

At that, Bocoe jumps into Decoe's arms, both whimpering in fear. The robot walks up.

"Let's get out of here," Rouge replies.

"It is no use. A bomb is about to cause all the volcanoes on the planet to erupt!" Bocoe explains, Chris running off.

"Hey!" Decoe shouts at him. "Wait!"

"Where are you going?"

Chris looks up at the robot, which threatens to stomp on the boy. Rouge does a screw kick at its head, but it has no effect on the robot. Rouge gasps as she didn't even make a dent. Chris runs up the stairs and Rouge is hit by the robot, landing on the grass. The robot makes its way to Chris, who grabs the detonator, which has five minutes left.

Chris runs up to the robot. "Come on, I got something for ya!"

"Wait, kid!" Bocoe calls out, the two robots having followed him.

"We will help you," Decoe offers and he turns to them.

"But what can you do?"

"Outside, we look like servants," Bocoe looks up at Decoe.

"But inside, we are built for battle! All we have to do is put our heads together."

"And the result is electrifying!"

"What?" Chris asks in confusion, the robot turning its attention to them instead. "What are you talking about?"

"First we link up."

"Then our internal circuitry undergoes a total integration."

"Then our transformation software is activated."

"Which kicks us into power armor mode!"

"Which creates a mighty mechanical giant!" Bocoe is the top part while Decoe is the legs of the giant robot in their explanation.

"A super colossal combat droid!"

"Well now's the time to do it," Chris encourages.

"Here we go! Go into evil battle mode!" They link arms, but nothing happens. They sweat sheepishly.

"We must have been in dream mode."

"Hey, look out!" Chris warns and the robot slams them into the sky, dismantling them.

"Sorry!"

"It appears our rescue plan has fallen apart!"

"Decoe, Bocoe," Chris says in worry, the robot roaring. Suddenly, something hits its torso and the boy looks to see the X Tornado coming in for the rescue, with Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles standing on top of it.

"There's Chris!" Tails sees him and Chris waves his arms.

"Hi guys!"

The three jump off the plane, heading towards the robot. The X Tornado fires straight at it, but it has no effect. Knuckles pulls at its tail, spinning it around so that it falls. It breathes fire at Knuckles, who jumps out of the way. Sonic and Sophia spin dash towards it while Knuckles tends to Rouge on the grass.

"Rouge, are you okay?"

Tails fires two rings, the two speedy friends catching them. They try again, but are smacked away, landing near Chris.

"It's pretty tough."

"You're telling me," Sophia rubs her head. "Who built this thing, anyway?"

It breathes fire at the trio, Sophia and Sonic grabbing Chris and jumping out of the way. "There must be a way to stop it," Knuckles states and they hear a roar.

"You're right, but I don't know what it is," Sonic comments, Chris showing him something.

"Hey, Sonic, Sophia, this might help."

Th two look at the detonator, which has 30 seconds left. "We can set it off with a bang," Sonic smirks at the others, who catch on to his idea. They jump/fly towards the robot.

"Yoohoo!" Rouge distracts it long enough for Knuckles to punch it. Sonic and Sophia then hit with a spin dash, Sonic throwing the detonator down a slot.

"Down the hatch!"

"Hope this was worth it," Sophia watches as it explodes into pieces.

"Alright!" Chris cheers and the robot explodes, setting off only one volcano, which proceeds to destroy the ruins in the process.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Tails calls out.

* * *

They return to the yacht, watching at the island as they can still see the smoke. "Murasian culture seems more mysterious than ever to me now," Dr. Cadbury confesses, "I only wish we'd had more time. Their achievements were astounding, but perhaps they went too far. Did their quest for greatness lead to their destruction? We may never know for sure."

"Maybe not knowing is better for Murasia," Sophia speaks up, "Maybe it's just fate..."

Rouge looks at one of the jewels she found. "Today I almost got crushed in a cave, mangled by a monster, and cooked by a volcano, but finding this baby made it all worthwhile."

Dr. Cadbury snatches the jewel from her. "Another artifact from the underground kingdom of Murasia! Thank you, Rouge." He shakes a shocked Rouge's hand. "Feel free to drop by the museum anytime and see it."

Knuckles smirks at the fact that she doesn't get to keep it. "Yeah, sure doc." She wouldn't steal it back because she didn't want to...she'd risk his research.

"Decoe and Bocoe sacrificed themselves to help me," Chris murmurs, looking at the sky.

"Yeah, guess they weren't so bad after all," Sonic looks up at the boy.

"They proved themselves to be heroes," Mr. Tanaka closes his eyes.

"I'm gonna miss having those two as enemies," Amy admits and Chris sighs.

A door opens and two feet step out. "You have warmed our cold, metallic hearts."

They turn around in confusion. "Luckily, we pulled ourselves together just in time to escape the volcano!"

Bocoe and Decoe chuckle at everyone's faces. "You really are incredible," Chris says, Tails and Chuck smiling.

"Two resourceful robots like these could come in very handy someday, if they'd like to join our team."

"Oh, you bet we would!"

"Dr. Eggman always works us overtime!"

"We would like to work him over!"

"Wow..." Sophia says in surprise that they're switching sides.

"We've slaved away for Eggman long enough!"

"Now we will take charge of our own future!"

"EGGMAN, WE QUIT!"


	49. The Beginning of the End

Devin sands: Hey there I thought I'd write a review for your story first off your story is very interesting and nice work with the oc I know Sophia is not yours but still nice work and I would like to ask when you do the next chapter do you think you can have Sophia be there when Chuck and everyone else explains that time will stop unless they cause Chaos Control and send everyone home

 **Angel: Thanks! And, ummm...see, what I do on Tuesdays and Thursdays is that I type the episodes ahead of the one I post. So, I was already done by this chapter last week and I'm done with episode 50 as well. It's just a consistency that happened over the year. *shrugs* Also, I don't wanna post a chapter right after I'm done. My fingers can only do so much. I would've already started the last season if I didn't have so much work this week. I still have four more assignments at least that are due by either tomorrow or Saturday. I wish I was joking. They're not due until midnight, though, so I figured to quickly post this and continue my homework.**

Crazycartoons5488: I wonder Egghead all ways lose he could hire Elymra Duff from Tiny Toons Adventures to catch Sonic and friends.

 **Angel: I feel like she wouldn't fit in Sonic X. Maybe Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and I suggest that lightly given how that show is not a favorite.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sophia helped Sonic and the others save Chris and stop Eggman's plans. It's nice that because of Chris' kindness that Bocoe and Decoe have decided to team up with Sonic and the others. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the time phenomenon problem.

 **Angel: Too bad they went back to him. And you won't see it here, but she will share her thoughts about it soon.**

Bajy: Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Still not done with this season ^^' Curse you, college!**

Challishanlon99: Thank you for this chapter but I was wondering Sonic guys what do you think about being best friends with dragons I was just wondering that's all anyway thank you again for this chapter I can't wait to read more

 **Sonic: It would be pretty cool to have a dragon as a friend. Tails could fly the X Tornado less.**

 **Tails: If that happened, then I wouldn't be a pilot!**

 **Sophia: *chuckles* Well, I do like dragons...but I've been interested in finding out about all mystical creatures like unicorns.**

 **Angel: I've grown up seeing dragons in TV shows, so I would probably have it fly me to school. Better than parking in the farthest lot like I have to do.**

GreenD109: With this adventure behind them now, the time for Sonic, and the others to head back to their home world draws nearer. But I feel like that when the time does come, the farewell will be pretty emotional.

 **Angel: I'm familiar with the situation of going home now, so I definitely will have them go back. It was pretty unfair, but they weren't going to stay in Station Square forever. Besides, with Eggman gone, Station Square is much safer...**

"Freedom Fever is running wild as fans of Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia embrace the new freedom movement, adopting the carefree and caring lifestyle of their heroes. It seems like the entire planet is caught up in the craze."

As Scarlet is giving her report, Sonic and Sophia are still on the search for Shadow. Nothing significant to suggest where he is...and they've looked almost everywhere on Earth.

"The international track and field association reports the runners around the world are setting new records every day."

Chris crosses the finish line, the coach looking at his watch in surprise. "Wow, 8 seconds flat." The boy laughs at his new record, jumping into the air with glee. With any luck, he'll be as fast as his best friends Sophia and Sonic!

* * *

Decoe and Bocoe trim the bushes outside the Thorndyke Mansion, humming in glee. "I love working for the Thorndyke family. Now the only thing we have to attack is crabgrass," Bocoe chuckles at his own joke.

"Plus we get weekends off," Decoe has his eyes in glee as Eggman made them work all week, weekends included. "Eggman never gave us free time except the times he made us work for free." They both laugh and Chris arrives home from school.

"Hey, how's it going, you guys?"

"Hello Christopher," Decoe greets him.

"Welcome home!" Bocoe chimes in.

"Your parents just arrived back here a few minutes ago," Decoe reports.

"Great, where are they?" Chris asks as he didn't see any of their vehicles.

"In the backyard. They are extremely eager to see you."

"Thanks guys!" Chris runs inside the house.

"What a nice kid," Bocoe comments happily.

"It is hard to believe that a few days ago, we were trying to destroy him."

"I guess we should get back to work."

"Right, we still have to fill in that ditch we dug earlier."

Mr. Tanaka falls into said ditch.

* * *

The sun is setting near a little cottage as a plate of tree stump filled with purple liquid sits on a plate. "Bon appetite!"

Bokkun sweats nervously at the tiny 'food.' "A tree stump? I can't eat wood for lunch! What do I look like, a termite?"

"Well it's the only food we have," Eggman tells him, wearing an apron. "But if you don't like it, we can skip right to the mud pie I made for dessert."

Something tells Bokkun that it's not as savory as one would think in a mud pie. "I hope Decoe and Bocoe ask for their jobs back. Their food didn't taste good, but they never served lumber for lunch!"

"Forget it," Eggman turns to glare at him. "I wouldn't take those two turncoats back if they came crawling to me on their gear boxes!"

Bokkun whines, crying silently at the wood.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Thorndyke family are enjoying a barbeque picnic, as a celebration of their freedom from Eggman's tyranny. Lindsey and Nelson are wearing freedom shirts as they cook the meat. Nelson holds up a burnt kabob.

"Here Ella."

"Oh, uh, no thank you, sir. It might not be enough to go around." She chuckles nervously as she looks away, not even wanting to know what meat it used to be.

"Nonsense, Ella, we have more than enough," Lindsey insists.

"That's...great," She lies through her teeth as Nelson puts the kabob on her plate.

"I know you love good food, so I expect to see you back for seconds," Nelson laughs while she's cringing. "When I heard all my employees were taking time off because of this freedom, Dad, I thought I'd take a little free time too!" He says to Chuck, who's stirring some soup.

"Christopher is thrilled that you'll both be spending more time here and so am I," Ella admits happily. Rose takes her kabobs, sneaking them away to Valentina, who hides them in her purse.

"I never realized what a burden stardom is until I joined the freedom movement," Lindsey states.

"Go freedom!" She and Nelson cheer.

"Alright," Lindsey calls out.

"Our shish kabobs are done, so get ready, gang. They're gonna knock you out!" Nelson laughs.

"I just hope the medics will be able to revive us," Chuck mumbles to Cream, Amy, and Chris, who giggle.

Lindsey smiles as Sophia's talking happily with her parents. Mr. Tanaka walks into the backyard, wearing a freedom shirt. "Professor Thorndyke." Chuck looks up to him. "The president is on the telephone for you."

"Thank you," Chuck nods at him, Sophia staring at him in confusion. If it was Eggman-related, the president would be calling her. So why is he asking for Chuck? Whatever it is, it might be serious...anything with the president is.

"What's that?" Chuck asks once he's talking to the president. He sits down with a surprised look on his face. "You're giving the go-ahead to Project Homebound? I'll need some time to prepare. Yes sir. Thank you, sir." He hangs up, leaning against the couch as he thinks about what it'll mean for the others...

* * *

On the highway, Sam is chasing down a speeder, and he's not exactly fond of the freedom movement. "Some of these freedom freaks think they've got the right to break the speed limit. Every day some joker blasts down the highway to challenge the SD. There's only two racers who outrace me."

 _Sonic ran down the highway when he arrived, carrying Sophia in his arms. A sonic boom! They're moving faster than the speed of sound!_

"I never imagined a hotshot hedgehog, a royal princess, and I would become buddies." Sam closes his eyes. "Sonic and Sophia are the only real competition I've got. This clown doesn't even know what speeding means. Pull over, pal! Don't make more trouble for yourself, it's not worth it."

"He ain't catching me," The driver brags, chuckling. He presses on the gas and goes even faster, Sam speeding up. They both turn and the driver continues to speed. He looks at the rearview mirror, swerving as Sam notices how fast he's going.

"Slow down!"

The driver doesn't listen, shouting as he flies right off the highway, Sam coming to a stop. He quickly gets out of the car. "Oh great."

As the car is nearing the ground, Sam sees two people jumping in the air. They spin dash and speed right through the car's windshield. The car explodes, with the two saviors landing right behind Sam. He slowly turns around to see a traumatized driver and his two buddies smiling at him.

"Sonic, Sophia!" He says in surprise.

"Hey Sam. How are things on the highway?"

"Hi Sam. Do you have my monthly candy?" Sophia smirks in amusement.

"In the car," Sam points to it and she runs up to the passenger's seat. He pulls off his helmet. "Same stuff. I'm still showing these show-offs who rules the road. I was about to go on my coffee break, but now that you two are here," He runs to his car, Sophia walking back to Sonic as she eats a gummy bear. He jumps inside, Sonic scratching his head in amusement while the driver just stares. He watches as Sonic runs up to Sam's car. Sophia turns to him.

"You be careful on the road now. Don't go too crazy trying to follow our footsteps!" She races after the two and the three take off in a race.

"Hey, what am I supposed to do, crawl home?" The driver calls out.

Sophia is on the right while Sonic is on the left. "Ya ready to race?" Sonic turns to the racer.

"You bet. Just let me shift into Sonic/Sophia mode and I'm good to go." He presses a button, pumping up the engines to go into a turbo mode. Sophia and Sonic turn to each other with a smirk before catching up with him. They speed right past like it was nothing.

"They're getting faster."

The two jump into the air, looking at the city down below just like when they first arrived. They both smile as it looks just like the same as it did last time.

* * *

Chris looks out to the moon, which still has a robotic half from Eggman. He sighs slowly as Sonic and Sophia haven't returned. Not only that, but his homework isn't taking his mind off things.

"This essay is really tough. I'm not sure what my dream is." He has to write about a dream that he would want to have in the future. He looks up in thought. "My...dream. I know!"

A car parks in front of Chris' house, with Christina and another woman dressed in blue stepping out. "This is Dr. Kim Bickley," Christina introduces the woman to Nelson, Lindsey, Elliot, Valentina, Tails, and Chuck. "She's a physicist from the National Science Institute."

"Nice to meet you all, especially you, your majesties."

"Please, no formalities," Valentina smiles, waving her off. "Anyone affiliated with our daughter's friends are welcome to know us for ourselves, not for our titles."

Christina smiles a bit, happy that Sophia has a loving family.

"My dream is to help my best friends Sonic and Sophia make the world a better place. If I can just do that, I'll be happy." He places a hand on his cheek as he looks over his words. "That sounds way too corny." He throws the paper away and it lands on the ground. "Huh?"

He walks up to the window as he had heard something, moving away the curtain. "What was that?" He looks out to the pool, the same one he rescued Sonic from when he and his friends were transported to Station Square. There seems to be something in the water and he gasps, running out the door and down the stairs.

 _Sonic! Sophia!_

 _He dove into the water and got Sonic out, Sophia checking over the hedgehog. "Yeah, we got names," Sonic smirked at the boy. "My name is Sonic the Hedgehog and this is Princess Sophia."_

Chris runs up to the pool, surprised at what he sees. He smiles down. "How you doing, fella?" The drenched kitty mews, shaking itself off. Chris looks away, noticing that the front door is open.

"How can time stop?" Nelson asks in disbelief. "It's impossible!"

"I'm afraid it is possible," Chuck informs him.

"Some time in the distant past, our world and Sonic and Sophia's were one and the same," Dr. Bickley starts off, arms crossed at how dire this is. "Then a mysterious event divided the world in two. Each world suddenly had its own timeline. They now inhabited parallel universes, unaware of the other's existence. The two worlds are beginning to join again, and the two separate timelines will soon start to join together as well."

"But how can you prove this theory is true?" Nelson demands.

"It's not a theory. Even as we speak, the two timelines are converging. Soon they'll melt completely and when they do, they'll cancel each other out, and time will stand still. The result will be catastrophic. The rejoined planets will be frozen in time, while billions of years pass in the rest of the universe."

"Oh, dear," Valentina whispers in horror, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Once the timelines are fused, the effects will be irreversible," Christina explains, Lindsey concerned.

"So we'll be stuck in time?" She looks at Nelson in worry.

"That's right," Chuck closes his eyes. "When time stops, there's no such thing as the future or the past. None of us will grow older, but we won't be able to change either."

"Oh my," Nelson says in shock. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I've made some calculations. If they're correct, there's a slim chance we can prevent the timelines from coming together, but we have to act immediately or it'll be too late," Dr. Bickley informs them gravely.

"The president has just signed an executive order directing his staff to gather all the Chaos Emeralds together," Christina explains.

"You mean the president wants us to cause Chaos Control?!" Tails asks in surprise.

"Our only hope to save both worlds is to send you and Sonic and the others back home," Chuck admits sadly. Nelson and Lindsey look at each other, wondering what that meant for their son. He already looked up to Sophia as a big sister and he's close with Sonic...

Tails, Elliot, and Valentina's mouths open slowly, shocked.

They're...finally going home...?

A vase breaks and they all turn to Chris standing there. His eyes look sad at the revelation. "They're not gonna send Sophia and Sonic back home," He says in denial, stepping forward. Lindsey gasps as she stands up.

"Chris!"

"You've been listening?" Nelson asks him.

"Yes I have," He steps up to them. "I heard it all. And I don't care what the president said. It's good that sonic and Sophia are here."

 _Chris looked up to a smirking Sophia and Sonic, who smiled at him._

"Sonic...Sophia...they always help people when they're in trouble."

 _They pushed Helen to go find the flowers she was wanting to see._

"They saved Station Square, when it was attacked by the Chaos Monster."

 _Super Sonic and Sophia landed behind Perfect Chaos as it was defeated._

"Don't you remember? This whole planet would've been wrecked if they hadn't come to the rescue!"

 _With Super Shadow's help, they stopped the Space Colony Ark from crashing._

"THEY'RE STAYING HERE! If they go away, you'll be sorry!"

They all stare at him in shock at his anger. "Sorry, Chris. We're in danger. It's not Sonic or Sophia's fault, but they and the others have got to go back. Our whole future depends on it."

Chris holds his head. "YOU'RE WRONG!" He suddenly screams.

"Are you sure?" Lindsey asks, concerned for Chris. She's never seen him act this way.

Tails looks sad for Chris as he stares. "Dr. Eggman must be behind this. He's fooling everybody to get rid of Sophia and Sonic."

"Chris may be right," Nelson speaks up, as an attempt to calm Chris down. He hoped that was the case and that Chris would be okay. "This could be one of Eggman's tricks."

"We can't wish this problem away, Chris," Chuck tells his grandson gently, confusing him. "I know it's hard to hear, but the time has come to say goodbye. Sonic and Sophia must return to their world. There's no other choice."

"You can't send them away!" Chris tries not to cry as he argues, "I won't let you!"

Tails opens his mouth in surprise, watching as Chris runs off.

"Chris, wait!"

"Christopher!"

He pushes past the door, everyone staring after him. Chuck closes his eyes. He didn't want it to come to this either, but their world was in danger.

"I never saw him this upset," Tails adds his thoughts.

"I know exactly how he feels," Chuck opens his eyes. "I'm upset about this too." He bends down to Tails as none of them notice Chris racing for the front door. "If time were to stop, I wouldn't have to grow older anymore. I'd have forever to do research and make new discoveries. Why, just think of all the marvelous things you and I could build," He places his hands on Tails' shoulders. "If we could tinker in our workshop for all eternity. It sounds wonderful, but it's a trap."

Tails, Elliot, and Valentina gasp. "In a world where time stopped completely, the pursuit of scientific knowledge, would ultimately be meaningless." Chuck walks up to the open front doors, looking at the broken vase. "We'd never be able to use our knowledge to make real progress," He picks up one of the broken pieces. "Every day would be the same. I think you'll agree that a world where nothing ever changes would be a boring place to live."

Sophia's parents and Tails help him pick up the pieces. "I'll miss you, my friend."

Tails turns to smile at him, trying not to cry. He'd miss Chuck too...

All of them...

* * *

Chris runs through the yard, tears flying into the wind. "This has to be a trick! Eggman is doing all this!" He runs out the front gate, Mr. Tanaka seeing him.

"Chris, no!"

"Hm, we still have to stop by the software store," Decoe says as he and Bocoe are doing the shopping for Ella. "Oh?"

Chris comes to a stop in front of them. "I've been running around looking all over for you two."

"What can we do for you?" Decoe asks in concern, as Chris looks upset.

"I need you two do me a big favor. Please, you have to take me to see Eggman."

They're so surprised by his request that they drop the groceries. People turn around and they shush the boy.

"Be careful," Decoe whispers as they lead Chris down an alley. "Eggman could have spies!"

"We must talk privately!"

Once they're alone, they break it to the boy, regretfully. "Oh, I wish we could help, but it is impossible, Chris. We have no idea where Eggman went after we left him. There is nothing we can do."

He groans, looking down. It couldn't be...he had to talk to the doctor, to catch him in the act.

"Your family must be worried. You should come home with us, Chris," Decoe advises as it's late.

"NO!" Chris denies immediately and sharply. "I'll go look for Eggman alone if I have to."

"That could be dangerous," Bocoe puts a robotic hand to his plate in concern. "I guess we have to help you."

"If I don't do something, they'll send Sonic and Sophia away!" He frowns in worry. He should never have to say goodbye to them. If they leave, who would save Station Square? Who would be there for him? No one understood like Sonic or Sophia did...

He squeezes his eyes shut at the thought of it.

"Oh," Decoe and Bocoe look to each other.

"Eggman will not be giving us a warm welcome," Decoe states as Eggman destroys traitors.

"I agree. We had better prepare for a fight."

They both nod to each other, vowing to do anything they can to help Chris. After all, he tried to save them. It was time to return the favor.

"Stand back, Chris!" Decoe warns. "We have to transform! Decoe!"

"Bocoe!"

"Transform!"

"Proceed dome descend!"

"Leg lift sequence completing!"

"Link up now!"

"Transformation complete!"

Their 'transformation' is just Bocoe sitting on Decoe's shoulders, engulfing his head. Chris blinks slowly at the two.

"Activate Bokkun Beacon!" Bocoe's eyes emit a yellow light, with Bokkun's head cut into it. Chris hears laughter and his mouth opens in shock as Bokkun actually shows up to greet them.

"Not you guys," He complains at the sight of the robots. "What do you two traitors want from me?"

" _I_ need your help," Chris corrects, "I want you to bring me to Eggman so we can talk!"

Bokkun crosses his arms stubbornly. "I wouldn't take you to see my boss for a gazillion bucks!" He then mocks Chris before his jetpack runs out of fuel. He must've forgotten to check it and he falls in front of them. "I'm so hungry I can't even stay airborne."

"Did you skip lunch today?" Decoe asks him teasingly.

"It's all your fault for ditching the doctor!" Bokkun points a finger at Decoe. "His cooking is so repulsive, not even bacteria will eat it!" He cries a little.

"How about a deal? Just bring Chris to see Eggman," Bocoe holds up some fruit and veggies.

"And we will cook something up," Decoe holds up some oil.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bokkun drools a bit. "Let's go!"

* * *

Mr. Tanaka closes the front door, turning to the others. He had just returned from his search of Chris. "Forgive me for allowing Chris to get away. I could not follow him in the dark," He bows, "I no longer deserve to be under your employ."

"Now now," Nelson holds up a hand. "It's not your fault. Lindsey and I should've been more understanding with him."

"If this were a film, I'd ask for another take," Lindsey whispers in guilt. "Isn't there anything we can do, Nelson?"

"Yes, I'm going to call the president's office. I'm sure if I explain the situation, he'll call on the National Guard to search the area."

"I know exactly where he went," Chuck speaks up before Nelson can do anything.

"Hm?" The five adults turn to him. "Then where is he, Dad? Shouldn't we go after him right away?"

"I'm afraid Chris has gone to confront Dr. Eggman."

Lindsey gasps in shock.

"Dr. Eggman?" Nelson wonders, Tails turning to Chuck.

"I think we should let him go. That boy's looking for some answers. He really believes Eggman is behind all this. Maybe facing Eggman will help him accept the truth."

* * *

Chris, Decoe, and Bocoe race after Bokkun, Chris gritting his teeth. _Eggman, I won't let you send Sonic and Sophia away!_

Dr. Eggman is just sitting in his chair when Bokkun, Decoe, and Bocoe arrive. He turns to them, grinning smugly. "Oh, it's you." He goes back to the control. "I knew you'd come groveling to get your jobs back, but it's too late!"

"Eggman!" Chris steps past the two robots.

"So you brought me a prisoner. If you're trying to buy me off, I congratulate you," He continues drawing up his blueprint for something, chuckling. Chris steps up further.

"They brought me here cause I asked 'em to!"

"Huh?" Eggman sits up in surprise. Chris has never demanded to see him.

"You're doing this. You're the one who's making time come to a stop."

Eggman raises an eyebrow at the accusation. "Who, me?" He's blew up the moon, stolen emeralds, and tried to blow up the planet with volcanoes, but making time stop? He has no reason to.

"It's a trick to make them send Sophia and Sonic back to their world!" Chris raises his voice. "It won't work! I'll make you tell everybody the truth!"

Eggman's mouth opens in shock. "That plan isn't half bad." He chuckles, which just makes Chris angrier. He comes to his feet as Chris glares at him, continuing to laugh. "You figured out my scheme, kid. I despise them so much that I decided to bring time to a standstill! Then I tricked this world's scientific experts into believing that Sonic and Sophia had to be sent back. Now that you caught me, I'll confess."

Chris smiles in relief. Then he realizes that Eggman was being sarcastic.

"I'm not kidding, Eggman! You better make time go back to normal or else!"

"Or else you'll throw a temper tantrum?" Eggman teases, "Face it, kid. Without Sonic or Sophia here to back you up, your threats are as hollow as your head?"

"Oh yeah?!" Chris lunges towards him, but Decoe and Bocoe hold him back.

"Please, Chris. Fighting will not help."

"Look, kid. I didn't cause this time freeze problem," Eggman states honestly. "If your grandfather creates Chaos Control, I'm gonna get sent back too," He strokes his mustache.

"Huh?" Chris is confused.

"I can't build my empire in a world where time is stopped completely," Eggman walks back to his desk. "There's no future in it! I have no choice but to go back." He sits back down in his chair, turning his head to Chris. "That's the truth, kid."

Decoe and Bocoe let go of Chris as denial is still there. "I don't believe you," his eyes try not to water and he squeezes them shut to prevent them from coming. "Liar! You're trying to trick me!"

"You're the one who's lying, to yourself." Chris' mouth opens in shock. "You don't want to accept the truth. Deep down, you know once Sophia and Sonic are gone, your life will have to go back to the way it was before. Your days of adventure are at an end, boy, just like your friendship with that hyper-annoying hedgehog and princess. All your dreams have been shattered, haven't they?" He laughs slightly. "Your life is like that, kiddo. Take it from somebody who knows. Whenever you reach too high, life smacks ya down." He slams a tool against his hand as demonstration. Chris gives a look of fear.

"But on the bright side, at least you and I won't have to see each other ever again." And with that, he goes back to his drawings.

Tears come to his eyes as he races off, running through the doors.

"Wait! Chris?" Decoe calls out.

"Let him go," Eggman tells him. He actually looks sad for once. "So long, kid."

"No!" Chris shouts as he's running. "It has to be a lie!"

He ends up at a cliff overlooking the city, panting as he looks at the bridges, the buildings, and all the lights. He looks up at the full moon, looking back at his home. Was it really a lie? It had to be...they can't go home.

He'll see to it that they don't.

* * *

"I just can't stand waiting!" Nelson is pacing around. "I wish we could do something!"

"Are you sure allowing Chris to see Eggman was a good idea?" Lindsey asks in concern, hand to her cheek.

"I'll hire a team of commandos to find him!" Nelson declares, Chuck looking up at him.

"That's absurd."

The door opens and Chris runs right inside.

"Chris!" His parents shout in relief.

"Hi guys," He smiles weakly at them, Ella sighing in relief. Mr. Tanaka closes the door as Tails, Elliot, and Valentina come up to greet him. "Sorry I ran away."

"We're just happy you're safe, son."

"Why, Chris, you're freezing!" Lindsey feels his skin.

"What he needs is a nice hot bowl of my chicken soup," Ella suggests.

"Thanks, Ella."

"I'll go get cooking," Ella runs off to the kitchen.

"Feel okay, son? Why don't you sit down?" Nelson gestures to the couch.

"Okay."

"Let's go."

"We still have a lot of work to do," Chuck says to Tails and they leave.

"We still have to find two more Chaos Emeralds," Tails reminds him.

"The government's searching too, but even if they're found, we may not be able to build a machine to initiate Chaos Control."

"I bet we can figure something out, Chuck," Tails smiles up at him.

"It looks like you get to stay here a little longer, though."

Chris walks into his room, his parents standing at the door. "You can sleep in tomorrow if you want."

"Okay, thanks."

"Night son," They walk away from his door.

"Goodnight," He waves and closes the door. He presses his ear to the door, waiting until they're long gone, running up to his window. He pulls away the curtain, looking out to the moon. "Sonic...Sophia..."

Sonic and Sophia are still on their nightly run, jumping on rocks. Sophia lifts her head up as Sonic turns around.

"Huh, Chris? Guess I imagined it. Did you sense something, Sophia?"

"No," Sophia shakes her head. "Maybe I only just heard it..."

Sonic turns around and sees something glowing. "Hey, princess, check this out."

Sophia turns to his gaze, her mouth opening in shock.

"It can't be...can it?"


	50. Running Out of Time

Bajy: Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: Thank you! I'm already on the last episode for this season and then I'll be done soon!**

Bajy: Poor Chris...it will take some bit of time, but he will accept the truth eventually and he'll cheer up

 **Angel: Yeah...if it was me, I wouldn't want to say goodbye, but...I also like Earth ^^'**

Johanvanguard: Everyone celebrating the freedom movement was great. Too bad that the news came of both worlds joining, which would mean the timelines of both worlds would stop, and that really shocked everyone. I feel bad that Chris was seriously shocked by that news and was in total denial of it. Once he got his answer from Eggman, Chris had to accept the harsh truth. I wonder how Sophia and Sonic will handle the news of going home and saying goodbye to their human friends.

 **Angel: Too bad we didn't get a reaction of them finding out. They should've put a scene where they told Sonic.**

Challishanlon99: I'm crying it's so sad but things will get better and Chris I know how it feels to have friends that are family to you but I have a feeling you will have more adventures with Sonic and everyone again so please don't be sad because I know how it feels to have those special friends in your life gone but you will see them again and please don't be mad at me because I do know how it feels and because I learned they will always come back for you. Thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more.

 **Chris: Mad? I'm not really mad at you.**

 **Angel: To be mad at someone for that is just...dumb, really. I don't see a reason to be mad at anyone. Besides, I've been working on a Code Lyoko story to be released after I'm done with this one, so I've just been really focusing on that and schoolwork.**

 _La_ s _t time on Sophia X, Chris learned that his world and his friends' were once one, but since the planet started to recombine, time itself is screeching to a halt. The only way to unstop the clock is to cause Chaos Control, and send Sophia and Sonic and their friends back to their world. Suspecting a trick, Chris confronted Dr. Eggman and was shocked to discover that the time freeze fiasco was real!_

 _Now Tails and Chuck are working overtime to build a machine that can send our heroes home. Can they conquer the secrets of Chaos Control before time runs out? Find out next on Sophia X!_

"We now go live to the office of the president," Scarlet reports and the president is live at his desk, sitting behind the glow of the window. It's only been a day since everyone learned about the time freeze.

"My fellow citizens, I have sad news to bring you this morning. Many months ago, a connection was established between Sonic and Princess Sophia's world and our own. Now, regrettably, that connection must be severed forever."

Everyone except Tails and Chuck seem to be asleep, but there is one person missing from his bed also.

Outside in the pool area, Chris is standing there by himself. This was where his whole life changed. This was where he met his best friends Sophia and Sonic...

Something speeds by, so fast that the water ripples slightly.

Chris looks up to see his friends standing across. "Morning Chris," Sonic greets. He and Sophia have been made aware of the situation.

"Hi," Sophia smiles at him.

"Good morning Sonic, Sophia." He says, trying not to sound sad.

"How's it going, guy?"

"Okay," He answers with a small smile. He barely slept, and he still didn't want them to leave, but he has accepted that...this was happening. They were going home. It wasn't a trick, and Eggman had nothing to do with it. If they don't go home...

The world would be stuck in time...

"We can go for a run later if you want to," Sonic suggests, smiling a bit.

"Yeah, it'll be our last one," Sophia nods at him, smiling softly. They both know how much Chris cared for them, but they knew they couldn't stay.

"Sure."

A leaf flies by, landing on the pool water.

"Unfortunately, this is the last day we will spend with Princess Sophia, Sonic, and his friends. Tonight they must return to their own world."

"Personally, I don't see why It's such a problem if time suddenly comes to a stop," Amy speaks her opinion at breakfast. "If I don't get older, I won't get any wrinkles."

"But Amy, don't you think you'd get bored if you were forced to live the same day over and over again forever and ever?" Vanilla asks, sipping some tea.

"And if you don't get any older, you'll never get birthday presents," Cream adds.

"I didn't think of that," Amy replies sheepishly, changing her mind now. Chris stands up.

"I have school. Is Sophia coming too?"

"No, she said she didn't want people to mourn her leaving, so she's not going today," Amy tells him.

"Oh...okay. See you later..." He walks off, dejected that Sophia wouldn't come. People at school wouldn't get to see her again one last time...and he was hoping to talk her out of going home.

"Enjoy your day, Chris," Mr. Tanaka bows to him.

"Bye!" Nelson waves.

"Take care."

Down in the basement, Tails and Chuck continue to work on the machine that would send the off-worlders home. Chuck growls in frustration, wiping the sweat off of him.

"No good." They weren't making much progress.

"I wonder what we're doing wrong," Tails frowns at the circuit board.

* * *

"And on behalf of all our citizens, I extend our best wishes to Sophia, Sonic, and their friends." The president clears his throat, trying not to get emotional. "As you make the journey back to your home world, please know that this world will never forget your acts of courage and heroism."

Someone turns the TV off, sitting in front of the world map. Card Passer, the army general, is not all sad and wishing them well.

"What a blowhard," He has his foot laying on the desk. "That mealy-mouthed gutless wonder should've done something to get rid of those freeloaders a long time ago. Why build an expensive machine to get rid of them when a couple of well-aimed missiles could do the trick."

The phone rings and he picks it up. "Passer here."

"Commander, we think Eggman is up to something." It's one of his spies reporting in, who's watching Eggman not too far away.

"What's he doing?"

"He's working on something suspicious. What should we do?"

Eggman seems to be working on a chip. "Don't let Eggman out of your sight. Watch him like a hawk! I wanna know his every move and report to me directly. Is that clear?!"

"Yes sir!"

Passer hangs up, gritting his teeth. "Eggman's obviously planning to make one last sneak attack before he takes a hike. He thinks he can catch us with our guard down. We had a chance to get rid of Eggman once, but the president went wobbly. He was too scared civilians might get hurt. But Sophia was the one who talked him into backing out! She insulted my crew to get them to back off and now she'll pay the price!"

He launches an attack, sending hundreds of robots out to the city. "Well I'm going to finish off that freaky fanatic once and for all! And no lily-livered politicians is gonna stop me! Or some girl off her high horse! She doesn't get to order around my team!"

* * *

At school, it's lunch time as students are upset about the news. "I wish Sonic, Sophia, and the others didn't have to go back," Helen says sadly.

"On TV, they said time's gonna stop if they don't go home," Danny tells her, Helen looking at the ground.

"I know it's important and all...but, it's gonna be lonesome. I don't want things to go back to the way they were before Sophia and Sonic came." Without Sonic and Sophia, she would've never gotten to see those flowers, and her parents would've gone back to their own lives...her father is home more, and her parents spend more time with her. If they go home...she'd be all alone again...

Chris looks sad too, as he was feeling the exact same way as her. _From the first time we met, it seemed like Sophia, Sonic, and I were meant to be friends. Right from the start, we always looked out for each other. Now, what if they get in trouble and I'm not there to help them?_

A whirr breaks Chris out of his thoughts. They all look outside to see the robots that Commander Passer deployed. They seem to be everywhere as people gasp at the sudden attack.

"Open fire."

The robots fire deadly lasers, blowing Eggman's base to bits. "I wonder why our radar systems didn't detect that fleet," Eggman rubs his head, Decoe and Bocoe glancing to each other.

"Unfortunately..."

"We unplugged the radar." Eggman growls at them. "We wanted to watch TV!"

"This base needs more electrical outlets," Bocoe adds in. They all look up at the sky, screaming.

* * *

The president stands up. "I want to know who ordered this attack!" He looks at the bodyguards sternly, but they don't provide him with any answers.

"The president's office is secure, Colonel," One of them outside reports back.

Scarlet and her crew are parked outside the White House. A few bodyguards approach them from behind, Scarlet narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

 _They know something._

She approaches them, microphone in hand. "Why can't we get through to the president's office? Has something happened to him?"

The cameraman looks around at more of them, Scarlet looking in on concern.

* * *

Meanwhile, the robots show no mercy on the evil doctor. Two people spin dash into the area. Sonic and Sophia arrive at what was left of Eggman's hideout. "They're not fighting fair, Eggman. They got you totally outnumbered."

"They may have me completely surrounded with thousands of robotic attack craft, but I possess the one weapon that can easily defeat them all, which is my super superior brain!"

Sophia and Sonic jump out of the way as the trio are attacked once more by missiles. "it doesn't take a real big brain to see you're in trouble. You should leave."

"Your weapon can't save you if you're blown up and there's nothing there to defeat them with," Sophia smirks in amusement.

"Dr. Eggman never admits defeat!" Bocoe defends his boss. "Especially when he loses."

They look up as they hear a whistle coming towards them, screaming. Sonic catches the missiles, throwing it right back at the robots. Decoe and Bocoe shout in surprise that one of their enemies saved them.

"You will probably kick me in the compressors for saying this," Decoe starts off, "But I think you should listen to Sonic and the princess. This situation is hopeless."

"Even an egomaniac needs to be realistic sometimes," Bocoe adds in.

"No way!" Dr. Eggman denies, he'd rather rot than listen to his archenemies. "I'm gonna stay right here and hold my ground until there's no ground left to hold!"

"We'll stop those robots for you," Sophia glances at Sonic. "But first you have to leave. I'd like to think you value your life more than a stupid vendetta against them."

"Forget it!" Eggman shouts and the two jump away again from a missile. The three duck as best as they can, Sonic and Sophia landing back in front of them.

"We're giving ya one last chance, Eggman."

"Never mind Dr. Eggman."

"Just save us!"

Decoe and Bocoe clasp their hands together. "Pretty please?"

The two smirk, spin dashing into the air and hitting all of the robots. They all explode, the speedy friends grinning.

* * *

"This is Chalkboard Charlie," Mr. Stewart is hiding in an alley. "It's all clear here, do you read me? Over."

"This is Topaz," Topaz is standing on a roof not too far away, "I copy."

"Incredible, Sonic and Sophia are Dr. Eggman's archenemies, yet now they're coming to Eggman's rescue," Scarlet says and Passer grits his teeth at the live footage.

"I knew that hedgehog was a traitor too! Sonic, Sophia, and their flicky freedom movement's corrupting the whole country, and turning everybody into peaceniks! When dangerous pests infest your home, there's only one sure way to get rid of them, and that's exterminate 'em."

Rouge is sneaking into the White House by the vents. She opens the pane and drops inside, but the wall explodes in front of her. It turns out to be Knuckles as he dug through using the shovel claws.

"You're taking this breaking and entering business way too literally," Rouge comments.

"How'd you get here?" he asks curiously.

"Rouge, come in. What's happening in there?" Topaz's voice calls out. Rouge pulls out her walkie-talkie.

"Relax, Topaz, I ran into Knuckles. I'll let him tag along if he promises to be a good boy."

Knuckles' eyes widen at her.

"Rouge, some renegade agents are holding the president in his office. He's in danger. You two have to slip in there and free him, fast!"

"Roger."

"Good luck, Rouge."

"Who needs luck when you have talent and beauty?" Rouge smirks in amusement.

* * *

Meanwhile, robots are continuing to fire at Eggman. Sophia and Sonic jump out of the way while the evil trio run for cover. The two spin dash, destroying two robots as they concentrate on the others.

"Time for a merger!" Eggman orders as they're sitting in a ship.

"Confirmative!"

Eggman presses a button and the hut he was living in turns into a huge Egg Mobile. It flies up to the robots, looking at two ships that came from hut. "Merge now!"

"Roger."

The two ships join together to become one. "Behold my super fortress! The greatest fighting machine ever invented! The grand Egg Imperial!"

"We could save ourselves a lot of time and trouble if we abandoned ship now," Decoe suggests, knowing that these robots aren't going to back down.

"Right."

"Pipe down!" Eggman yells at them. "We have enough firepower to send those robots down in flames! Blast them with the laser cannons!"

"Roger!" The two robots reply reluctantly.

The multiple lasers are fired at all the robots, trying to destroy the army.

* * *

Rouge spins and kicks the government agents while Knuckles punches them. The president looks at the two in shock.

"I hope you don't mind us dropping in," Rouge smirks at him.

"No, I don't mind at all!" He smiles in relief.

"Mr. President!" Topaz suddenly comes into the room. She looks around at all the guards she was planning on saving him from.

"I'm fine, thanks to them," The president looks at Knuckles and Rouge. Topaz turns to them and they smile at her. She returns the smile, happy that the president was alright.

* * *

Robots continue to be terminated by Eggman until all of them sink into the water below. "I told you I didn't need your help, hedgehog and princess!" He brags, speaking using a megaphone. He laughs at the fact that he stopped the robots, and not them.

Sonic and Sophia look to each other, shrugging. "But since you two tried to save me, here's a little present for you." A little black box drops into Sophia's hand. She opens it up.

"What's this?" Sonic asks in confusion.

* * *

It's been found out that Commander Passer initiated the attack, and he is arrested shortly after. "We collared the commander, Mr. President," The police chief reports through a walkie talkie. "We're gonna march him off to the military police."

"Good work, officer. Take him away!"

"Tell the president I'm not sorry," Passer grits his teeth. "This country used to be strong, but now it's on the brink of disaster thanks to his support for Sonic and Sophia!" He's still ranting as they take him away. "You'll see, you'll all see!"

"He's got a point," Rouge admits to the president, who had heard the man. "Sonic and Sophia are okay, but sometimes Sonic's a real troublemaker. However, I won't say anything bad about Sophia, she's a good friend of mine.

"I'm no Sonic fan, but it was Eggman who caused Chaos Control and sent us here!" Knuckles reminds her, "It's all his fault our worlds joined together and we got in this mess!"

"I guess it doesn't matter who's to blame," Rouge corrects herself, "The important thing is to try and set things right again. We can worry about settling the score with Dr. Eggman once we make it back to our own world."

"We have to act at once," The president steps up, "The past isn't important. What's at stake now is our future. All of you must return to your world before time comes to a stop."

"We won't be going anywhere unless Tails and Professor Thorndyke finish their machine," Rouge replies as they haven't heard any reports all day.

* * *

Sophia and Sonic present to Tails what Eggman gave to them: a chip. "This is the last part we need! All we have to do is put it in the machine and we're set!"

"Let's test it out and make sure it works," Chuck suggests as Tails smiles happily. This was it, they could now save the world!

"Looks like we did it, Chuck!" Tails walks away, Sonic chuckling to himself. They didn't tell them where they got it from.

"With Eggman's help."

"Why did he have it, anyway..." Sophia murmurs to herself, but decides not to question it. However, if it was a trick, she'd go back and make him regret it.

 _This is the worst day of my life._ Chris is standing in front of the mirror, adjusting his tie. As much as he didn't want to, he wanted to support his friends going home... _Soon, Sonic and Sophia will be gone, forever. And we'll never see each other ever again._

Amy, Tails, and Chris get into the car with Chuck. Sonic's old plane is attached to the back. The others enter Lindsey's car. Nelson and Lindsey wave as the two cars leave, having already said their goodbyes.

 _Sonic's my best friend, and Sophia's my big sister. It's not fair._

"I think you should go and see them off, don't you?" Lindsey asks her husband in concern. A mother knows her son, and she knows fully well that Chris is not okay. Given his reaction, he wasn't going to let this situation go that easily.

"Sure, but Chris asked us not to come along, so we'll have to stay out of sight."

Chris looks out at the trees as they're heading off to the meeting point. He remembers last night with Sonic and Sophia.

 _Sonic and Sophia sat on the balcony, Chris standing next to Sonic. They were looking out to the sky, one of their favorite pastimes. There was just something about the stars that drew Sonic to look at them every night. For Sophia, it was because it reminded her of home. Chris looked at the pool, the same one where he met the two._

" _Hey, guys?" Chris turned to them._

" _Yeah, Chris?"_

" _What is it?"_

" _Do you two...really wanna go back to your world?"_

" _Well, we don't have a choice," Sonic and Sophia glanced to each other._

" _I always knew that I would have to go back...my home is my future land to take over once my parents step down," Sophia played with her nails._

" _As long as we've got places to run and explore, I'll be happy. And that Sophia and I can still hang out."_

 _Sophia chuckled, turning to the hedgehog. "I wouldn't care if I'm 50, I would never stop spending time with you, Sonic."_

" _That's good...and that you two would still be friends," Chris murmured. He won't have that anymore..._

" _Best friends," Sonic smiled slightly._

" _Yeah..." Sophia looked at the moon, her hair flowing behind her._

Chris frowns to himself, Sonic and Sophia sitting on the plane.

* * *

A large circle portal is the machine, Knuckles waiting for their arrival at the bridge. The cars come to a stop, Cream, Amy, and Rose running up to Helen, Danny, and Frances. Chris just lingers behind. Sophia's parents also arrive, taking their place next to Knuckles.

"Bye guys," Danny says sadly.

"We'll miss you," Helen states.

"We wish you didn't have to go," Frances smiles softly, trying not to cry. Sophia steps out of the pink car, walking up to the trio.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there at school today," She smiles regretfully. "I just...didn't want to face all the other students. Can you...say goodbye to them for me?"

"We will," Frances nods at her, pulling out something from behind. "We all teamed up and made this for you."

Sophia takes the rolled up paper, opening it up to see a class photo, with Sophia at front with a big smile. "The school picture!"

"We all signed it on the back," Helen points and Sophia turns it around, smiling softly. "Even Mr. Stewart!"

"Thank you so much...!"

Chris smiles just a bit at how happy Sophia looks upon receiving the present. Lindsey and Nelson are watching him a few feet away.

"Time to see if this machine works," Chuck says to Tails, who nods in determination.

"Yeah." It had to work. Otherwise the whole world would be doomed...

With bated breath, Tails presses a button, Chris looking up as it powers up. The portal shuts down, Chuck sweating sheepishly. It wasn't the final component that was the problem.

"We don't have enough power, Tails!"

"What'll we do?" Tails asks nervously. "The other emeralds are still missing!"

Chris tries not to look relieved. _If they don't get another emerald, they won't be able to cause Chaos Control! Sonic, Sophia, and the others will have to stay here!_

"You could use one of these," Sonic calls out from the plane, holding up the red emerald he and Sophia found.

"I almost forgot about that," Sophia rubs her neck sheepishly. He speeds by a worried Chris to Tails, who smiles.

"Great, we have enough power now!"

"Alright, Tails, let's power up!" Chuck smiles, the others smiling too. Mr. Tanaka, Ella, and Vanilla smile too, and this is going live right now by Scarlet's cameraman.

"Here goes," Tails inserts the emerald, watching the portal power up. They all have to cover their eyes from the light as it gets brighter, sending all the animals inside the machine, including Rose since she was found in Station Square.

"I'll see you soon, my friend," Sophia smiles softly as she watches Rose leave.

"I guess it won't be long before we're all back home, guys."

Eggman passes through soon after. "The pleasure was all yours! Ha ha ha!"

"Take care!"

"It was nice attacking you!"

"Did we have to bring him with us?" Sophia rolls her eyes. The portal shuts off again, Amy dropping her suitcase.

"Hey, why did it shut off?" She calls out to Tails.

"We can still go back home, can't we?" Cream asks in concern. Everyone else looks worried, Chuck shaking his head.

"There was a power burnout. We don't have enough energy now to send the rest of you back," He reveals solemnly, the other citizens and the president worried too. Chris is the only one who looks happy about it.

"I'm not giving up yet!" Tails turns to the panel, Chuck walking up to him.

"But Tails..."

"If I make some adjustments, I think I can draw even more power for the machine."

Chuck nods at him. "It's worth a try." Together, they take another try at the controls, just as Sam Speed shows up. Cream and Amy look confused as he leaves.

"He didn't even get out of the car!"

 _Maybe it's time for me to hang it up. There's not another competitor out there like Sonic and Princess Sophia. When they step through that gate, I'll lose the greatest challengers I ever had._

 _Sonic, holding Sophia in his arms, sped past Sam in a sonic boom, to his shock._

 _Good luck, you two, and thanks._

And with that, he leaves without turning back. "That was the fastest goodbye ever," Amy stares after Sam's car.

"I think he just broke another world record," Ella giggles with Amy and Cream, Chris staring at what Sam just did.

"Chuck, I think it's fixed."

"Let's give it a go," Chuck suggests, Tails nodding. He presses the button and a certain satellite powers up, giving the machine all the power it needed as a bright light hits it. "That light!"

"It's from...Space Colony Ark!" Tails realizes where it came from.

"Now we have all the power we need! Excellent work, Tails!"

Sonic and Sophia walk up to him. "You did great, buddy."

"As usual," Sophia smiles at the fox. Sonic gives his friend a thumbs up.

"Thanks!" Tails smiles at the praise, returning the gestures. Chuck gets tears in his eyes, hugging Tails.

"I'm going to miss you..."

Tails looks up with fond eyes. "Yeah...goodbye Chuck." He closes his eyes, tears threatening to fall. "You've been a great teacher...and an excellent friend too."

Tears fall down Chuck's face, Chris looking on at their friendship. He frowns at the portal.

A flower crown is planted on Cream's head. "We made this for you, Cream. We know how much you like flowers."

"It looks great on you," Frances says teary-eyed.

"You like it?" Danny asks, a flower crown on Cheese and Vanilla's heads too.

"Oh, thank you all!" Cream replies gratefully, so touched she's crying. "I love it! But not as much as I love all of you!" She reaches out and hugs Helen, who starts crying too. Ella wipes away her tears.

"Don't cry, Ella," Amy begs, if the woman started crying, she'd cry too. "Or you're gonna make me lose it too."

Tears fall down Ella's eyes as she holds a cactus. "Don't worry, I went to the plant store and bought myself a cactus to take care of."

"Oh..."

"I named it Amy," She reveals, "After you."

"That was sweet of you, Ella. Thanks," Amy can't help but cry. "Thanks for taking care of us. You and Mr. Tanaka made us welcome."

"It was our pleasure," Mr. Tanaka smiles sadly. "I wish...you could stay longer."

"Here," Ella holds out a book. "This might help you to remember me..."

Amy gasps as she takes it. She opens it up to see something. "You wrote down your favorite recipes so I can make them back home. Ella...!" She reaches out and hugs the woman as they're both crying. "Ella! What would I do without you?!"

"I don't know!"

Chris watches the two sobbing, not wanting to say goodbye. This shouldn't happen. They shouldn't have to do this. _In a second, Sonic and Sophia go through that gate. They'll be gone forever. But I'm not ready to say goodbye._

He looks on as Ella, Chuck, and Mr. Tanaka give Sophia's parents a scrapbook, of all the adventures Sophia went through while they were away. Valentina and Elliot give the three adults a group hug, sobbing.

Mr. Stewart and Scarlet can see the portal getting power from the satellite, watching it together. "Looks like this story's ending...but I still haven't figured out who _you_ really are."

"You'll have to keep investigating," He smiles playfully as he turns to her.

"Hurry!" Chuck calls out. "We can't keep the gate open long! You have to leave immediately! Before there's a power failure."

"Thank you for everything," Vanilla bows her head as she leaves with Cream and Cheese.

"It was nice knowing you! Bye bye!" She waves as they disappear through the portal. Danny, Helen, and Frances just watch.

"Thank you all!" Amy says as she's holding her suitcase, tears in her eyes. Ella sniffles, holding her napkin as she smiles happily. Mr. Tanaka bows his head.

Tails flies into the portal using the old plane, laughing. "It's been a blast!" Chuck salutes, trying not to cry further.

Chris looks at the portal. _Goodbye Cream, Amy, Tails. I'll never forget you._

Rouge presents a jewel to Topaz. "Take this before I change my mind. When I saw that gem in the jewelry store, I had to get it for you. It was a steal."

Topaz smiles fondly. At first, she thought that Rouge was just a thief, but now...she's much more than that. She tries not to cry at the fact that Rouge actually gave away a jewel. Rouge smiles, waving. "See ya." She waves as she disappears, Topaz immediately crying. Mr. Tanaka places a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

Valentina and Elliot pass through next. "Thank you for taking care of our daughter!" Elliot waves to everyone, sobbing. His wife rolls her eyes. Her husband could be a bit emotional.

"We will never forget what you've done for all of us..."

Knuckles, Sonic, and Sophia walk up to the portal. The echidna turns to them. "Soon we'll be back home, guys."

Sonic smirks while Sophia glances back at all their friends.

"Let's go." Knuckles walks through, Sonic and Sophia nodding.

"Okay."

"Sonic...Sophia..."

Before they can step through, they turn to Chris, who's smiling. "Say goodbye," Nelson urges nearby, "You know this is the right thing to do for both our worlds."

"You can do it, Chris," Lindsey whispers and the boy steps up to the two.

"Well, guys..."

"Chris..." They murmur as he stands in front of them.

"This is it." He holds out his hands. They shake them. "It's been cool. I'm glad we all met." He stares at them sadly as they're both smiling. "Bye Sonic...Sophia. And good luck."

He releases them and Sonic gives him a thumbs up, Sophia waving. He gives a thumbs up back and watches as they walk. He squeezes his eyes shut. He thought he could do this, but he can't. He's not ready.

The stop button is pushed, shutting off the power. Sonic and Sophia stare in shock, everyone gasping. The two turn around slowly to who had pushed it...

Chris.


	51. Friends Till the End

**Angel: I have been focusing on college work lately, so I keep rushing lately...**

 **Which is why I failed to mention that it's been over a year since I did this story ^^' I'm so embarrassed that I forgot...I just had to get all that work *annoyed* Oh wait, I remember why I didn't mention it. February 26** **th** **this year was a Tuesday XD I didn't update anything, so chapter 49 was when I was supposed to mention it.**

 **Well, it's been over two weeks, but happy belated anniversary, Sophia X. Be glad that a lot of people asked for you XD If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't exist. Congratulations on getting this far and I hope that I finish you soon...preferably before summer XD**

Guest: OH Chris what have you done don't you want Sonic and Sophia to get back home?

 **Chris: They're my best friends! I can't let them leave!**

 **Angel: Oh boy ^^'**

Challishanlon99: Uh oh, Chris I know that you're sad but remember what I said even though they'll be gone for a while they'll come back because I have a feeling that you have more adventures than ever besides I know how it feels and I have a feeling that Sonic and Sophia feel that way too but you can't force them to stay I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything I'm just saying anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more and Chris please don't be sad and think about what you're doing.

 **Chris: I'm doing what's best for our friendship.**

 **Angel: They can't come back, they'll be risking time again.**

 **Chris: I don't care! They can't leave!**

Johanvanguard: It was nice to see that everyone is getting ready for the last day of Sonic and the others on Earth before they go back to their world, except Chris. Commander Passer really made things difficult by attacking Eggman and keeping the President in his office. Thanks to Sonic, Sophia, and the others, Commander Passer and his men were stopped, and Eggman gave the heroes the chip, as a gift, needed for the portal. There were some really emotional and heartfelt farewells between Sonic and Sophia's friends and Chris' family and friends. It was shocking that Chris wasn't ready to say farewell to Sonic and Sophia and stopped them from leaving. For the next chapter, I wonder what Sophia might do or say to make Chris change his mind.

 **Angel: Commander Passer was a total jerk. Hated him. Even more than Eggman, and that's saying a lot.**

 **Sophia: At least Eggman is more tolerable and can be nice...sometimes. And yes, when they gave me the school picture, I tried not to cry. It's just so nice! *holds it up* How can you not appreciate this?**

 **Angel: Chris didn't want them to leave. I'd almost do it too if the world wasn't at risk.**

Bajy: Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: You okay? You've left the same message for a while now.**

GreenD109: It's always hard to say goodbye to the ones you love. For some people, it's harder to accept the facts, but we can't deny that there will always come a time to say goodbye to one chapter in your life and to begin a brand new chapter of your life, but there's one thing that'll forever be with you, and that's the fond memories you've shared with your friends and/or loved ones. I just hope that Chris can come to accept that fact soon. Probably before both his world and Sonic and Sophia's world freezes in time forever.

 **Angel: Reminds me of when I lost my great uncle Ronald...he died in a plane crash when I was 12 *frowns* I really loved him. He was so fun to hang out with...oh well. I moved on from pre-teen to teen. I still miss him, but he'd want to be remembered.**

Dream lighting: Wow caught up sorry for not reviewing so long my poor dog badly hurt his tail vets every 3 days been busy love this book looking forward to season 3 wished they made a movie

 **Angel: Oh my god, that's awful! Hope your dog recovers and lives on. And technically, they had an OVA called Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie back in 1996 (I wasn't even born yet XD). And there's the upcoming Sonic movie this year, but...we don't speak of those.**

Devin sands: After reading this chapter I want to ask even after finding out the truth from Shadow will Sophia age like a normal human being?

 **Angel: Why does this question keep appearing XD I think that's the third time. Anyway, no. She's still a Xenian, she has their aging. It takes forever for them to actually look their age. Her parents don't even look 30 and they've been alive for thousands of years now. Even if she is technically a human, she's still a Xenian, so she still has their physical characteristics. Can't do anything about it either. If they changed it back, if there was a way (PS there's not), she'd disappear because of how long she's lived.**

 _Chris stared at the portal as Scarlet and Mr. Stewart saw the light from a few feet away. "Looks like this story's ending. But I still haven't figured out who you really are."_

" _You'll have to keep investigating."_

" _Hurry!" Chuck called out, "We can't keep the gate open long! You have to leave immediately, before there's a power failure!"_

 _Vanilla bowed her head as she left with a waving Cream and Cheese. "Thank you for everything."_

" _It was nice knowing you! Bye bye!"_

 _Frances tried to hold in her tears. Amy was next, holding her suitcase as she had tears in her eyes._

" _Thank you all!"_

 _Ella held her hankerchief, sniffling as Mr. Tanaka bowed his head sadly._

 _Tails laughed as he exited using Sonic's old plane. "It's been a blast!"_

 _Chuck saluted to him, tears in his eyes._

 _Chris looked at the portal._ _Goodbye Cream, Amy, Tails. I'll never forget you._

" _Take this before I change my mind," Rouge held out a jewel for Topaz. "When I saw that gem in the jewelry store, I had to get it for you. It was a steal!"_

 _Topaz smiled softly at her friend, trying not to cry in front of her. Rouge smiled slightly, waving. "See ya." She passed through the portal and Topaz immediately broke down into tears. Mr. Tanaka placed a comforting hand on her shoulder._

 _Valentina and Elliot passed through the portal next. "Thank you for taking care of our daughter!" Elliot waved to them, tears falling down his face as he sobbed. Valentina rolled her eyes._

" _We will never forget all you have done for us..."_

 _Knuckles, Sophia, and Sonic walked up to the portal, the echidna turning to them. "Soon we'll be back in our own world, back home..."_

 _Sonic smirked, Sophia smiling softly. "Let's go."_

 _Knuckles passed through the portal, the two nodding. "Okay."_

" _Sonic, Sophia."_

 _They stopped in their track, turning around to see Chris. He smiled, Lindsey and Chris watching him not too far away._

" _Say goodbye," Nelson urged, "You know this is the right thing to do for both our worlds."_

" _You've got to do it," Lindsey whispered, hoping that both of them could be heard. Chris walked up to them._

" _Well, guys..."_

" _Chris," They both smiled at him._

" _This is it," He held out both his hand and they shook them. "You're my best friend and big sister. It's been cool. I'm glad we all met." Why do you have to leave? There must be another way to solve this problem. "Bye Sonic...Sophia, and good luck." He eventually released them. No!_

 _Sonic gave Chris a thumbs up while Sophia waved. Chris returned it. Please don't go!_

 _As they walked up to the portal, Chris squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't let you leave!"_

 _He pushed the button and the portal stopped to everyone's shock. The two slowly turned to Chris as he stood there._

Sonic and Sophia are shocked by what Chris has just done. "Sonic, Sophia!" He shouts, running over to them. They say nothing as he grabs their hands and runs off with them!

"CHRIS!" Chuck shouts, but Chris doesn't listen as he disappears into the forest with his friends. At night, they're still running.

"Chris!" Sonic calls out, but Chris does not answer. He grips onto their hands, Sonic gripping them back. Sophia realizes just how much he didn't want them to leave, both her and Sonic taking the lead.

"Guys...?"

Sonic smiles a bit, Chris smiling too as he realizes that they valued his friendship. They continue to run, Chuck talking to the others.

"I hope that boy comes to his senses before it's too late," Chuck scolds and they hear a rustle from the trees. Mr. Tanaka and Topaz emerge from the forest.

"Are they...?"

"We could not find them anywhere," Mr. Tanaka shakes his head. Lindsey turns to Nelson in worry, wondering just how far Chris was willing to risk just to have them here.

"We'll never find him now without help," Topaz explains, "The police will have to set up a large-scale search." She closes her eyes. "As you know, this is serious. We have to find them quickly."

"Yes," Chuck looks at the control panel. "We don't have much time to cause Chaos Control and send the two back. Soon, the melding of our two worlds will cause time to slow to a stop."

"Chris..." Lindsey whispers, Nelson holding onto her. He looks out to the night sky, hoping that Chris will change his mind...and prevent this from happening. It was all up to him now.

* * *

The next morning, they still hadn't returned back. Walking through Station Square, Chris is thinking about what to do. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Sonic admits, Sophia looking a little worried.

"Well, we can't go back home. We...hey guys, look." They follow his gaze to see a bike. Chris rides it, Sonic sitting at the back. Sophia runs next to them, but not as fast as she usually would. He rides down the street as Sonic looks relaxed about the situation.

A boy takes the mail for his house when he realizes that someone took his bike that was meant to be thrown away. "Hey Mom, somebody took my old bike."

"Your father left it in the city. He thought somebody could use it."

The boy looks dismayed as he walks back inside.

The trio have reached the mountain area. "How far should we go, guys?"

"We can go as far as you want to, Chris," Sonic winks at Sophia. "And as far as Sophia can run!"

"Okay!" He agrees as Sophia nods. She is slightly worried for her parents, but if Chris didn't want her to leave, she'd stay as long as she needed to. But for today only.

A tree has lost most of its leaves as Chris pants, now near the desert. He had no idea how long he'd been pedaling.

"We have to stop somewhere."

"I usually just keep running until I find some place I like," Sonic suggests as they're at a mostly empty diner. "The best trips are the ones you don't plan, not knowing where you'll end up is part of the adventure."

Chris puts down his soda, Sophia taking a bite out of her salad. "The world sure seems big when you can go anyplace." He looks out the window, turning back to his friends sitting across from him. "Are you sure there's no place you guys wanna go to?"

Sonic opens an eye, eating his burger. "I think we've already gone every place we wanna go."

"I have teleportation, so even if I missed a spot while running...well," Sophia shrugs, stating the obvious.

"Right, I forgot how much you guys like to travel," Chris beams at them. "You probably ran across the whole planet already."

"That's why we're happy to go wherever you say," Sonic explains, Sophia wiping her mouth.

"It's always fun to go anywhere with a friend."

"Okay, well let's see," He looks at a map he got. "The beach is definitely out. The desert's too hot," He takes a bite out of his food.

Sonic and Sophia turn around as they hear the TV being turned on. "This is an SSN update. Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia have been abducted. Authorities are looking for this boy, Christopher Thorndyke," Chris' picture appears next to the reporter, "The only child of corporate tycoon Nelson Thorndyke and actress Lindsey Thorndyke."

Chris sweats at the fact that his picture is going to be everywhere now. "Who has issued this emotional plea."

Lindsey appears on screen, live from the mansion. "Chris, darling, oh. Your father and I are worried about you!" She starts sobbing, the three staring with their mouths wide open. "Please, come home!"

Since the owner saw Chris, they leave as soon as possible. "When you have famous parents, you can't do anything without the world finding out," He grumbles, smiling sheepishly as he glances at Sophia. "Oh, sorry, Sophia. It must be the same thing for you."

"No," Sophia shakes her head. "My parents respect my privacy...well, Father reluctantly does, anyway. Most people know what I do already. Not that I mind."

"They must be pretty worried," Sonic says to Chris.

"Oh yeah? How come they're not worried when I need 'em to be?" Chris asks while panting. Sonic and Sophia glance to each other. _They don't seem worried either, and Sophia's parents might be just as worried as mine. She has a world that she's responsible for, the heir to the throne! Maybe I should go back._

Sonic opens an eye, sensing that Chris is onto him. He sees a car up ahead and turns around, noticing helicopters following after him. He comes to a stop, recognizing the vehicles. "Those are my dad's!"

Sonic jumps off the bike. "Well Chris? You give up?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Okay," Sonic gives a thumbs up. "Then wait right here."

He watches Sophia and Sonic speed up to the truck holding out their hands. The driver shouts, coming to an abrupt stop. They jump away and he looks up to see nothing. "Hey, where'd they go?"

They peek from the roof at him and he shouts in surprise. "Can ya give us a lift?"

* * *

He takes off with them in the car, Chris leaving the bike behind. Sonic and Sophia lay down in the hay from the back, Chris determined to let nothing stop him. He looks out to the mountains, looking back at his friends. So this is what they feel when they run...serenity.

The helicopters pass by, not noticing the truck getting away.

"Thanks again. Bye," Chris says as they're in the mountains, deeper into the area.

"Bye."

"Bye bye!" Sophia waves to the driver.

"Let's go," Chris takes the lead, the two following after him. While walking, Sophia sees the birds, smiling a bit. A squirrel crawls down a tree, watching the trio walk while eating an acorn. Chris climbs over a tree, watching his two friends jump over with ease, jumping quickly from rock to rock. Sophia looks back to the surprised boy, hands on her hips. He laughs sheepishly at how slow he is, Sonic giving him a thumbs up.

* * *

While walking on a train track, Chris turns to them. "Sophia, Sonic, have you ever been to this place before?"

"I might've run past it once," Sonic looks around.

"I remember," Sophia speaks up, "I was here to look for Shadow..."

"It's pretty easy to forget," Chris looks out to the grass. "You move so fast and you've been so many places. Maybe you'll forget about me someday too..."

"We do forget." Chris closes his eyes at that. "But it'd be impossible for us to forget you." He opens them, whipping around to the duo.

"You mean it?"

"Of course we do. How can I forget somebody who's got us in so much trouble?" Sonic chuckles, Sophia giggling.

Chris smiles sheepishly at all the times he's tried to help. He starts running down the track, Sophia and Sonic following after them.

* * *

They take a snack break at a bench. "Guess everybody's looking for us," Chris looks at his cookie. Sophia breaks a piece of bread from her jacket to give to the birds.

"We won't be too easy to find. It's a big planet," Sonic points out, taking a bite of his cookie.

"Yeah, we could hide out for a long time," Chris looks down at the birds. "They might stop looking for us. Even...my family." He stands up. "Let's go."

Sonic and Sophia glance at each other before following after him. Right now, all he needed was his friends.

* * *

Chris starts crawling up a waterfall using the rocks, Sonic and Sophia watching him. He struggles to climb, the dup speeding up to in front of him. They hold out their hands and he takes them. The two pull him up, giving a smile. He smiles back for the help. Just like they always do...

They walk through the forest together, panting. Chris glances back at the hedgehog and princess, who's holding his jacket for him. He gets a determined look and quickens his pace, the other two glancing at each other in confusion. Chris then starts running up the path, the two wondering his motivation all of a sudden.

Chris trips on a rock.

"Chris!"

Sonic and Sophia speed over to him as he falls onto the ground. "Here, let us give you a hand."

"Huh?" Chris looks up, but he doesn't accept the hand. "I don't need a hand. I can do it myself. Come on."

"Well...if you're sure," Sophia blinks slowly as he walks past them, watching as he runs and then comes to a stop. They follow him to see that they're standing on a cliff, gasping in shock.

"We've never been here before." They're looking at a lake that is overlooked by the mountains, a few trees in the distance. The sunshine reflects nicely on the water. It was almost as if they were looking at a postcard picture. "How'd you know about this place?"

* * *

"I don't understand what's taking you so long!" Nelson shouts into the phone, Lindsey sobbing on the chair. "You have all our choppers searching? Well then buy some more! Call up the air force, rent some of their planes too! Put the business on hold! I want the entire company working on this 24/7 until Chris is found! I don't care how much it costs! I just want my son found now!"

"Oh, I can't imagine what Elliot and Valentina are going through right now. Nelson, let's broadcast a message that Chris can have whatever he wants if he comes home," Lindsey looks up from her wet napkin. "Call the toy store and tell them to send one of everything."

"Hey, I have a better idea. Let's buy Chris his own toy store!" He starts to call a company.

"I hope this works. I want Chris back!" Lindsey sobs, Chuck bursting into the room.

"What do you think you're doing?" He looks angry, stepping up to the shocked parents. Ella and Mr. Tanaka are standing behind him, looking sad. "Put that phone down. Do it!"

Nelson gulps at his father's tone, hanging up and nodding. Chuck had to make them see what they're actually doing. "You're making a big mistake, son. You can't rely on your corporate empire to bring your son back home because that's part of what's driving him away. You won't convince Chris to return until you understand the reason why he left in the first place. Now, why do you think Chris ran off? Was it only because of Sonic and Sophia? Or was Chris afraid that when his friends left, he'd be all alone again like he was before?"

Nelson looks up in shock, only now realizing how much of an impact the two have had on their son.

"You won't get Chris back unless you prove you want to be together as a family."

"But how?" Nelson asks after his father's lecture.

"What should we do? We'll do anything to find him," Lindsey whispers softly.

"Well you don't have to use fleets of helicopters or bribe him with toys on TV. Think about what Sophia's parents did when they found out she was here on Earth during their trip. They didn't bribe her, or used their technology to find her. They found her themselves. Chris wants to be found, not by government forces or by your employees, but by his mother and father. My guess is that Chris is someplace where he knows you can find him. Go there, before it's too late."

Nelson drops the phone in shock.

"Oh Chris," Lindsey cries again, Nelson hugging her.

* * *

Chris, Sonic, and Sophia arrive at a lake house as the sun starts to set. "You know this place?"

"Yeah. I used to come here every summer with my mom and dad, when I was a little kid." He tries to pick the lock, but it's bolted shut. "It's no use." He peeks inside at the dark house. "One year we just stopped coming. They kept saying we'd come back the next summer, but they were always too busy."

He hears a noise and sees that Sophia had picked the lock with her hair pin. "Looks like we're in," Sonic smiles sheepishly as he didn't know she could do that. Chris smiles back, giving a thumbs up.

"Where'd you learn how to pick locks?" Chris asks curiously.

"Sh...a friend," Sophia glances away and they stay in silence.

* * *

They look up at the moon, getting ready to make a fire as it's now nighttime. "Hey guys!"

The two turn back to the boy, who's carrying a bushel of sticks. "I collected some firewood." He trips and before he could drop them, Sonic speeds over and catches them. Sophia helps Chris onto his feet.

"You okay, Chris?"

"I'm fine," He tells them.

"Want some help?"

"No thanks," He denies again, standing up. He wanted to show them that he can do things on his own, without them having to save him all the time. He grabs the sticks. "I can do it myself."

"Okay," Sonic says slowly, Sophia putting her hands on her hips.

"Myself, myself. Okay then, grouch," She walks off to grab the bucket of fish that she caught today.

 _They're probably mad that I stopped them from going home. I wonder why they came with me. Sophia's always talking about how it's important for her to go back because of her position, so why hasn't she mentioned it?_

Sophia cooks the fish as the two boys warm their hands by the fire. She turns around the stick to flip the fish.

"Sonic? Sophia?"

They hum, turning to him. "You guys haven't said anything about how I kept you from going home."

The two glance at each other, Sophia laying down the fish on a large leaf. "We were waiting to hear what you had to say."

"...Sophia, Sonic," Chris starts off as Sophia hands him his dinner. "Why did you come with me? Are you gonna stay?"

"That's up to you," Sonic states to his confusion.

"Uhh...uh, so if I say...I don't want you to go back home, will you...stay here with me forever?"

Sophia says nothing as she takes out the bones from her fish, throwing them over her shoulder. Sonic looks at him straight in the eye. "I'll do whatever you tell me to do." Chris' eyes widen in shock. "You saved me when I first came to this world."

"I...I've learned so much while I was here. I learned about your customs. I learned at school, and made friends, human friends," She points to Sonic before he could say anything. "And I learned things that I didn't even know existed about me...and all that time, I was with you, Chris. So yes, I would stay."

She knew that she's giving up her responsibilities, but for Chris, she would do it. He was like the little brother she never had.

Chris narrows his eyes, standing up. "So that's it! You've been acting like my friends all this time because you thought you owed me!"

"That's not true," Sonic tells him gently.

"We're not friends because we felt like we owed you. That's not what friendship is about," Sophia tries to calm him down.

"You felt like you had to be my friends cuz I pulled you out of that pool and you discovered yourself!"

 _Sonic gasped as he saw the pool, cringing nervously. "A-A pool?" He sweated sheepishly, glancing at Sophia. "Uh...oh." He tried running away, but all the gravity did was make him fall. "See ya!"_

 _As he fell, Sophia pulled out her parasol and opened it, making her fly away from the pool due to the wind. Sonic wasn't as lucky and he fell, causing a big splash._

" _Sonic!" Sophia cried out. If she could, she'd swim after him, but she didn't want to alarm anyone, so the only option was to go inside._

 _Chris woke up as Sonic fell to the bottom. He tried jumping out, but he didn't have enough power, sinking own again. He looked around and saw a ladder at the other side. He tried to run there, but the water prevented him from running._

 _He looked outside the pool as Sophia found the entrance, pausing. She didn't want to disturb anyone at this hour, but she had no choice. Sonic was in danger._

 _Chris looked outside the window, eyeing he pool. He ran out of his room and ran down the stairs just as Sophia entered the house. When Chris reached the bottom, they noticed each other's presence and gasped, not expecting to see one another._

 _Sophia ran out the door and Chris followed her to the pool, where Sonic tried to reach the ladder, but he couldn't reach it at his slow speed. He gave up and crossed his arms as another splash was heard. Sonic looked up, surprised to see the boy and not his friend. Chris reached his hand and started to pull him out of the surface._

"And you paid me back by pretending to be my friends." Tears come to his eyes as he continues to accuse them.

"No, Chris," Sonic smiles softly. "You know that we really are your friends."

"You are...?"

"Yes," Sophia nods at him. "Rescuing Sonic didn't matter. You're still our friend regardless of what you did for him."

"If you need us to stay here with ya, then we will. You just have to decide. It's up to you."

"If it had to be anyone, I'm glad it's you choosing," Sophia smiles softly and he stares at them. Didn't they care about time stopping? Why are they making him choose?

"We can go home or stay. The decision is yours."

He wanted them to stay, right? But to choose Sophia's fate...he knows how much she had to do at home...and what about her parents? He couldn't just take her away from them.

"Well...I'm not sure. I'd be happier if you stayed in this world. If time does stop, we can stay here forever. Our friendship would never have to end. But guys...don't stay here...if it's gonna make you unhappy."

The two glance at each other in shock, smiling. "Don't worry about us. As long as there's somewhere to run," Sonic speeds off, causing Sophia's hair to fly. "I'll be happy. I really wouldn't mind staying here with ya. Honest. And as long as Sophia can continue searching for Shadow, I think she'll be okay."

"Yeah..." Sophia smiles sadly, even though she'd already searched everywhere. She wished she had a clue...

"But...but you can't stay here, guys. It wouldn't be right, would it? I can't let time stop just cause I don't wanna lose your friendship. It was wrong of me...to try to keep you two in this world. I don't want Sophia's parents to worry about not having their daughter...or for her to not take care of your world. That's her responsibility. It's just...I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet," His voice wavers as he tries not to cry in front of them. "You've always been there for me when I needed you, but in the end, I let you down. I'm sorry!" Tears fall down his cheeks. "I was just selfish." He gets onto his knees. "Please forgive me." He continues crying as the wet tears drop onto the grass.

Sonic and Sophia walk up to him, placing one hand each on his shoulders. "Hey, no tears."

"Please don't cry, Chris," Sophia whispers softly and he looks up at them.

"When you're both gone, I'll be alone again, like I was before you came."

 _A younger Chris looked at the doors of his house._ "Ever since I was little, I've been waiting for a friend like you, Sophia and Sonic." _He looked at the group of little toys marching on the table, wishing he could be in a group like that._ "It's just so hard to say goodbye..."

They jump onto a rock behind him, looking up at the night sky. "Maybe this isn't goodbye. Maybe our worlds were meant to come together somehow. If that's true, then we will see each other again...someday."

Sophia steps up to the lake. "This world...I never thought I'd want to protect it so much, but...I do. Because...this was my true home. It was where I was actually born. Granted, I was in a space colony away from here, but it still counts. And when you leave home...you leave something behind."

She unties her hair that was in a ponytail, letting it fall. She holds up a pair of scissors and the two watch in shock as she cut it. Sophia smiles at the cut hair, her locks now waist-length. She bends down and buries it into the ground.

"There. Now this world can have something to remember me by." She turns to the two and smiles. "Because we will see each other again."

"Someday..." Chris smiles at what she did, hugging the both of them.

"In the meantime, whenever we miss each other, we can look at the moon. It looks the same from both worlds, you know."

"And you can come here and look at my hair," Sophia chuckles with a wink.

* * *

Nelson and Lindsey dash through the forest as this was the only place they knew was important to Chris. "Chris was so happy when we came here years ago. He's here, I'm sure!"

"I bet Chris is waiting for us, and we'll have a chance to make everything up to him now!" Nelson declares as they approach the lake house. They look around and see the fire has been put out. Lindsey gasps and Nelson points his flashlight.

There was Chris, standing there at the dock.

"Chris!"

"Chris!"

Sophia and Sonic aren't with him.

He turns around and smiles at them. He did it...

He let them go.


	52. A New Start

**Angel: Here we are, guys! The final episode for season 2! And then we'll be on the third and final season of Sophia X! And then I'll finally be done with anything to do with Sonic. About time. I'll let you guys know what I plan to do when I'm done with this story.**

 **Also, you may know Chris' adult voice actor: Michael Sinterniklaas. He voiced Leonardo in the 2003 TMNT show (oh my god, is this fate or something since I wrote that show and I love TMNT?). He's also Nathaniel in Miraculous Ladybug (another favorite of mine). And he's also Dean Venture in the Venture Bros (not a favorite, but I watch it occasionally). For that reason alone, I love this episode. I didn't really remember that he voiced Chris as an adult since I wasn't watching TMNT at the time of both shows' airings in 2003. I only watched TMNT 2003 about 2 years ago and it clicked to me when I was writing this. Anyway, onwards! Fangirling over XD**

 **Oh! I won't be here the rest of the week to update this, so I'm updating it now. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so I wouldn't have time if I waited. I'm spending five days at my cousin's place and my laptop...well, it's not in the best shape to take it with me. It's still functional (or else I wouldn't be here), but it's so worn from the outside that I can't possibly take it. Anyway, see you guys next week.**

Johanvanguard: It's interesting that Chris dragged Sonic and Sophia to so many different places while evading capture. It's nice that Sonic and Sophia didn't mind it and were okay with whatever decision Chris made. I'm glad that Chuck knocked some sense into Chris' parents and told them that they needed to find Chris and no one else. Sophia cutting her hair and leaving part of it buried in the ground was shocking, but pretty cool. In the end, it was fantastic that with some wise words from Sonic and Sophia that Chris did the right thing and let them go home. Chris' parents finding him at the lake house was nice. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to returning home and how the others will react to her new look.

 **Angel: Well...Chris was just really upset that they were leaving. I would be too...though, my friends didn't move away, it was the other way around since I moved when high school was over ^^' I had Sophia cut her hair as a symbol of herself still being on Chris' world, since technically, she is a human. Kinda like with Serena from Pokemon X and Y season, but I hate short hair, so Sophia's hair is now waist-length. As for Sophia, you'll see who she greets when she returns with Sonic.**

Scrappy Doo Fan: Wow, I have been gone for a LONG time...glad to be back. Still, in the end Chris managed to make a difficult choice. That took courage, and I guess that's pretty cool.

 **Angel: Time just flies by...**

Bajy: Awesome. The next episode after this is one of my favorites in season 2. Looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: For me, it is a favorite. I just don't like to be reminded that this story exists...**

Suntan140: Can't wait for part 2. I'm rooting for Shadow x Sophia.

 **Angel: That ship is still being thrown around?**

Challishanlon99: I'm proud of you Chris remember what I said I know you will see them again maybe sooner than you think anyway thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more and Chris I really hope that you're not mad at me but if you are that's okay.

 **Angel: Hey, don't hint that he'll see them again XD**

Guest: Update please

 **Angel: Updates are only on Thursdays. If you've been reading recent chapters, you'd know that. It was previously on Tuesdays too, but I'm not that far ahead on season 3 to update that soon in the week.**

Dreamlighting: Next season Chris goes to their world happy she finds Shadow my dog fine final check next week cone comes off his tail is almost fully healed been stressful month and half keep going love it

 **Angel: At first I didn't understand what you said until I looked at it again and figured it out. Glad to hear your dog is doing okay. My sister loves dogs while I tolerate them. I am allergic to their fur, so I stay away from them. Anyway, thank you.**

Devin sands: Hey I don't know if you can do this but after you do the final episode why not make an epilogue make up your own ending.

 **Angel: Let me stop you right there. I will not because asking for this story was fair enough. The fans have asked enough out of me and honestly, after this story, I'm moving on to other things. I'm not that attached to write my own ending for this.**

The sky is cloudy over their world as a giant ship looms over it. "Attention! I have an important announcement that I'm sure you'll hate!" Eggman chuckles evilly into his microphone. "Your favorite fiend has returned, your king of calamity, the awesome Dr. Eggman! I am delighted to inform you that this planet will soon be under my power! It is pointless to try and resist me! Surrender immediately, or you will all be destroyed!"

The small animals run away from the city, coughing.

"If Sonic and Sophia were back in this world, we would have seen them by now," Decoe tells his boss.

"We're wasting our time! They must've decided they liked that other planet better," Bokkun calls out.

"I'm positive Princess Sophia and Sonic followed me here. They would never let their archenemy get away," Eggman brags on his hunch. No one had seen the two for several weeks now ever since they returned, as they weren't aware of what happened to them back in Station Square. Valentina and Elliot had made posters, asked around, and searched the whole palace, but Sophia was nowhere to be found. It's as if she disappeared into thin air.

"I am not sure, doctor. Perhaps Sophia and Sonic got bored fighting with you," Bocoe turns a page from his book.

"Working for him is even worse," Decoe comments, hand on his cheek.

"Let's just get this over with!" Bokkun shouts in annoyance, angering Eggman.

"Now hear this! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, SUBJECT TO MY RULE OR I WILL KNOCK OUT THIS WHOLE WORLD! YOU HEAR ME, SONIC AND SOPHIA?! SOOOONIC! SOPHIAAAA!"

There's no response.

* * *

Amy pours a cup of tea for Valentina, taking a sip of her own cup. "Ah, just the way I like it."

"We're really happy you stopped by to visit, Miss Amy and Queen Valentina," Cream smiles happily, Cheese trying to cheer up Rose. She's curled up in Valentina's hands, sniffling.

"So have you thought about that offer we made the other day? Would you like to come live here?" Vanilla asks Amy in excitement. Amy closes her eyes fondly.

"Thanks for the invitation...but I...can't accept."

"Why?!" Cream stands up with pleading eyes. "We want you to stay here with us! We really care about you!"

"Please, Cream," Vanilla tries to calm her down as Amy opens her sparkling eyes.

"I know. I'm really glad I have a friend like you, but you don't have to worry about me. It's been lonely without Sonic around, but...I know...he'll come back."

"Along with my daughter..." Valentina speaks up softly. "I know that she is not mine, but I still love her. She's my only child. I just hope...that she's safe!" She tries not to cry as Elliot had done enough crying for the both of them. Every day, he would just look out the balcony, holding Sophia's portrait. It's as if he's waiting...waiting for her to arrive back.

* * *

Elliot is just looking at the picture, caressing it. She looks royal...ready to accept her destiny despite knowing everything...and...

His only heir.

His child.

Gone.

He's had the guards search for days and nothing. What happened to her? Was she kidnapped? Or...

Did she hate them so much that just now she's doing something about it?

"I am so sorry," He sobs, hugging the picture. "If I had spoken before...you would be right here...with us...I could not make you happy. I could not be a better father. But...if this was what you wanted...I stand by you, my daughter. My Sophia..."

"Father?"

He lifts his head up at the soft voice and looks out the window to see a smiling Sophia. "My baby!" He jumps right through the window, landing on the grass. He looks back up, only to see that she's gone.

Another illusion...

* * *

"I am back!" Eggman's voice brings Amy out of her thoughts. "And better than ever!" Amy frowns in annoyance. "I've come to publicize my dastardly designs for building the Eggman Empire! I'm all set to spread misery and mayhem around the globe! You better quit your foot dragging and race to the rescue, Sonic and your royal pain! Otherwise this world will have to face the music!"

Suddenly, a disco ball appears, lighting up the ship with lights. He places his hands on his hips, shaking them.

"How embarrassing," Bocoe replies as they just stare.

"What dance is that?" Bokkun asks in confusion, Decoe leaning towards them.

"I think it is called the jerk."

Something hits their ship, causing all of them to fall onto the ground. "What was that?!" Bocoe sits up with wide eyes.

"I think something hit us!"

A Piko Piko Hammer is stuck to their ship, creating a hole. "Hey! Who is the wise guy that hammered our hull?!" Bocoe demands as they look outside.

"There's something about that hammer that looks awfully familiar..." Eggman murmurs, Decoe turning to the pink hedgehog standing outside Cream's house.

"Amy! Why did you hit us?! We were not bothering you!"

"Don't you have any idea what time it is?!" Amy yells up at them. "Turn down the volume or I'll knock that flying loudspeaker out of the sky!"

Eggman growls at the interruption. No one orders him around. "Just because your boyfriend's not here, don't take it out on me!" Eggman retorts back.

"That is right."

"You should not blame Dr. Eggman."

"It certainly isn't my fault he hasn't shown up yet," Eggman says, Valentina stepping outside.

"I bet the reason Sonic stayed back on that other planet was cause he couldn't stand to be with you anymore! And Sophia probably didn't want her overbearing parents to treat her like a trophy!"

Fire surrounds the hedgehog, the same happening with Valentina. Cream, Vanilla, Cheese, and Rose immediately close the door and windows as they growl.

"Talk about fired up," The three minions hug each other.

"They'll cook our goose!"

"Perhaps we should say we are sorry," Decoe suggests, looking up at Eggman.

"They're the ones who are gonna be sorry if they mess with me! What's the worse the queen could do? She's not as strong as her own daughter. You better cool off, cupcakes. We've got your hammer up here so you can't touch us!"

As soon as he says that, a new hammer appears in Amy's right hand. She grips it tightly as Queen Valentina pulls out a sword. They all shout in fear.

"Another one!"

"She has more hammers than a hardware store!" Bokkun looks at it nervously.

"Don't strike me just because you've struck up with Sonic!" Eggman scrunches up his nose. Amy and Valentina yell.

"You creep!"

"Where's your boyfriend?" Eggman teases back.

"Don't tease her, she's mad enough already!"

"That's because Sonic dumped her and Sophia abandoned her!"

"I was NOT. DUMPED!" Amy exclaims sharply.

"Stop trying to tarnish my daughter's name!"

"Oh yeah? Then how come they're hiding from you on another planet?!" Amy throws her hammer while Valentina jumps up and slices at the metal in anger.

Knuckles and Rouge are watching the display, chuckling. "Amy's not too happy."

"She's been like that since we came back. The king and queen aren't themselves either," Rouge points out.

"I know why. Amy misses having Sonic around to hang out with. And Sophia's parents...well, that's easy. They miss her. She is their only child, after all. Not biologically, but she's all they have. Not seeing your only family...it can be hard to not see them after a while. You start to worry like crazy, like the King. I heard that he's got the whole planet surrounded for them to report if Sophia comes back."

Rouge glances at Knuckles with a smirk. "Yeah...this planet can get pretty lonely. I wonder why Sonic or Sophia still haven't shown up. What do you think?"

Knuckles shrugs with a small smile. "Who knows? Sonic's unpredictable. I'm just glad that Sophia's parents made me an official knight."

Ever since they arrived, the King and Queen knighted Knuckles officially, as a thank you for protecting Sophia and looking after her. He owed them one. After all, sometimes Sophia would give him the best advice...

And also makes sure that he doesn't lose it on occasion.

"I'm sure they're on their way, unless they hit a time warp during the transfer to this world. If that happened, they may not get here for weeks, or months, even years!"

"Time warps are tricker than you realize. All kinds of crazy things can happen if you get stuck in one. Of course, you're just a jewel thief, so you wouldn't know. You don't have a clue."

He suddenly gets hit in the head, screaming at the bump that Rouge has just given him. "What'd you do that for?!" He demands angrily.

Rouge huffs, turning away. "Cuz I don't like your attitude." She crosses her arms like he did, mimicking his face. " 'You're just a jewel thief, so you wouldn't know.' Ugh! Instead of being so nasty all the time, maybe you could try being nice to me once in a while and then maybe I wouldn't find you so unlikable! As it is now, you're as sour as a truckload of lemon!"

"Then don't hang out with me!" He shouts at her.

"I WON'T!" She shouts so loud that his dreads get blown away. "Once I'm gone, you'll be completely miserable, mister!"

Knuckles looks away with a blush on his cheeks. "Actually, it'll be a huge relief not to have to deal with your batty behavior. But I'm sure you'll come flying back." He gets hit again with a Screw Kick. He sits up slowly, dirt on him. "That...does it. It's been a real kick having you around, but you better behave yourself or I'll have to give you the boot!"

One of her eyes twitch at how rude he's being. "I'm gonna keep pounding away till I've got you tenderized." His eyes widen at her threat. "From now on, you're gonna respect me!"

"Oh!" He exclaims in pain from a punch.

"It's time you learn some manners! No wonder why Sophia has to calm you down! You better start being polite or else!"

Meanwhile, while she's beating up Knuckles, Tails is flying over the city, Eggman having woken him up. He's wearing a night cap over his ears. "I'm grouchy when I don't get my sleep. I'll teach you not to wake me up, Eggman!"

"I won't rest until I track down Sonic and Sophia and nobody else will either, so if you wanna get back to sleep then help me find that hedgehog and princess!" Eggman says to the two-tailed fox. On the inside, he missed having someone to fight. If he didn't find his enemies, then who was he? "

Tails throws off his cap, gritting his teeth. "I'm never helping you!"

"He's challenging us!" Bokkun exclaims.

"Charge up the cannons, doctor?" Decoe looks up in determination. "We can blast him out of the sky!"

"Good idea."

Something hits the ship, again. "Hold on, we're not ready to fight you yet. Let's lead him into a trap. Follow me, Tails."

"Okay, but don't try anything funny," Tails follows after him.

"Who, me?" Eggman replies innocently.

"Come back here, I'm not finished with you, Eggman," Amy sets down her hammer, Cream opening up the door nervously. Valentina calms down, taking a deep breath.

"Why don't you come back inside, Amy and your highness? Your tea is getting cold."

Cheese agrees with her and Valentina shakes her head. "I am afraid I must take my leave," She puts on her polite voice again. "My husband has already lost a child. I do not wish to make him think that he has lost me too..."

Rose flies up to her and Valentina walks up to her carriage, Amy and Cream staring after her in worry.

* * *

"We'll hide from him behind these clouds," Eggman says once they're over the forest. "Then we can ambush that pest!"

Tails fires at them. "Tails didn't even wait for us to double-cross him!"

"That twerp is already one step ahead of you," Decoe narrows his eyes. Eggman gets to his feet.

"Alright, I'll just have to up the ante by triple-crossing him!"

"Oh, doctor, he is coming at us again!" Bocoe notices that Tails is coming back.

"Fire!"

A flurry of lasers comes for Tails, but he spins the plane around to avoid them, glancing back at the ship. "Guess he's got me. I better get out of here, fast." He pulls a lever and the passenger seat turns into a window, closing him in, but he didn't do that. "Hey, what's going on?!"

"Tails, this is Chuck."

He looks down at the radio in shock. "Since you just pulled the transformation lever, I assume you're in danger right now."

Tails beams at what Chuck did. "Don't worry, this new shield is made of a special material that can withstand almost any assault. When I heard you were leaving, I decided to give you a secret gift. I made sure you were away from the lab and made some modifications to the X Tornado. I'm not as clever an engineer as you, but I don't think I did too badly for an old timer. Anyway, I did my best and I hope your gift comes in handy."

Tails tries not to cry. "Thanks Chuck..."

"X Tornado, transform!"

His plane turns into a new plane. "Now it's the Hyper Tornado. Good luck, Tails."

"Eggman, look out!" Tails declares, Eggman glancing behind him.

"What is that?"

"Tails transformed his plane," Bocoe notices the new design.

"It looks completely different now."

"And more dangerous," Bokkun finishes nervously.

Tails fires a huge electric laser, shocking everyone inside. "Missiles away!" He fires a bunch of rockets. "Fire plasma blast!" He sets the ship on fire.

"You wasted your time, you little pest. Because in a few moments, your plane will be history!" Eggman laughs evilly.

"We have the perfect weapon to take him down, doctor," Decoe suggests.

"I'll turn the tables on Tails. Let's do a little fox hunting with our brand new interceptor missile."

"Roger! All systems are go. Begin missile launch sequence now." They fire a large missile that follows Tails' every move.

"It's coming quick, but I can trick it!" He fires some of his own missiles, but it still follows him. "If I can't outsmart that thing, I'll outmaneuver it." He flies to his right, flying towards Eggman's ship. "Here goes." He comes straight down. "So long." He flies out of the way, hoping that the missile would hit them instead, but it continues following his ship. Eggman chortles at Tails' failure.

"I finally invented the perfect weapon. No matter how hard you try, you won't shake that missile from your tail, Tails."

"This missile is programmed to only attack your plane," Bocoe holds up a finger, Bokkun giggling with a wide smile.

"It has a personal touch."

Bocoe and Decoe clap. "You have really outdone yourself, doctor."

"You deserve credit for creative cruelty!"

Eggman rubs his head bashfully.

Tails looks at how much power he's losing. "It's no use! I can't get away!"

"I think Tails has learned his lesson," Eggman continues to watch. "You can go ahead and recall the missile."

"Uh," Decoe turns to him nervously. "But how, doctor?"

"Just hit the recall button."

"Eh heh...there is no recall button," Decoe explains, sweating.

"You didn't install one?!" Eggman shouts at him. "Thanks to you, Tails really is going to be destroyed! With Sonic and the princess gone, I can't afford to lose another enemy!"

"Sorry doctor," Decoe says sheepishly.

"There is nothing we can do to save him now," Bocoe replies nervously.

While Eggman did want to make trouble, he didn't want anyone to perish for it. Besides...Tails was a strong competitor since they both fly.

Tails glances back at the missile, sweating as it seems to come closer. "This is it..." He'd go out without saying hi to his friends...wherever they are...

The moon suddenly shines as Tails has his eyes squeezed shut. A bright yellow glow hits him and he looks up to see Super Sonic and Super Sophia! His eyes widen in utter shock before it turns into happiness, a tear shedding from his eye. The two phase through the missile, destroying it. They land with a thump as they stare up at Eggman's ship.

The evil trio have looks of shock, Eggman's mouth wide open. He had no idea where they came from or how they got back, but he knows that it's Sonic and Sophia in the flesh.

"Hi Eggman."

"Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun," Super Sophia greets next, both smirking.

"What's up?"

Eggman grins widely, his mouth opening in awe. "You're finally here."

"Missed us?" Super Sophia gives them a look of amusement.

"O-Of course not!" Eggman denies immediately, noticing that he stuttered.

"You won't be conquering this world either," Super Sonic informs the evil doctor.

"That's what you think, Super Saps! If you dare to interfere with my plans, I'll destroy you like bugs!" Before he can even do anything, the two zip inside, destroying the ship right in front of the full moon. He screams in agony, the four flying into the sky inside the Egg Mobile. Then there's a twinkle in the sky where they disappear for now.

They fly away, Tails flying after them. He looks so happy he's trying not to cry. "Boy...it's good to have my buddies back..."

As they disappear, Eggman and the others are sinking towards the ground. "Aw, I can't believe it! Princess Sophia and Sonic beat us without even breaking a sweat."

"Why did _they_ have to come back?" Decoe complains.

"We'll never take over this world with Sonic and Sophia hanging around..." Bocoe murmurs as they fly past the moon.

"Excuse me, Doctor. But why do you have a smile on your face?" Decoe wonders as Eggman is usually angry that the two interfere in his plans.

"You should be miserable. Sophia and Sonic totally destroyed us! And she was being rude!" Bokkun defends, but he didn't actually mean it.

"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you plot your revenge," He laughs evilly at what he had in store next.

"We'll get even with them!"

They all start laughing. Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia would never put them down for long...

* * *

Knuckles lands on the dirt, groaning from Rouge's relentless attack. "So..." She pants, getting a little tired, "Do ya...give up yet?"

"Are you kidding?" He clenches a fist. She beat him up, and now it was time for him to return the favor. "I'm just warming up." One of his teeth has chipped. He suddenly looks up, gasping at two shooting stars in the sky. But they're too gold to be shooting stars...and two of them would never appear together. "It's them!"

The two smile up at the sky. "Well, what do you know? I guess neither of us knows very much about those time warps work. I'm just glad that our princess has returned," Rouge shrugs at a smiling Knuckles. He lets out a laugh.

"You look awful!" He's referring to the dirt on her.

"Yeah?" She tackles him to the ground.

"Oh, stop! That tickles!"

"Didn't I warn you to behave?"

"Alright! Ha ha! Alright!"

* * *

Cream sleeps on top of Amy's lap, the hedgehog looking out to the window. She has a far off look at a shooting star, but she knows that it isn't. She steps outside, looking up at the flying Sonic in the sky. Sophia has already left him to make her way back home.

She glances at a picture. In it, Sonic is smiling as she's glomping him in another one of her hugs.

Sophia lands a few feet away from her home...the home she actually grew up in. Other times, she wouldn't think much of it when she came back from one of her walks, but this time is different ever since she learned the truth about herself. It felt...

It felt like she was coming home to a family...not biologically, but still a family nevertheless. And she'll never forget that.

As she steps up to the front gates, she can see that a window light is on. A few minutes later, the front door opens, revealing her father. He looks tired and shocked at the same time, panting as he can see her in front of the gates. She smiles softly and that's when he knows that he's not dreaming, and that this time, he's looking at his actual daughter.

"Sophia!" He runs up to the gates, Valentina peeking outside.

"What is...?" She gasps sharply and follows after her husband, who throws open the gates and hugs her tightly.

"Sophia..." Valentina hugs her from behind, both parents crying. Sophia smiles at the warm embrace.

"Darling, you cut your hair?" Elliot gently touches her split ends.

"Well, yes..." She rubs her arm sheepishly. "Do you like it?"

"We love you no matter what you look like," Valentina kisses her on the forehead and they share another family hug.

* * *

She knows exactly where she's going as she runs down the path. The pink hedgehog had only one destination in mind as there's only one house in that direction.

As the sun is starting to rise, Super Sonic lands somewhere, the bright moon already gone. The sunset arrives, shining over a beautiful lake and a forest. Amy continues running down the dirt path, her heart racing in hope. All she could do was run.

Like he would.

Sonic turns around as he senses someone's presence, having already turned back to normal. He sees a panting Amy, her hands on her knees as she looks at him straight in the eyes. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Was it really him? Did he really come back? The sun is right behind her as she slightly doubted, but no longer. She knew that it was him.

That he finally came back.

He just smiles at her, waiting for her to catch her breath. "Hi," He greets with a smile and a wave.

"Well?!"

He's surprised and slightly scared by her angry reaction. "What took you so long? I was worried! I wondered...if you were ever going to come back. It scared me!" Tears come to her eyes as she continues staring at him. "To think that...I was never gonna see you again." She tries to hold in a sob and he smiles at her, silently glad to see the hedgehog as well. "Day after day, I waited for you to come, but you never did. I didn't know where you were, I couldn't stand not knowing." The tears are flooding from her cheeks now, but she didn't care. "I told myself...I should give up hoping...I was convinced that you had forgotten all about me...I thought you and my friend were gone forever." She sniffles and continues. "But then I realized...that you two would never abandon me...and I decided...that I would wait for you. Even if it took the rest of my life to see you again...Now you're here."

She falls to her knees as she's bawling. "I'm so glad to finally have you back, Sonic! It's such a wonderful feeling! I don't think I've ever been this happy as I am right now!" She cries in happiness, so relieved that he was okay, and that he protected her friend. She was so joyful that she couldn't be mad at him for long.

She never could.

"Don't you ever leave me again, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

She could sense him in front of her and she looks up to see him holding a white rose in his hand. He winks at her. "Don't you worry, Amy. I never will."

She stares at the flower as she believes him. She knew that his words were true. And that's why she lunges forward and hugs him. Sonic smiles, hugging her back. She continues to cry in their moment as the sun shines down on them...

* * *

Meanwhile, a portal is being created, similar to the one that sent Sonic and the others home. Someone is working hard at this project as someone else rolls up to him in a wheelchair.

"Chris?"

He gasps sharply at the voice, turning around. He looks significantly older as he's wearing a lab coat. He's since gotten a haircut also.

"It's time."

"Oh, yeah." His voice sounds deeper too as he stands up. "That's right. We're supposed to meet Danny and Frances for lunch today. Let's go!" He grabs the handlebars of the woman's wheelchair.

"Whoa! Easy, Chris. They know you're always late."

He smiles sheepishly and speeds out of the lab with her.

It's actually Helen who is with Chris, whose hair has gotten longer and is in a ponytail. She's wearing an orange blouse as she's driving the car.

"Why don't you let me drive for a change?" Chris wonders.

"No way! Chuck designed this car especially for me, remember? And besides, riding while _you_ drive is too...nerve-wrecking."

"What does that mean?" He pouts at her choice of words.

"I'm a much better driver. I've never even gotten a parking ticket, which is more than I can say for you!"

"It's not my fault somebody turned that one-way sign around!" He defends himself.

"So, who's gonna test out your machine, Chris?" Frances asks him once they've sat down.

"Why don't you send me, Chris?" Danny wonders, his voice deeper. He's since cut his hair, wearing a red shirt. He also has piercings on both ears "I'm not afraid to be the first one to give it a try."

"It's not ready yet. My machine's totally useless till I can figure out how to cause Chaos Control," Chris explains sheepishly.

"But as soon as he does, we'll all be able to go to Sonic and Sophia's world together!" Helen exclaims in excitement. It's been six years now since they've seen the group of friends they were used to having around. They all missed them so much...they had such an impact on their lives.

"Sounds dangerous to me," Frances voices her concerns. Her hair has since grown a little longer, with her bangs touching her eyebrows now. She wears a blue blouse over a green shirt.

"Yeah, if Chris messes it up, we could all be toast!" Danny teases, Chris blushing in embarrassment.

"Well you don't have to come with me, then!" They all laugh at his childish statement.

"Hard to believe it's been six years already," Danny comments softly. It seemed like so long ago that the others just jumped into their lives.

"Hmm," Helen nods at him. "It went fast."

"Yeah," Frances opens her eyes, "Almost at Sonic and Sophia's speed!" Chris smiles fondly at how fast the two would run. They'd always go out for a run no matter what day.

He starts to remember all the fond memories he had with them, how brave he became.

 _Sonic...Sophia..._

" _You collected the Chaos Emeralds. Now I see. You don't need the machine that Tails and Grandpa built. You can cause Chaos Control yourselves." Chris was staring at them as they were surrounded by the emeralds, smiling. He had snatched them and taken them to the lake house he would visit with his parents, and now he was saying goodbye to them, having accepted the truth. "You two were able to gather them all in a flash..." A tear ran down his cheek. "Because you're so fast...even though I've been tough to deal with lately, you never gave up on me, guys...Thank you."_

" _Chris."_

 _He looked up through his tears as they grabbed his hands, putting him over Sonic's shoulders. "We're gonna go really fast. Hang on."_

 _He looked at them in awe that he was going on his first run with them. He did as he was told._

" _Stop this, Shadow, please! You have to listen to me," Chris was begging the black and red hedgehog to save Earth, back when Robotnik wanted revenge. "How can you blame people alive today if it happened 50 years ago? You see it's not fair? Ask yourself if this is what Sophia really wants."_

" _Don't talk to me about fair! Not after what happened here!" Shadow exclaimed in anger._

' _People need you, Shadow...'_

' _You must help them...they deserve to live...'_

 _Super Shadow narrowed his eyes, his goal now changed. "I am Shadow! Shadow the Hedgehog!" His Limiters were removed to give him the power to stop this._

 _Sonic held out one of Shadow's rings to Chris. He took it sadly, a stray tear hitting it and the drop disappeared..._

" _Noooo!" Chris broke free from his hold and lunged forward, grabbing the six emeralds. It burned, but he didn't care as he fell from Eggman's spot, clutching onto them. "They're mine. I won't let you take them from me, ever again."_

 _As Chris was unconscious, Super Sonic and Super Sophia were staring down at him. He opened his eyes to see his friends smiling at them._

" _Sonic, Sophia, take me with you."_

 _They simply held out their hands and Chris was healed. He smiled up at them, engulfing them into a hug. "Sonic...Sophia...please don't leave. You're the best friend and big sister I ever had. I don't want you both to go away!"_

 _They disappeared right through him and he kneeled there in confusion._

 _Chris had his last run with them before they left._

" _That was close," Chris said in concern, Sophia looking over the hedgehog that he just saved. "Are you okay?"_

" _Uh, yeah," Sonic caught his breath, his eyes closed. He opened them a bit. "Thanks a lot, you two. If it wasn't for you," He looked at Sophia, "I would've bought it."_

 _He blinked at the hedgehog's speech. "I didn't think you could talk."_

" _We can do a lot of things," Sophia smiled at him._

" _Wow, that's awesome. That you can talk, I mean."_

 _Chris held onto Sonic as a tear escaped, but it wasn't from him. He looked up...to see the hedgehog actually crying. He looked next to him to see that Sophia was smiling slightly, rubbing away her tears with the back of her hand. Seeing them cry made him cry too._

" _SONIC! SOPHIA!"_

 _And just like that...they were gone._


	53. A Cosmic Call

**Angel: It's finally here! The first episode of the last season! Wahoo! I do have plans for when I'm done with this story, but it's not Sonic-related. Let's just say that I've been working my fingers off on the next one to get the second season done...**

Bajy: Look at the review I accidentally sent for this one. I meant to put it here but I ended up putting it on the previous chapter. The review that had how hard it is to say goodbye to someone. Love this chapter! Looking forward to reading more soon!

 **Angel: It's fine. Sometimes I forget where I'm saying things too. Like when I got 400 reviews and I forgot to mention it. Then again, I was leaving the next day for Florida...anyway, thanks for all the reviews, everyone!**

Dream lighting: Wow nice chapter never anger a mother bear egg head looking forward to this season and Chris showing up write TMNT 2003 season keep going

 **Angel: ? That story's been done since November of 2017. Did we time travel?**

Johanvanguard: It's good to see that Elliot, Valentina, Amy, even Eggman and the others were concerned of Sonic and Sophia would return. That was a great improvement to Tails' plane that Chuck secretly made to it. I'm glad that Sonic and Sophia returned just in time to defeat Eggman easily. Those were some great reunions that Sophia had with her parents and that Sonic had with Amy. Nice to see that Chris and his friends are doing well and still remember Sonic and Sophia. It would be great if Chris' machine works so one day he and the others can go to the other world to see Sonic, Sophia, and the others. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the new enemy and new ally.

 **Angel: That Sonamy moment is my favorite in the whole show, hands down. I actually hadn't seen it in a while...XD Though, I do remember it was mentioned in a Sonic Q &A from Youtube.**

Devin sands: I don't suppose you will involve Xenia in season 3 when the Metarex attacks

 **Angel: Never say never. I don't suppose you won't eat your own words as the season continues.**

Guest: I'm surprised that Sophia cut her hair and her parents weren't bothered I wonder how her friends will react to her new hairstyle and their journey in space including how they'll meet Cosmo

 **Angel: Eh. I figured it was time to do it. I don't think she needs to get her hair caught in engines anytime soon.**

 **Sophia: Yes, and, well...my hair can be hard to maintain at times. I don't look this good without help.**

In space, two certain people are dashing around among the stars. They make a constellation and then it's quiet. Pieces of at least a dozen robots are floating around, Super Sonic and Super Sophia appearing among the debris. They pant tiredly as they stare at someone. Super Sonic holds his shoulder, Super Sophia putting a hand on her stomach.

 _He's tougher than we thought! We better finish this._

Their target is not Eggman, but a large bio-robot. He has one large, green eye and carries a golden sword. His armor is comprised of varied shades of purple, with a large green orb on his chest and two tattered halves of a black cape hanging from his shoulders. He pulls out a large sword, Super Sophia pulling out her tiny one. She holds it up into the sky as stars surround it. A white glow surrounds her sword before it transforms into a larger one, as it's taller than her. The two jump towards the robot, but they're knocked back by his power. They take a moment to catch their breath, glaring at their new foe.

"Your defeat is certain. Give me the Chaos Emeralds, and I will spare your lives," The robot demands. The two simply hold out their arms, the 7 Chaos Emeralds appearing behind them.

"Chaos Control!" They exclaim in unison, the powerful emeralds glowing brightly. They then fly off in seven different directions, spreading them throughout the galaxy. The villain looks at the smirking two and because the emeralds are now gone, they don't have enough power to fly. They head straight for their world head first. Sophia moves over so that she's behind Sonic, gripping onto him.

The robot looks at his damaged side, having his answer. "Sonic and Princess Sophia have only delayed my triumph. Those emeralds will be mine. Alert my forces across the galaxy. Begin the search for the Chaos Emeralds at once. Do not rest until you bring them all to me."

Dozens of red eyes blink behind him as he leaves the planet behind. "Remove the planet egg..." He chuckles evilly to himself, disappearing into the stars.

Princess Sophia and Sonic truly didn't know what they've done...

As they continue falling, Sophia and Sonic turn back to normal, flying almost like comets in the sky.

"How much longer do we have to wait, Tails?" Cream asks as it's a full moon tonight.

"I'm not exactly sure, Cream," He answers uncertainly. "Not too long."

"This would be so romantic if Sonic were here to see it with me!" Amy fangirls as they're sitting in the grass. There would be a meteor shower tonight, and Tails wanted to see it. "Soon the whole sky will be filled with shooting stars!"

"According to the astronomers, we only get a meteor shower this humongous once every 500 years," Tails states, "We're really lucky to be here. I wonder if Sophia got to see one before we did."

"I sure wouldn't want to wait that long to see it again. Would you?" Cream asks Cheese, who agrees with her.

"We should all make a wish," Amy suggests with a smile.

"Why should we do that?" Tails asks in confusion.

"Chris told us if you make a wish whenever you see a shooting star, it'll come true!" Cream recites, "Remember, Tails?"

"Yeah," He answers sadly, remembering all the friends they had to leave behind...he wondered what they were doing now. It wasn't easy to leave, especially for Chris... "It's too bad Chris and Chuck aren't here to see this with us."

"I miss them," Cream looks towards the ground. It had only been six months since they last saw them, but it felt like forever. "I wish we could go back to their world for a visit."

They look up at the sky to see a shooting star. "It's starting!" Tails looks at his camera.

"They look like fireworks!" Cream says in awe as Tails records the shower.

Elsewhere, Valentina and Elliot stare up at the stars as it reminded them of home. She smiles as she hugs her husband and he hugs her back. It had been tradition for him and his family to watch the shower every 500 years. He first met Valentina at a meteor shower, actually, when they ended up stopping on the same planet to watch it. It just reminded him of how much he loved that special day...the day that started his whole life.

"I'm sure glad I brought a camera," Tails smiles happily. However, one of them seems to be heading right towards them!

"That sure is a weird-looking meteor," Amy stares up at it.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say it's heading straight for us," Cream notices its line of direction and they duck underneath it. It zips right past them before there's an explosion. Smoke surrounds the area as they peek at it.

"That's no shooting star."

It's actually a ship, a plant-like alien girl laying in front of it. She wears a green and white dress with long sleeves, a red amulet, white leggings, green slippers, and two golden hairbands in her green chin-length hair holding up closed rose buds in her hair.

Tails runs up to her, laying her on his lap. She makes a noise, indicating that she's just asleep. "She needs medical help."

"Your house is the closest one around here, Cream. I think we should take her there," Amy suggests as she frowns in worry.

"I'll go tell Mother you're coming," Cream uses her ears to fly into the air, Tails staring at the girl. He's never seen anyone like her before.

 _I wonder who she is, and where she came from._

He looks up to the sky, wondering if she's from space...and if Sophia knows her.

The meteor shower passes by a certain base. It's tall, red, and black, with a few traces of white. Sonic and Sophia are sleeping on cots next to each other, exhausted from being in super form for so long. Sonic slightly lifts his eyes, opening them fully. They widen as he realizes that he's not in space anymore. He sits up in alarm, looking around. He sees the princess still asleep. Her hair had lengthened a little when she cut it and she now has a braid on the side of it. Instead of wearing what she had on Chris's world, she now has a white long-sleeved blouse which has frills on the end of the sleeves. Her skirt is a faded purple at the top and pink at the bottom, cherry blossoms decorating it. Her boots are ankle length and pink with black laces and 2 inch heels. She has black leggings covering her legs, with a silver bracelet on her left arm.

"Princess!"

"It's about time."

He turns his head to the voice, Sophia opening her eyes slowly. She realizes where she is and sits up, both of them turning to the right. Eggman is sitting there. He slightly turns to them.

"Eggman...what happened?"

"Why are we here?" Sophia narrows her eyes at him suspiciously.

"I've been sitting here for the better part of a week waiting for you to wake up and tell _me." Eggman ran from his base, Bokkun following after him late at night._ "I was out jogging to maintain my perfect physique when I spotted something." _Eggman looked surprised at the sight, narrowing his eyes. There lay Sonic, on top of Sophia as his quills touched her body. She protected him from the hard fall._ "You two were in pretty bad shape, you two. You were battered like a fish stick. And it's lucky Sophia's spine wasn't dislocated. It was a tough decision. I didn't know whether to save you, or wait for the tide to come in. Ha ha ha!"

Sophia rolls her eyes at him. "You were in terrible shape, Sonic and your highness," Bocoe speaks up. "Dr. Eggman saved your life."

"If he hadn't, he wouldn't have anybody to pick on," Decoe smiles, Eggman's mouth opening at him. Bokkun flies in front of the two, holding two cups.

"So how'd you end up passed out on the beach, anyway?" He asks curiously.

"We were fighting somebody," Sonic suddenly stands up, spilling the tea all over Bokkun. "Hey, sorry, but we can't stay anymore."

"Sonic's right. He's still out there, and he could hurt other people," Sophia hands Bokkun a napkin, both of them speeding out of there. Bokkun gets dizzy as they sped right past him.

"You're leaving?" Eggman asks in surprise. They come back to face him.

"See you later, Eggman," Sonic replies, Sophia saluting with two fingers. They leave the base, the two minion robots glaring at them.

"Hey! You owe us, Sonic and Princess Sophia!"

"You run fast, but when it comes to paying your debt, you sure are slowpokes!"

"Yeah!"

"What deadbeats!" Bokkun exclaims in anger, Eggman placing a hand on his cheek. "Sonic, Princess, you ingrates!"

"That is the last time we help you!"

"Yeah, patients like you two make me sick!"

Rouge is watching in the vents, smirking to herself. "Ahh..." Perhaps this information could be useful...

The meteor shower is still going as the girl who crash landed onto their planet is asleep. She takes shaky breaths as she remembers running. An explosion happened, and when she looked up, she gasped in horror to see a brown bio-robot...the same type that Sonic and Sophia were fighting. She looked in fear as someone called her name...

" _Cosmo! Run away!"_

She opens her eyes and sees the green ceiling. "Look, she's waking up," A kind voice notices. She sees Vanilla, Tails, Cream, and Amy staring down at her in worry. She slowly sits up. "Careful, dear. Don't try to get up," Vanilla tells her gently. She turns to them with a gentle smile.

"You were in a big crash. You're really lucky that you didn't have any serious injuries," Amy explains.

"Maybe you can tell us your name and where you and your ship came here from," Cream suggests softly.

Cosmo gasps in horror, covering her mouth with her hands. She remembers everything...all of the horrible things she's seen, and what she had to leave behind. If she were to speak of it...and to strangers? That would be a grave mistake.

"I can't," She grips the blanket.

"You mean, you can't remember?" Cream asks curiously.

"I can, but...I can't tell you."

"Why?" Tails wonders.

"I'm looking for people on this planet named Sonic the Hedgehog, your king and queen, and their daughter. It's very important that I speak with them as soon as possible, before it's too late..."

"You can talk to us. We'll help you if we can," Tails offers and she hangs her head. "What's the matter?" He wanted to see if he could do something for this girl...he didn't know why, but there was something about her.

"I can't tell you."

"Well I have a right to know what this is all about!" Amy yells in her face, angry that this random girl wants to see Sonic.

"Huh?" Cosmo is very confused.

"Sonic's my boyfriend, and you better not be trying to move in on him!" She accuses, Cream trying to pull her away. This girl had just woken up from a deep sleep, and the last thing she needed was an angry Amy. Eggman is a full example on why no one should have to face Amy's wrath.

"Amy! She didn't come here to date him!"

Cosmo blinks in confusion at them.

"We're friends with Sonic and the royal family, so maybe we can help," Tails tells her, rubbing his neck as he remembers something. "Well, friends is putting it lightly. I'm the royal mechanic of the princess..."

"Friends? Royal mechanic?"

"My name's Miles Prower," Tails gestures to himself, "But everybody calls me by my nickname Tails."

"And I'm Cream. We're very happy to meet you," Cream smiles softly.

"And my name's Amy Rose. You're not gonna be here long, are you?" Amy asks, still a little miffed at her. Cosmo sighs slightly, wondering if she can really trust them. These were the right coordinates, so she knew she was in the right place...and Tails seems to be honest. No one could make up being a royal mechanic.

Suddenly there's a thud outside, making them all gasp. Amy, Cream, and Tails look out the window. "What's that?" Something comes down from the clouds...and it's not exactly a plane.

"It's something big," Tails comments in worry.

"You should stay in bed," They turn around to see Cosmo standing up, Vanilla's hands on her shoulders. She slowly walks up to the window, noticing what's coming down onto the planet. It's a large robot ship, her eyes glistening in worry.

"It's another Metarex..."

The ship is almost as big as Angel Island, floating above all the trees and houses. Speaking of Angel Island, Knuckles is sleeping there in front of the Master Emerald like he usually would. He hears something and sits up, gasping in surprise at the new ship. His mouth opens in shock as he watches it land between some trees nearby the island. The ship turns into a large robot.

"This looks like...trouble," He gasps in concern. The eye turns on bright red.

"Preparing area for planet egg removal." A laser zaps the trees into pieces, starting to destroy the forest.

"If that thing isn't stopped, it's gonna burn up every tree in the forest!" He gasps in horror. "The palace along with it..." The palace is near Angel Island, and the robot is heading right to it!

The forest is starting to burn into ashes.

"Hey! Knock it off, you fire bot!" Knuckles tries punching through it, but the metal is too strong. The robot swings its arm, knocking the echidna away. He lands on the ground, sliding to a safe stop. He growls up at the robot and a few missiles from the sky fire at it. He looks up to see Tails flying by.

"Knuckles!"

"Alright. Maybe we can stop him together," He eyes the golden plane. Cosmo is sitting behind Tails, who looks worried. She came along because she seems to be the only one who knows about these Metarex.

"This doesn't look good," He stares down at the forest. "Oh no, the king and queen are near this area! Someone has to warn them before the fire escalates to them..."

Cosmo stares at the robot as it continues destroying the forest. "Looks like our only choice is to keep pounding away!" Knuckles runs up to the robot, Tails flying in the other direction.

"We're going on the attack! Are you ready?"

"Yes," Cosmo tells him and he fires again.

Luckily for the king and queen, Amy and Cream had stopped by to grab them. The six run up to the damage, seeing the burning forest.

"Oh dear..." Valentina looks in horror at the robot up ahead.

"The whole forest's on fire," Cream places a hand on her cheek.

"This can't be a coincidence," Amy murmurs to herself. This must've been a planned attack, but why? Valentina places her hand on Cream's shoulders, staring intensely at the robot. She feels like she's been affiliated with it...but she can't remember how.

The plane flies around the robot.

"I have a feeling that girl may know why this is happening. I wish there was a way to convince her to talk to us," She eyes the plane.

"Girl? What girl?" Elliot glances at Amy, looking back up in the sky.

"There was a girl who crashed here, your highness," Cream speaks up. "We don't know her name, but she had a space ship with her."

Elliot looks to his wife, both of them silently wondering if they knew anything about her.

Cosmo looks at all the destruction, upset that she couldn't do more.

Knuckles jumps into the air, but gets knocked away. No doubt about it, this new enemy was very powerful. Tails fires electricity at it, but it has no effect. "Our lasers have no effect."

"You need to use much stronger attacks if you're ever going to beat the Metarex," Cosmo speaks up knowingly.

"Do you know why it came here or why it's destroying all the trees?" Tails asks. By the tone of her voice, she's seen this happen before.

"Its mission...is to find the life force of this planet and steal it away."

He frowns at that explanation. Suddenly, two people come spinning past, knocking into the robot at high speed. The robot falls onto the ground with a small crash and they land on a cliff nearby. Sonic and Sophia stand up, smirking.

"It's Sonic and the princess!" Amy and Cream cheer, holding hands. Cheese and Rose cheer also, the king and queen smiling. Without any powers, they can't do anything, but Sophia can...

Hopefully.

"They're back," Tails smiles at them and Cosmo gasps at the sight of them. She bumps into the glass, holding her head. "Are...you okay?"

"Yes. So those are Sonic and Sophia, our final hope..." She sees their determined faces to save their world. Glancing to the side, she also sees the king and queen. The ashes from the fire fly by, whisking past Sophia's blowing hair. The robot stands onto its feet, staring at who just knocked it down. This fight would determine whether this planet would live...

Or die.

"You're the one who's going down in flames now!" Sonic declares, Sophia clenching a fist.

"You burned this forest. My parents could've been hurt! And now you'll suffer the consequences!" Sophia shouts at it, Sonic rubbing his nose with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, in Station Square, as the sun is going down, some calculations are being made. Chris works furiously to get this done, taking a bite out of his dinner. Everything was riding on this. He swallows his bite as an idea comes to mind.

"Hey, I know. Maybe if I increase the energy to the transport circuits..." The computer stops computing. "That's it! Alright! It's finally time to try this out." He smiles slightly, standing up. He walks over to his recent project.

"My machine's like the one Grandpa and Tails built that sent Sonic and the others back home, but it doesn't need Chaos Emeralds. If it works, I'll finally see Sonic and Sophia again..." He smiles fondly at the thought of how everyone must be doing. Sophia's probably queen by now, and probably still doesn't look a day older. Amy and Sonic are probably hanging out. Tails is most likely doing machines for the royal family. Knuckles is watching the Master Emerald, something he'd never give up, all while being the knight for the palace.

Shadow is probably still missing...

Cream and her mom are maybe picking flowers, Cheese and Rose hanging out together...

And Rouge? He doesn't even need to guess.

He looks at a photo sitting on the window frame. It's of him, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Sophia, smiling at the camera. He took this back when he, Sophia, Amy, and Tails were caught in that robot while Sonic and Knuckles were fighting because of Eggman.

The leaves fly by from the wind, which also knocks down the picture, breaking the frame. He gasps sharply and runs over to it, carefully picking it up and examining it.

"I'm coming."

He stares at it fondly through the broken glass.

Soon...he would see them again...

"Heads up, guys!" Tails drops two rings towards his friends.

"Thanks, Tails!" Sonic jumps up and catching it, Sophia holding up her arm. She catches the ring in her fingers and they go into super spin mode, but the armor is too strong when they try to pierce through it like they normally would. Claws come out from the chest plate and they gasp, flying past all of them. Knuckles goes in to attack, only to be knocked back, again.

"Knuckles!" Sophia jumps into the air, catching the echidna. She lands on the grass next to Sonic, cringing at her still injured back. She grunts in pain.

"It's...pretty tough," Knuckles mutters as he looks up at the mechanical menace. He hears groaning underneath him, only now realizing that Sophia's arms are still around him. He gasps, looking down at the girl. "Princess!"

"Are you okay?" Sonic asks and she sits up.

"Nothing I...can't handle." She slowly stands up. The echidna smiles at her protective nature.

"We can beat him, buddies," Sonic states and Knuckles gets onto his feet.

"Got a plan?"

"Triple team," Sonic simply says, "Let's go!" He takes off into a run, surprising the other two. They follow after him.

"I thought Sophia and Sonic would move much more quickly than they do..." Cosmo notices that the two aren't running as fast. In fact, they're running at normal speed. Sophia grits her teeth in pain. Cosmo looks closer and sees that the princess has scratches on her back from where she landed. _So...despite her injuries, the princess still fights...how noble. The rumors were true. She doesn't go down without a fight. I only hope that it's not too late for their planet._

"Something's not right. They're not moving as fast as they usually do," Tails frowns in concern.

The robot sparks electricity from the eye, Sophia and Sonic covering themselves. Knuckles squeezes his eyes shut as Tails comes in, firing more missiles. Like last time, they don't have any effect. It's like the armor is made out of titanium.

"This is impossible!" He sweats nervously. "No matter how hard we hit that, it keeps going."

"You'll have to use the Chaos Emeralds to stop this thing," Knuckles looks up at it, looking to the other two. Sophia rubs her arm nervously, knowing fully well that he'll be angry from what they're about to tell him. However, by the look of her face, that's not the only thing that seems to be troubling her. Something else seems to be on her mind. "I'll distract it with a frontal attack so you can move in and finish it off."

"We'd like to," Sonic sweats a bit, "But we don't happen to have the Chaos Emeralds with us right now."

"...W-Where are they?" He was silently hoping that they were in Sophia's box back at the palace. If he's hearing what he thinks he's hearing...

"Well," Sonic scratches the side of his head, "We kind of got into this fight out in space, and the bad guy was gonna take 'em from us, so we sent 'em away."

Knuckles blinks slowly, noticing Sophia's troubled face and how silent she is. She feels uncomfortable telling Knuckles, so she's letting Sonic do all the talking. He knows her too well, though, and senses that she has something on her mind. Something she doesn't know if it's real or not. He's so shocked at Sonic, however, that he has no time to ask what's wrong. "You finally had all seven Chaos Emeralds together...and you threw them away?"

"Exactly," Sonic answers, Sophia biting a lip as she looks nervous by Knuckles' questioning. She only hopes that Knuckles could forgive. She knows how important the Chaos Emeralds are to him. He spent his life watching over the Master Emerald on her parents' orders. She feels guilty since they didn't want their enemy to take them and do unspeakable things...she had to do it, for her people. Surely he'd understand.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" She covers her ears as Knuckles gets into Sonic's face. "WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!"

"I guess we're gonna have to find 'em again," Sonic replies, a claw reaching out to them. It hits them and they're sent flying.

"Oh no!" Amy exclaims as the six approach the cliff.

"Are you okay?" Cream calls out.

"Sophia, Knuckles, Sonic," Valentina says in worry. A claw reaches out to Cream.

"Look out!" Amy pushes her friends out of the way, narrowly missing it. Cheese panics and when they look up, they see why. Something blue shoots out from the gap between them.

"Proceeding with planet egg removal."

Soon, dirt lifts up from the beam. "Oh no!" Cosmo shouts at it. The beam grows larger, and the six cover their eyes at the flash. Knuckles, Sophia, and Sonic can only stare in shock as a crater is left behind.

"Oh my goodness..." Elliot whispers at it. Something glows from the crater, and it's captured by the robot.

"What in the world is that?" Knuckles has never seen it before, and that's saying a lot. Tails flies by as Cosmo looks on in dismay.

"He's found the planet egg."

"What's the planet egg?" Tails asks curiously. The planet egg looks like a vortex as it's encased inside the box.

"It's the life force that sustains your world."

The trees start withering away. "The planet egg is what gives your world the power to support life." All the trees start dying. "Without it, every living thing here will soon perish."

Amy, Cream, Valentina, Elliot, Rose, and Cheese look around in horror at the lack of plants left. Sophia glances all around her, horrified by what she's seeing. Never had she seen anything like this...

The robot snatches the planet egg. "Procedure complete. Lift off." The robot takes its leave.

"HOLD IT!" Both Sonic and Sophia shout, spin dashing. They get knocked down by a claw.

"I gotcha," Knuckles jumps in and save them both, his eyes swirling in pain from the landing. The six run up to them as the robot then escapes.

"I'll stop that thing," Tails flies after it and the robot goes further into space. Tails tries as best as he can, but he's restricted. "I can't go any higher because this plane wasn't designed to travel into space."

He hears groaning and turns around to see Cosmo getting sick. "Are you alright, Cosmo?"

"I'm just...a little...dizzy," She tells him, snapping out of it.

"I'm sorry," Tails frowns to himself. "I just wish I got the planet egg back."

Cosmo holds out a hand to the glass. "Could you...open this for a moment, please?"

"Huh?" He asks in concern, turning to her. He had no idea why she asked such a thing.

"You can open it while you're flying, can't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to do it at this altitude..." At the altitude they're at, it wasn't safe.

"Please Tails," She gives him a pleading look. She needed to do this.

"Okay, if you really want me to." He opens it up and she gasps in awe. "There you go." He gasps in shock as she jumps out, sweating nervously. He had no idea what she's doing, but he had to trust her.

"You didn't put up much of a fight against that thing, Sonic. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Knuckles comments, Valentina pinching his ear. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Knuckles, manners," She warns him, glancing at Sophia, who hadn't said a word. Her arms are crossed as she gives a troubled look to the ground. Clearly something was bothering her...

"Ah, it's okay, Sophia," Knuckles waves it off, the princess looking up in surprise. "You did what you had to do," He winks at her and she smiles only in slight relief.

"You don't seem like your old self," Amy says in concern to Sonic.

"It's been a long day, so I guess I'm a little tired," Sonic looks at his arm.

"Sophia, darling, is everything alright?" Elliot approaches his daughter.

"Well...Father, I-"

Sonic gasps and they look up to see Cosmo floating down towards them using her skirt. Elliot and Valentina glance at each other knowingly. Cosmo dusts herself off once she lands, smiling at Sonic and Sophia.

"My name is Cosmo. I've come a long way to see you. I need to speak with you, Sonic and your highnesses," She curtsies to the royal family.

"Okay," Sonic agrees slowly.

"Go ahead," Sophia encourages quietly. She glances around uncomfortably. The princess couldn't help but feel that this was all too familiar somehow...like she's lived through this before. But that would mean her parents were keeping something else from her, right? However, if that were true...

Why does it all feel so similar? Like she's seen all of this?

"I have sought you all out because I know you have the power to control the Chaos Emeralds, and that you know how to stop the Metarex," Cosmo looks at the king and queen. "I have come here because you are the ones who can rescue the galaxy." She bows her head.

"We are?" Sonic asks in surprise.

"You know them?!" Sophia looks up at her parents.

Tails' plane heads towards Angel Island when he sees a glint. "What's that?" It's the Master Emerald as it blinks repeatedly, as if something's happening... "Guys, it's happening!"

They glance back to see Tails running over to them, panting.

"What's happening?" Knuckles demands, sensing something off. And that it has to do with the Master Emerald.

Tails leads them to the Master Emerald as it continues glowing.

 _Dear Mom and Dad and everybody, I'm sorry to leave without saying goodbye. I knew if I said anything, you'd try and stop me from trying to travel to Sonic and Sophia's world. It's very important to me, so I hope you'll understand._

Chris is staring at the now operational portal that he had just finished. This was it...he was finally going to get to see their world.

 _Don't worry. I'll be fine, and I'll be back. I'll miss you all. Mom, and Dad, Grandpa, Danny, Frances, and Helen. I love you, Chris._

 _PS: I'll tell Sonic and the others you said hello._

There's a flash and Chris is gone...it's as if he was never there.

The Master Emerald grows brighter and they all stare at it, wondering what's going on. Valentina grips Sophia's shoulders. She...couldn't tell her daughter the truth yet...but soon. She never thought that it would come to this, but it has, and now she's faced with the past...

A shadow appears in front of the Master Emerald as he stands there, all of their mouths open in surprise. He slowly steps up to them.

"Hey, that's Chris!" Sophia, Sonic, and Knuckles all say at the same time.

"It worked..." Chris sounds younger... "I-I did it! I actually did it! Sonic! Sophia!" He falls to the ground, looking at his younger hand. He glances at his overgrown clothing, gasping in shock. Instead of being 18 like he was in Station Square, Chris...

Is now 12 again.

He screams, the Master Emerald continuing to glow...


	54. Cosmic Crisis

Dream lighting: Wow amazing chapter think she's from a different planet? Wondering write your Hey Arnold or write jungle movie love this book

 **Angel: Is the she supposed to be Cosmo? I don't know who 'she' is XD Anyway...I'll get back to that story eventually, but right now, it's not happening. I'm not saying I'll neglect it entirely, but now, with the college semester ending soon, and since I'm not done with any stories I've done in the past few months or so...adding a fourth one would just take a toll on me. I don't need the stress ^^' In fact, this story is the only one that's not on-going that I'm doing right now. ANY story would have to wait until Sophia X is done for good. In the summer, I'm going on a cruise for who knows how long, so I don't know how many stories I can accomplish...**

Bajy: Excellent. Love this chapter! Hmm...I wonder what else the king and queen are keeping from Sophia and the others? Looking forward to reading more soon

 **Angel: Thank you. And...more will be revealed in due time.**

Crazycartoons5488: I hope they save the day again.

 **Angel: It's Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia. If they can survive Eggman's schemes, they can survive anything.**

Challishanlon99: Hi it's me again I hope that you're not angry at me but if you are that's okay anyway I love this story so much what's Sonic everybody if you can go on vacation where Eggman can't find you or any villain where would you go? But if this is too personal and very sorry for asking please don't be mad at me.

 **Angel: Unless there's a reason why I should be mad, I'm not really angry. I'm more tired than any other emotions right now. I'm just glad that I have a few weeks left and that I don't have as much work this week. With two discussions to write and two others to respond to, two tests, two quizzes, a six paragraph essay, and two online assignments...I'm just peachy *smiles widely* I'm tired, so I only managed to get Sophia, Amy, Tails, and Sonic.**

 **Sophia: ...Oh right. Um, I would want to go to Paris. I'd love to see the Eiffel Tower.**

 **Amy: Oh, I pick Paris too! It'd be so romantic! It is called the City of Love, after all!**

 **Sonic: Vacation? I'm always on the run to go on vacation!**

 **Tails: Heh...yeah, remember when we went to see glaciers? But for me, I'd pick anywhere where I can fly the X Tornado.**

 **Sophia: Tails, it's called a vacation for a reason.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that Sonic and Sophia fought the Metarex, but it proved too strong for them. When he wanted to take the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Sophia had no choice, but to scatter them across outer space. Tails and the others meeting Cosmo, an alien who crash landed on their world was unexpected. I wasn't expecting for Eggman to help heal Sonic and Sophia, and that both were seriously injured from their fight in space. Too bad that another Metarex showed up on the planet and caused trouble for everyone. I wonder what Elliot and Valentina might know about the Metarex and if Sophia might remember something about Cosmo. Even though Sonic, Sophia, and the others did their best, they couldn't defeat the Metarex and it took their world's planet egg. I'm glad that Cosmo finally met Sonic and Sophia asked for their help to save the galaxy. Just then Chris' machine finally worked and he ended up in Sonic's world, but he was 12 years old again. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the explanation of the planet eggs and the Metarex, and how she might help to get her world's planet egg back.

 **Angel: This...is a lot XD I wish Knuckles wasn't such a meathead so he could actually, you know, understand? He would've done the same thing if it was him. And...Eggman is full of surprises...but most of the time, they're bad ones. And it will be revealed at the end of the chapter how they know the Metarex. Sophia doesn't react about the planet eggs, though.**

Devin sands: Love this chapter I want to ask are you going to have the king and queen go into space with Sonic and the others cause I thought of that when I read this chapter and they could help in their own way.

 **Angel: Yes, they will. If Sophia is gonna go into space where she came from, I figured why not have her parents come along?**

SwanGirl24: I just want to let you know that your story is one of the stories that inspired me to write my own Sonic X story. If you're interested I would like you read it when it comes and tell me what you think.

 **Angel: Why do I feel like this is déjà vu...? Maybe I'm just that tired that I'm imagining things. Anyway, I'm glad that my reluctant Sophia X story inspired you. I'd be glad to give it a read whenever it's released. Let me know when it comes out. Most of the time, I'm either doing homework or working on stories nowadays.**

Guest: Update please

 **Angel: Have you just met me? Thursdays only. I stopped updating on Tuesdays.**

GreenD109: After reading this new chapter, one thing is certain, Sophia, King Elliot, and Queen Valentina may or may not have encounter the Meterexes along with Cosmo's people or heard about them. But I guess that's for us to find out, as we keep on reading this story.

 **Angel: I think next chapter is when you guys get to know the full story.**

Courtney: I can't wait to see the team go into outer space to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds and stop the Metarex and I wonder if this is the reasons Sophia's parents alien planet died out than what Sophia explained.

 **Angel: Sophia doesn't know what happened since she's not from there, so it makes sense that she gave minor details.**

The Master Emerald glows brightly as something big was happening...

 _Dear Mom and Dad and everybody, I'm sorry to leave without saying goodbye. I knew if I said anything, you'd try and stop me from trying to travel to Sonic and Sophia's world. It's very important to me._

Chris stood in front of the machine where everything would change.

 _So I hope you'll understand. Don't worry, I'll be fine. And, I'll be back. I'll miss you all. Mom, and Dad, Grandpa, Danny, Frances, and Helen._

 _I love you,_

 _Chris_

 _PS: I'll tell Sonic and the others you said hello._

There was a flash in his lab and then he was gone.

A figure appeared in front of the Master Emerald and they all stared. "Hey, that's Chris!" Sophia, Sonic, and Knuckles said in unison.

"It worked...!" He sounded different from when he left. Their mouths all opened in shock. "I-I did it! I actually did it! Sonic! Sophia!" He then fell to the ground and their feet, placing a hand in front of him. He noticed that it was smaller than his adult hand. He looked at his smaller lab coat, gasping in shock.

Chris was now in his 12 year old body.

"What's going on?" Chris asks in confusion, looking over himself. "What's with my clothes? Did I shrink or something?"

"Shrink?" Sophia asks to herself, frowning. She still doesn't know why the Metarex seem familiar to her, or why her parents seem to know them...

"Great to see ya, Chris," Tails walks up to him with a smile.

"Tails, it's you," Chris gets onto his feet as Cream and Amy walk up to him.

"We really missed you!"

"It's about time you showed up," Amy teases, elbowing him with a giggle.

"Hey Amy."

"It's good to see ya," Knuckles hits him slightly with a laugh. Cosmo, Sonic, Sophia, and her parents look on at the reunion. They all fire their happiness to see him at once and he smiles at them. Cosmo turns to the other four.

"Sonic, your highnesses, who is that boy?"

"He's our friend," Sonic tells her.

"And please, just call me Sophia. Everyone else does," Sophia laughs at her politeness. Honestly, ever since she found out she was born on Earth, she didn't like formalities. She wanted people to get to know the real her, not the princess everyone else is familiar with.

Chris beams at the two. "Hi Sonic, Sophia..."

"How you doing, pal?" Sonic gives him a thumbs up, Sophia smiling softly.

"Things were pretty quiet without you getting into trouble," She chuckles at the thought.

"Sonic...Sophia..." He walks up to them slowly. "I can't believe I'm really here! It's been a long time coming."

"We knew you'd get here sooner or later, buddy!"

"Erm," Sophia cringes as she glances at the forest behind her. "Albeit during a bad time..."

"Wow, Sophia, you got a new look!" He looks at her new clothing.

"Oh this?" She lightly touches the small braid in her hair. "Let's just say that Station Square inspired me a bit..."

"But Sonic, you haven't changed a bit!" He looks around as Cosmo smiles a bit at their friendship. She could tell that Chris really cared about them, and vice versa. "Come to think of it, none of you have." He sees Cosmo and simply nods, wondering who she is. She nods back.

"Doesn't look like you changed much either, except for the baggy clothes. Is that some new style or something?"

"Ha!" Sophia giggles and he sweats a bit.

"No, I don't know what's going on," Sonic then falls to the floor, to their confusion. "Sonic!"

"Sonic?" Sophia bends down to him in concern.

"Sonic, what's wrong?" Amy calls out as they run up to them.

"Sonic."

"Say something!"

Cosmo has her mouth covered in shock, wondering what could've happened to them.

"Why isn't he waking up?"

Tails feels his forehead. "He's okay. I think he's just exhausted."

"Yeah, I guess he still has to recover from that battle," Knuckles replies, the king and queen growing worried.

"Battle? What battle?"

"Sonic got injured in a battle?" Chris asks in worry, Tails and Knuckles turning to him.

"Well...Sophia too, but-"

"Sophia!" Her eyes widen in slight fear as her parents are towering over her. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh boy," She facepalms, standing up.

They take Sonic to Cream's house so Vanilla could look over him. She places a blanket over him. "You rest now, Sonic."

"Your friends Sonic and the princess were fighting against a Metarex," Cosmo explains in the living room. Valentina and Elliot look around uneasily. Elliot gives his daughter a look.

"You were in battle with a Metarex and you did not inform us?"

"I was planning to tell you," Sophia rubs her arm awkwardly. "But it seems like you already know about them..."

"What is a Metarex?" Amy asks in confusion.

"I don't know how many there are, but they've been attacking planets all over the galaxy. Their goal is to unify all the planets under one absolute rule," Cosmo states.

"Let me guess, _their_ rule," Knuckles replies knowingly.

"That's right. They've already extinguished so many planets."

"What do you mean, extinguished?" Amy questions, wondering if that can even be possible.

"The Metarex don't just conquer planets, they take the planet eggs."

"The what?" Knuckles wonders.

"The planet eggs are like the hearts of planets. Without them, planets lose their power to nurture and sustain life. They become just cold, barren rocks, drifting through space. And now that they've taken your planet egg, your world will soon wither away just like the others have."

"Oh my god," Sophia covers her mouth in horror. "That's so awful!"

"Our planet will die?" Amy asks slowly.

"That's right."

Sophia looks up to her parents in worry for the other people on the planet. They just close their eyes and she looks away sadly. By their looks...

Without that planet egg, there's nothing they can do.

"Excuse my asking, but how do we know you're not on their side?" Knuckles asks suspiciously. The queen smacks him on the head with her scepter. "OW!"

"Knuckles! Manners. Cosmo can be trusted."

"She's right, I'm not!" Cosmo stands up in defense. "The Metarex are vicious, and they'll wipe out anything that gets in their way. I am NOT with them, you have to believe me."

"I wish I could," Knuckles narrows his eyes at her, arms crossed.

"At least let's hear her out," Chris speaks up.

"That is correct. Cosmo warned us, Knuckles, and you will do well to listen," Elliot narrows his eyes at the echidna. He holds up his hands in defense, wondering how they know her.

"I came here so that what happened to me might not happen to all of you," Tears come to her eyes. "My planet is gone. Everyone I loved, my family, my friends...everything!" She starts crying. "Everything is gone..."

Sophia's eyes grow soft, Knuckles feeling bad now as they stare at her. The princess steps up and engulfs Cosmo into a soft hug. She knew how the girl felt. Sophia herself felt the same when she found out she was a human...

Chris closes the door to the living room, looking at Tails and Amy. "She's calmed down a little. I think she'll be okay."

"I can't believe Knuckles was giving that poor thing such a hard time," Amy scolds, "It's a good thing that Valentina was there to knock some sense into him."

"I can't believe you built a teleporting machine in only six months!" Tails smiles, impressed.

"Only six months?!" Chris shouts in shock, closing his eyes in embarrassment. "No wonder you all look exactly as I remember you."

"Chris is acting kind of funny, Amy," Tails whispers, sweating a bit.

"Don't forget, he's human," Amy whispers back.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Amy's eyes widen in embarrassment as Sophia is standing nearby, arms crossed. "N-Nothing, Sophia!"

"Back home, it's been 6 years since I saw you!" Chris crosses his arms. "I guess I still have a lot to learn about teleportation."

"6 years?" Sophia's eyes widen in surprise.

"If it's been 6 years, how come you still look the same?" Tails wonders.

"I'm just as confused as you are, Tails," Chris shrugs at him.

"Maybe time just works differently between our worlds," Sophia shrugs at the possibility. "After all, I was stuck in space for who knows how long before my parents found me and I still looked like a baby."

Amy giggles at their confusion. "We'll figure it out." She opens the door, gasping. "Sonic's gone!"

"Oh no!"

"He must've gone out the window!" Chris runs up to the open window, Sophia facepalming.

"Every time," She mutters, walking out the door.

"He doesn't even say goodbye," Amy places her hands on her hips bitterly, glaring out the window.

"That's Sonic for ya. No matter what, he just takes off. He can't even stay still when he's passed out," Tails smiles at the thought.

"I'm just glad he's okay," Chris says softly.

Sonic is dashing through the forest, landing on top of a mountain. He looks at a big hole in the ground, but something else is off. He noticed it while he was running. "That's weird. There's no wind."

"Sonic!"

He turns around as Sophia lands in front of him. "You should be resting! You know better than to pull a disappearing act."

"How long have you known me, princess?" He smiles in amusement. "I've just gotta run!"

Sophia sighs a bit, facepalming. "I let you run off way too often..."

"Anyway...there's no wind, Sophia. Something's wrong."

She frowns at that, looking out to their land. "Yeah...it means our planet is dying until there's nothing left..."

"Something's not right," Knuckles stares at the Master Emerald. "I don't trust that Cosmo. What kind of business does she have with King Elliot, Queen Valentina, and Princess Sophia, anyway? Are they with the Metarex?"

"So, is it true, Knuckles?" Rouge flies down to him.

"Is what true, Rouge?" Whatever she wanted to know, he didn't care.

"A little birdie told me that all seven Chaos Emeralds were gone."

"It's true," He huffs to himself at the thought. "Sonic and Sophia thought it would be a good idea to scatter them into space. And not only that, but Chris teleported here from his world somehow." She smirks and flies away. "Things are crazy here! A Metarex attacks, then Cosmo-"

"See you around, Knuckie!" She sings as she leaves.

"Hey, Rouge! Come back here! You've got a lot of nerve flying off when I'm still talking! ROUGE!"

"These should fit a little better," Vanilla holds out Chris' old shirt. "They're like your old clothes, aren't they?"

"They sure are," He smiles gratefully. "Thanks," He rubs his neck sheepishly that she has an old shirt. _Man, this is embarrassing._

Cheese chirps happily as him and Rose are playing with Cream. Cosmo is looking up at the sky. "Such a pretty place..."

"I'm glad you like it," Cream smiles happily. "My planet's great. Maybe you can learn to love it here."

"Maybe," She smiles at the thought before it fades. _She doesn't understand. Without the planet egg, her planet cannot survive..._ "You know, Cream, if we don't get the planet egg back-"

"We will," Cream answers without hesitation, surprising Cosmo. "We've got Sonic and Sophia on our side," She smiles at the alien girl, "The king and queen too! They'll make everything okay."

Cheese and Rose agree with her. "But Cream, Sonic and Sophia aren't strong without the Chaos Emeralds."

As soon as she says that, Sophia and Sonic arrive back. "Well then, I'll guess we'll just have to go find them."

"We've done it before," Sophia shrugs at Cosmo. "Shouldn't be too hard to do...for a third time."

"I wish you had them now," She frowns a bit.

"Maybe there was something we could've done instead of sending the Chaos Emeralds away, but it seemed like a good idea at the time."

 _Super Sonic and Sophia stared at their enemy before holding out their hands. "CHAOS CONTROL!" The seven emeralds flew off into seven different directions. They smiled to themselves before falling towards their planet._

"At least _he_ didn't get the Emeralds."

"That's right," Sophia nods at them. "It was either that or he would've destroyed our planet...well, more than they already have."

The door opens and they look to see Valentina, Elliot, Tails, Chris, and Amy walking up to them. "You must've been pretty wiped out after fighting that thing," Tails speaks up.

"We were. Sophia broke my fall when we fell from space. When we transformed into Super Sonic and Super Sophia, we thought it'd be a cinch, but boy, were we wrong!" He smiles at the thought and at Sophia. "Thanks for the save."

"A princess has to protect her people. I was only doing what anyone else would've done," Sophia smiles a bit.

"Sonic, your highnes-er, Sophia." Sophia nods at the recognition. "Listen. The Metarex are extremely powerful. They've traveled through space and taken every egg from every planet they've encountered."

"There's nothing to worry about as long as Sophia and Sonic are on the scene, Cosmo. We'll get all the planet eggs back. We promise," Sonic holds up a finger.

"A dangerous quest in outer space," Amy's eyes shine as she clasps her hands. "Could anything be more romantic?"

"Cheese and I wouldn't miss an adventure like this," Cream stands up.

"You can count me in, Sonic," Tails calls out.

"I wanna go too," Chris smiles happily. "I've been waiting six years to have another adventure with you!"

"Great, then it's settled. We're going into outer space!" Sonic and Sophia declare, pointing up to the sky. The king and queen chuckle at how much Sonic has indirectly influenced their daughter in so many ways.

"Well Tails," King Elliot puts a hand on his shoulder. "Looks like you have a space ship to build!"

"Me?! Oh wow, thank you, your highness! I promise I won't let you down!"

"Tails, to go into space, won't we need a spaceship?" Chris asks as they're in a hanger.

"Ta da!" He turns on the lights and they look up in surprise to see just that. The king and queen clap, impressed. Sonic whistles at it.

"It's so big!" Cream and Amy say in unison.

"It's a multi-purpose, fully mobile Flying Fortress!" Tails smiles at it. "I call it the Blue Typhoon, and with a few quick adjustments, it can even fly into space. Only..."

"Only what?" Chris asks, noticing Tails' sad expression.

"I was planning on using the Chaos Emeralds as the power source. Now what are we gonna use?"

Sophia smiles sheepishly at Sonic as Chris gets an idea. "I know what we can use!"

Knuckles groans as he's walking around in the forest. "I shouldn't have told that batty Rouge anything!" He looks around and gasps as he sees something. Angel Island is no longer floating. "Oh no! The Master Emerald's gone!"

Chris looks down at the power source of their ship: The Master Emerald. Tails looks at the statistics. "The readings look good, Chris."

"The Master Emerald oughta give us enough power to go interstellar!" Chris exclaims and Knuckles suddenly arrives.

"WHAT'S THE IDEA?!"

"We're gonna borrow your Master Emerald for a little while," Sonic grins down at him.

"No way, it goes back where it was!"

"But we need it to go into outer space," Amy tries to reason with him.

"Wha?" He turns to them. "Outer space?"

"We have to find the seven Chaos Emeralds so we have enough power to defeat Metarex," Cosmo speaks up.

"We're going to travel across the galaxy, battle Metarex, and save planets!" Cream chirps in excitement. "Doesn't it sound like the best adventure ever."

"It sounds just peachy," He grits his teeth, glaring up at Sonic. "Now gimme back that emerald, Sonic, or I'll come up there and take it!"

Valentina and Sophia are about to calm him down when they see Cream slowly getting angry. "Listen to you! You should be ashamed!"

He sweats nervously at her. Cream never got angry. Like, ever.

"The fate of the entire galaxy is at stake," Cosmo tells him with a frown.

"But if you won't listen to reason," Amy walks up to Knuckles with her hammer and he screams. "Maybe I could knock some reason into you," Her eyes shine evilly at the thought. "It'd be a pleasure!"

He backs up and knocks into two people. He turns around and sees Valentina along with Sophia. They're glaring down at him, arms crossed.

"Hey, let's calm down!"

"Ladies, if you will," Valentina gestures to Knuckles. Amy, Cream, and Cosmo pounce forward to deal with him.

"Sonic, please, help me! Your highnesses, call them off!"

"I'd like to, but I don't get involved in fights I can't win. You're on your own," Sonic winks at him.

"As queen, I believe that you require proper manners," Valentina closes her eyes in amusement. "Knights do not talk back, and you shall soon learn that."

"It's hard to believe he's actually a knight with the way he presents himself," Sophia sighs slowly. Despite his attitude, Knuckles was still a loyal friend, and that loyalty was possibly the only thing that allowed him to keep his title...

They get to work making the adjustments now that they have the power to go into space. Tails speaks to Sonic with the blueprints, Knuckles transports supplies, but not faster than Sonic, and Tails and Chris are at the control panel.

"Chris," He turns to the boy. "I'm sorry our planet got invaded right when you came to visit us." He wanted Chris to see their planet for what it was, not when it was dying...

"Are you kidding? Don't be," Chris shakes his head. "I haven't been this excited in years! And now that I'm older, I can be of some use to you guys." He smiles gratefully. He may look younger, but he still has all of his previous experiences with machinery. "So is the initial takeoff sequence ready? Prepare to activate the Master Emerald."

Tails smiles at him happily. "This reminds me of our times back in Station Square."

"We should load the ship with lots of cool gadgets! That way, when I tell Grandpa about it, he'll get really jealous!"

"Sounds good to me!"

They continue their work, unaware of someone watching them...

"Do not let them leave the planet," A Metarex is preparing to attack them. "Stop the development of the spacecraft, and destroy them."

It flies towards the dying planet, ready to commence the plan...

Amy, Cream, Sophia, and her mother walk through the grass. They had gone home to grab their items for the trip. "This could be the last of the supplies we have to haul from home. Of course now, we have to load everything onto the ship."

"I can hardly believe it," Cream smiles excitedly. "Pretty soon we'll be taking off in sp-"

They notice Cosmo sitting on a trunk. "Hi Cosmo," Cream walks up to her. She looks up in confusion as Cream sets her things down. "Would you mind carrying these downhill, please?"

"Oh, okay," She stands up, surprised that they're being nice despite their previous suspicion of her. She picks up the bags slowly.

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I got it..." She trips, rolling down the grass.

"She doesn't have it," Cream has her mouth covered. Sophia speeds down to Cosmo, but the plant girl bumps into Sophia. Luckily the princess broke her fall.

"I'm...okay..."

"Cosmo!" They run down to her.

"Sophia!" Valentina rushes down to them.

"Are you two alright?" Amy asks them.

"I think so..." Cosmo sits up, turning around as Sophia rubs her head. "Thank you, princess."

"No problem...though, I can't say much about our food," She looks down at the fallen food on the grass. The sky gets darker for a second, causing Cosmo's eyes to go wide. She shudders in horror as she sees something flying in the sky. They look up and it crashes not too far away.

"A Metarex..."

"What?" Sophia frowns at it. "Why? They already took the planet egg."

"The Metarex do not go easy on anyone," Valentina narrows her eyes and Sophia looks up at her in confusion. The queen suddenly remembered how she knew them...

And why Cosmo came for their help.

Sophia looks up at her mom, who nods for her to go and help.

The Metarex bot stands up. "Following directive number one. Destroy the enemy's spacecraft," It fires at the grass. "Adjust firing error 296, tangen 8."

A pink and blue blur fly by, Sonic jumping off its head. Knuckles comes in and knocks the robot to the ground. Sophia flings pick projectiles while still in the air. "Chaos Spear!"

However, they have no effect on the robot. She lands safely between Sonic and Knuckles, the trio confused when the robot emits a sword from its right hand. It slices at them and they jump into the air, the sword slicing off a tree instead.

"I don't think we're gonna stop that thing this way!" Knuckles glances to his right as Sonic and Sophia land on the ground.

"You're right. But we gotta try," Sonic grits his teeth at the robot.

"Sonic, you and I couldn't stop one even when in Super mode. They're too powerful," Sophia narrows her eyes. _I know that my parents somehow know them...and I know that I've seen them before, earlier in my lifetime. What am I missing?_

The Metarex stands up. "It is futile for you to oppose us. You are never going to leave this planet alive."

"That's what you think!" Sophia grits her teeth, pointing up at it. "You can't stop us!"

"There's no time," Chris glances at Tails as they see the smoke in the distance. "What's our status?"

Tails rushes to the roof to check. "I still have a few adjustments to make, but we can work on those in the air, so I guess we're ready!"

"Let's go," Chris tells him. They nod to each other.

"You're ready?!" Amy asks in surprise, using the communicators they were given. Phones don't exist on their world, so communicators were the next best thing. "We're leaving now?"

"Soon, but we have to activate the Master Emerald first, so we need Knuckles," Tails rubs his neck. "Would you mind finding him for me?"

Amy hangs up, pressing the lid down. "The time's almost here! Cream, go find Knuckles and tell him Tails needs him on the ship. Cosmo, your highness, come with me and help me get the supplies abroad."

"What's going on?" Cosmo asks slowly.

"Tails is almost ready to power up his new ship, and he needs Knuckles to activate the Master Emerald," Amy explains, Valentina, Cosmo, and Cream gasping sharply. They themselves weren't ready, but they had to do what Amy asked.

Sonic jumps back as the robot punches the ground. He jumps again as the robot chops his hand through a tree. The hedgehog lands on a branch. "Hey, up here!"

The Metarex robot stands up, Knuckles and Sophia jumping behind him. He punches it from behind as Sophia goes in for the kick. They land in the same tree as Sonic, looking at the dust. The robot stands up to look at them.

"Huh? Hey, I think I finally stopped him," Knuckles murmurs to Sonic and Sophia.

"You stopped him?!" Sophia flares up her nose. However, it prepares the missiles from the chest plate.

"I don't think so!" Sonic tells Knuckles as they cringe. It fires and they move out of the way. Some of them go straight for the spacecraft. Sophia and Sonic gasp sharply.

Tails is preparing the systems. "Radar systems activated." He glances to his right to see missiles flying towards them. He shouts in horror, but Sonic knocks them away. Sophia lands in front of the ship, closing her eyes. She uses her telekinesis to knock one missile into the other. She then melts a missile with her laser eyes.

"It'd stink to get blasted out of the sky before we left the ground!" Sonic comments, another one landing right behind him. He gasps in shock as the Metarex fires lasers. Sonic looks at where it landed, thankfully behind the ship. Knuckles runs around it, digging a hole. The robot sinks through the hole, Knuckles chuckling.

"Happy landing, pal!"

"Knuckles!" Cream comes flying in with her ears. He looks up at her. "Tails needs you on the ship! He plans to beat the Metarex!"

"I just did!" He brags, but the aforementioned robot gets up, trying to attack Knuckles. Sonic kicks it in the head, landing in front of it. Sophia flies in, landing next to him.

"Go on Knuckles, we got this guy!"

Amy throws the last of her supplies down, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Whew. You know, Cosmo, you might wanna carry more than one at a time."

Cosmo nods at her, "Right." She struggles to get the backpack off, eventually landing on the ground.

"Why don't you just take it easy?" Amy waves at her sheepishly.

"Yes, do not stress yourself, young one," Valentina helps Cosmo up.

Tails presses two buttons as he's doing a final check. "The main engine's ready. Connecting to the Master Emerald. You copy?"

Chris sees the power going up. "Main engine now connected to the Master Emerald." He looks up as the Master Emerald is locked inside the engine, so that no one would steal it should the engine ever break down.

Knuckles is standing in front of the Master Emerald. "The seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers. Our hearts intensify their power. The controller serves to unify the Chaos. We need your great power to find the Chaos Emeralds!"

"Ignition." Chris pulls the lever and soon, the ship starts up. "Okay, the engine's fired up."

Vanilla is knitting as Cream arrives. "Mother?"

"Oh," She looks up at her daughter. Cream walks up to her slowly.

"Mother, would it be alright if I go out into space with everybody?"

"You mean on that nice spaceship that Tails built? Sure, sweetie, just don't touch any buttons." She smiles softly at Cream.

"Thanks, Mother," Cream hugs her, to her surprise.

"Cream."

 _Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye._

Sonic and Sophia jump into the air, punching the Metarex. They continue to attack, but it does nothing to stop it.

They land on the grass as the robot lands with a thump in front of them. They glance back at the ship. "Hurry it up, guys!"

The ground starts to shake and they look towards the crater where the ship is.

"The acceleration thruster's almost charged!" Tails reports, looking at the bars going up. "Take off time," He smiles when it's ready.

The ground underneath breaks apart as the ship launches into the air.

"You are doomed," The Metarex robot fires missiles from its chest.

"Great," Sophia and Sonic sigh at the robot's persistence. They spin dash into the air to fend off the missiles. Once they touch them, they explode. The two land on the ship, smirking.

"It's been fun, but we have to be running along now." He rubs his nose.

"We won't miss ya!" Sophia salutes off to the robot.

The Master Emerald glows. "Master Emerald, we need you! Release the power of Chaos to us!"

"We're almost there. 80, 90, 95. The chamber's energy supply is at full capacity," Chris reports. The Metarex takes off after them, both Sophia and Sonic cringing.

" _Sonic, Sophia! We're gonna use the main cannon! Stand by!_ " Tails' voice warns as a cannon is emitted right behind them from the ship. " _Transferring power from the energy chamber to the main cannon._ "

" _Cannon pressure sequence now in progress_ ," Chris speaks up as the two speedsters run inside. " _Sequence complete. Sonic, Sophia, do your thing."_

They know exactly what to do as they land on a platform. "Here goes!" They spin dash, the cannon giving them massive amounts of power.

The Metarex robot stares at the ship, wondering why it stopped...

"Last one," Amy puts down a backpack near an exhausted Cosmo, Cream, Rose, and Cheese.

" _Attention everyone_ ," Chris' voice announces through the speaker, " _Brace yourselves._ "

Amy and Valentina sigh, falling to the ground. Elliot stands by, his eyes narrowed. _When we depart...Sophia shall be told what she wishes to know..._

The Metarex robot is about to fire its missiles again. "Target Metarex, dead ahead!" Tails locks his target into the chest. The missiles are fired.

"SONIC/ROYAL POWER CANNON, FIRE!" Knuckles, Chris, and Tails shout in unison. The cannon powers up and then Sonic and Sophia burst out of it like cannonballs. They destroy the missiles, but they weren't finished yet. They pierce right through the chest of the Metarex, damaging and destroying it. The two fly into the air, still spinning.

Sophia slowly stops, holding her dizzy head. She looks up to Sonic and flies towards him, grabbing his arms. She shakes her head rapidly to clear her head, flying back towards a flying plane. Chris is flying it.

"Hang on, guys," He whispers to himself.

Sonic opens his eyes, smiling. "Hi Chris."

"I gotcha!" He calls out, opening up the window and holding out his arms. Sonic grabs his hand once Sophia reaches the boy. "Mission accomplished!" He flies back to the spaceship.

"Excellent catch, guys!" Tails praises, looking up. "Now get ready. Retracting main cannon." The Sonic/Royal Power Cannon goes back to where it was. "Rerouting energy to the main engine." Luckily, since they're using the Master Emerald, they didn't lose any power at all from the cannon. "Forward wing deployed!"

Two wings from the side appear.

"Alright, Blue Typhoon...here we go." The spaceship takes off into the sky, Amy looking up. She gets to her feet, turning to the others.

"Let's get to the bridge!" She runs off, the others following after her, including the king and queen. Sonic, Sophia, Tails, and Chris smile at the sky. "Hey," Amy calls out once she reaches them.

Sonic chuckles up at her as Cream, Cheese, Rose, and Sophia's parents appear. "Mother? Father? I thought you were staying at the palace. Who's going to look after our world when we're gone?" Sophia asks in concern. They were already attacked; who knows what could happen if all three royals are away in space?

"Nonsense," Elliot waves a hand. "Did you really believe that we would leave our palace in peril? We have very trusted people in the court to take care of everything."

"Court? We have a court now?" Sophia asks in confusion. Since there was really no one from their own world, their own people was down to butlers, cooks, and maids.

"Indeed," Valentina smiles at Sophia. "We have grown very much while you were away with Sonic."

Sophia smiles sheepishly. Has she really been gone for that long that she didn't know about this? "Oops. With my runs, I barely saw home..."

"We have all the time in the world," Elliot smiles, hugging his daughter. He was just glad that she was safe.

"What a beautiful view," Cream peeks out the window. "I've always wanted to know what our planet looked like from this side up."

Sonic rubs his head sheepishly at Amy before he feels something. He looks down at his hand to see a tiny chip.

"I wonder what this is."

"You wonder what is?" Tails asks him, as they don't know it's actually a recording device.

"This thing on my head."

"I'm afraid I have bad news, doctor," Decoe calls out from their base. "Sonic seems to have discovered your electronic bug."

"Ha ha ha!" Eggman laughs, "I planted it on him before he and Sophia woke up. Clever, aren't I? Now, fire up the engines and follow that space ship."

"Roger! Engine fired up," Bocoe pulls a lever and a rocket underneath the base powers up.

"Don't let them get away! Full speed ahead!" Bokkun orders them, to their confusion.

"Hey, I give the orders around here!" Eggman barks at him.

"Sorry, doctor."

Rouge follows them in her own ship, chuckling. Space offers many opportunities indeed...

The Blue Typhoon reaches space and Sophia smiles at it. It reminded her so much of home...both of them. And now they were going back to find the Chaos Emeralds, stop the Metarex, and save planets!

"Sophia."

"Hm?" She turns around to Elliot as he approaches her, Valentina by her side.

"Do you...wish to know about the Metarex?" Valentina asks slowly. She stares at them as she notices their forlorn expressions.

"Yes!" Sophia answers immediately. "Why do I feel like I know them, Father? Why do I feel like I've lived through this?"

Valentina and Elliot glance at each other, unsure if she was really ready to hear this. Though, time and time again, she's already proven herself to be old enough to know the truth. She's lived through so much already, so they had to make sure not to overwhelm her.

"The reason why they are familiar to you, dear, is because..." Elliot takes a deep breath.

"...My brother, Valtor, was their ally. And he paid the Metarex...to destroy our planet long ago. A few days after we found you, they...almost snatched you away. By your former uncle's orders which he gave out just before he passed away with everyone else." Valentina whispers sadly.

"What...?" Is all Sophia can murmur. The Metarex...and her uncle...

Tried to kidnap her after she was found...?


	55. H2Whoa

**Angel: Someone (and by someone I mean annoying Devin for trying to contradict me on everything) asked if Sophia is still in her clothes from Chris' world. The answer is no, so I went back and changed not only dialogue for two episodes, but also her clothing. She's not in anything royal, though. Here's the thing, Devin. Just because I'm on the last season doesn't mean I'm gonna go back and forth to change something, you know. I really don't wanna do that just because we're on the final season, so please don't ask me to change anything else from the previous episodes. I don't care if it's confusing or it's not satisfying someone, I still wouldn't do it. Can't I just focus on getting the rest of the season done? Thanks!**

Devin sands: Nice chapter but I would like to point something out see you wrote in this chapter that Sophia was found by the king and queen as a baby but she knew Shadow and when before she was drifted to Sonic's world she told him her last words so what was it? Was she a baby when she was made or was she around Maria's age?

 **Angel: Time and space is complicated. She went through a wormhole and reverted back into a baby when she was found. It was just never explained because she didn't remember, and it's not like her parents saw her go through a wormhole. Like I said before last week, I was tired, and I was finishing up the chapter before I took a nap. And those weren't her last words, per say, if she was still alive. Anyway, she's over a thousand years old, anything can happen.**

Devin sands: And this goes with my first review of this chapter just to clarify how did Sophia end up as a baby on Sonic's world but she was around Maria's age when she was sent into space?

 **Angel: *rubs a temple* All this contradicting is gonna give me a headache...let me remind you she was still a child when she MET Sonic, so it's not that unbelievable for her to not age in space because of how time works up there. Also, Sonic's world and Chris' world are worked differently when it comes to time. AND she was Robotnik's creation. I've already said before that she was a baby, anyway.**

Myarosado049: Don't make Sophia's mom and dad die that'd be so sad.

 **Angel: Wow, okay, that's morbid ^^' But I'm not. I was never planning to do that anyway...after all...**

 **It's a kids show.**

Bajy: Epic! Awesome! A shocking ending! Looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: XD I just hope that when the show ends, I'll be left alone now about Sonic stuff.**

Dream lightning: Wow did not see that coming keep going getting so good bit time really enjoy it hope she finds Shadow.

 **Angel: I forgot which episode he appeared in first for this season :/**

Crazycartoons5488: Why sophia uncle team up with the metarex

 **Angel: I would answer, but it's told at the beginning of this episode.**

Challishanlon99: Please be careful everyone and by the way I have another question Sonic Sophia do you guys see each other as brother and sister cuz to me it seems like you guys are.

 **Sonic and Sophia: *glance to each other***

 **Sophia: That's pretty much the gist.**

 **Sonic: Yeah, I've known Sophia for years. She's like a big sister, it's only reasonable I see her that way.**

 **Sophia: And he's like the annoying little brother who never listens.**

 **Sonic: Hey!**

Johanvanguard: It's good that Chris came back, and that he helped with making the Blue Typhoon being able to go into space. With Sophia, Cream, Knuckles, Valentina, and Elliot joining the crew, the heroes would have a better chance with finding the Chaos Emeralds and stopping the Metarex. Too bad that the Metarex planned to stop the Blue Typhoon from taking off to prevent the interference from Sonic and the others. Thanks to Sonic, Sophia, and the Blue Typhoon's upgrades, the Metarex failed to stop the launch and the heroes were off to space. Not so surprising that Eggman and Rouge are also in space to get their hands on the Chaos Emeralds. I'm shocked that Sophia's parents revealed to her that her uncle was an ally with the Metarex and they tried to kidnap her when she was young. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the Planet Hydo, and how Sonic and the others will react to Sophia's connection to the Metarex.

 **Angel: The Metarex are total jerks. And Eggman...well, of course he'd be there. He's already annoying in their own world, now they have to deal with him in space. And he was evil, of course he'd be allied with evil. And it's Planet Secco.**

Guest: LOVING IT! Just a small thing. Sonic 06 never happened. So technically...we can experiment with a Sonic x human!Alien!OC

 **Angel: There will be no experimenting whatsoever! I've said it time and time again that I'm not pairing Sophia with anyone. Even if the game never happened, Sophia is still an older, human girl. Not a hedgehog or any other animal. And don't bring up Tails and Cosmo as an example. Besides, I ship SonAmy...she wouldn't be happy if a close friend of hers dated Sonic, anyway. Not unless you wanna plan Sophia's funeral.**

Guest: Update please

 **Angel: I'm not even bothering to respond to that because that review was from Monday and today's, you know, the actual update day I want?**

Guest: I can't wait to see them go to the first planet on their space adventure and hope they can find the chaos emeralds.

 **Angel: Wait no more!**

"What...?" Sophia asks slowly to her parents. "Uncle...tried to kidnap me?"

"Yes," Elliot nods solemnly. "It's true. Your uncle wished for you to witness the destruction of multiple planets...so that you would join his side. However, before he would do so, he made the choice to destroy our world with the help of the Metarex. He did not account for himself to go out of control, eliminating himself in a matter of minutes. The Metarex, in revenge, stole our planet egg and blasted it to bits. The Metarex were still under his rule, and so they attacked us in our ship. Luckily, our defenses caused them to surrender. But now...the Metarex may be attempting to finish what Valtor started, to rule the galaxy in his name."

"Oh my god," Sophia covers her mouth, trying not to cry. All of it just sounds so horrible...

The two engulf her into a hug, saddened by her reaction. They knew she would react like this, but after everything that had happened to her...she deserved to know everything.

"Our planet had a prophecy," Valentina speaks up quietly. "That a royal, noble, and brave princess would defeat the Metarex and save the galaxy from ruin. And that she would keep on the legacy of the Xenian rule...but not without making a significant sacrifice."

Sophia pauses at the explanation, not daring to look up. "Sophia...you must fulfill the prophecy. It is your destiny," Elliot tells her and she lets go, unsure of what to do...

* * *

"Christopher went to Sonic and Sophia's world?! Well, we have to bring him back," Lindsey Thorndyke exclaims, having seen the letter. "Right now!"

"I don't think we should try to operate his machine, Mrs. Thorndyke," Frances gently warns her.

"Only Chris understands how it works," Danny elaborates.

"I can't risk tampering with it, Lindsey," Chuck speaks up. "If I damaged it in any way, Chris might be trapped in Sonic's world forever."

"But we can't just leave him here!" She protests in worry. Nelson places a hand on her shoulder.

"We have to trust our son."

"But-"

"Chris knows how to take care of himself, and you know it's never wise to underestimate a Thorndyke," He chuckles and she stares at him. She hugs him sadly, Chuck looking on with a smile.

"I'm sure Chris will try to communicate with us, Mrs. Thorndyke," Helen wheels up to her. "We'll stay here at the lab and let you know right away if we hear from him."

"Thank you, Helen," Nelson says gratefully. "Please do."

* * *

The Blue Typhoon continues on. "You detected one of the Chaos Emeralds?" Cream asks curiously.

"Are you sure about this, Knuckles?"

"Yes, there's no doubt about it. I was in the engine room a few minutes ago when I saw the Master Emerald reacting to something. It must have been an emerald!"

"Check for a planet nearby," Amy calls out to Tails, Sonic, and Sophia. The princess seems unfocused.

"Let's see," Tails pulls up a hologram in front of them.

"There's one," Chris points to something.

"That's Planet Secco," Cosmo recalls as Sonic is reading a guide.

"And according to my galactic guidebook, it's dry as a bone." He jumps onto the ground.

"Tails!" Amy points excitedly to the fox. "We're gonna land on Planet Secco and find that emerald. Let's go!"

"I'm supposed to give the orders," Tails mutters with a frown.

"Just do it!"

"Everything okay, Sophia?" Sonic looks up at her. She blinks rapidly as she was in her own thoughts.

"What?" She asks in confusion. Cosmo steps up.

"You found out about the prophecy, didn't you?"

"Prophecy?" Knuckles turns to her, confused as he never heard of it.

"Yes. To stop the Metarex."

"By herself?" Amy wonders as Sophia rubs her neck nervously. They say nothing else as the Master Emerald glows. They head towards a blue/icy white planet.

"According to the scope, there's a lot of water on this world," Chris explains to Sonic's dismay.

"Oh no! We can't land here! There's gotta be some kind of mistake!"

"Tough luck, Sonic," Knuckles snorts with a laugh. The wings open and the spaceship slowly descends towards the water.

"Splashdown!" Tails exclaims as the ship hits the water, eventually coming to a stop. Cream, Amy, Knuckles, Chris, Sonic, and Sophia are either in or examining green mini subs.

"You must've made a wrong turn, Tails," Sonic shows his book, Tails frowning. "The guidebook says this planet's dry. "

"Don't blame me, Sonic. Sounds like your galactic guidebook is seriously out of date," Tails climbs onto his sub.

"There's way too much water here!" Sonic shouts in disbelief. "I hate water..." He whips around to the king and queen. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"That is because the word secco, or dry, is ironic. We believed you knew that it would be dry." Elliot defends, holding up a finger. He rubs his chin. "However, Planet Secco does not have this much water..."

"Don't sweat it, Sonic," The hedgehog glances back at Chris. "I have a way for you to stay dry even when you're underwater." He's tinkering with Sonic's sub. "You're not afraid of submarines, are you?"

Sonic chuckles weakly, sweating a bit. "Launch the subs!" Tails announces, the king and queen waving as the subs jump into the sea. Sonic cringes as his sub hits the water. He starts to get sick, Chris glancing at him from the other seat of the attached sub.

 _Uh oh. Sonic's looking pretty seasick. Lucky for me we're riding in separate compartments!_

They continue towards the bottom when some sea animals come towards them. "Aaah, oh no!" Chris quickly moves out of the way, spinning around. This was not helping Sonic at all.

* * *

They make it to shore, all except Tails, Sonic, and Chris. "Are you sure the Chaos Emerald's somewhere nearby?" Amy asks skeptically as it's just sand and rocks.

"I couldn't be surer," Knuckles smirks confidently.

"What makes you so certain we'll find it here, Knuckles?" Cosmo asks him.

"Because I've got a natural knack for finding things," He brags, Cosmo blinking at him.

"Oh."

He pulls out his shovel claws. "Not again," Sophia facepalms at him.

"I'll show ya." He digs into the sand and starts digging. The girls just stare at him as he trails around them. Cream picks up a bucket and a tiny rake.

"Why don't we dig for the Chaos Emerald too?" She suggests, Cosmo taking a rake with a smile. Knuckles makes a path as he hasn't found it yet, the girls staying behind to dig for the emerald themselves.

"I can't believe the Metarex destroyed your planet, Sophia," Amy frowns in sympathy. "And you weren't even there..."

"Fate works in many straight ways, Amy..." Sophia looks up to the sky in thought, thinking about the prophecy.

Cream and Cosmo find some shells. Amy taps her finger against her head, placing her hands on her hips impatiently. "This is gonna be a long day."

"You don't think Sonic and Chris ran into some kind of trouble, do you?" Cosmo asks Cream in concern that they hadn't arrived.

"Wouldn't be surprised," Cream comments with a smile, confusing Cosmo. Sophia opens her wings, Cosmo gasping in awe at how pretty and sparkly they looked. Sophia flies into the air, using her heat vision above the sand to search quicker.

* * *

The sub emerges from the water, Sonic coughing as he sticks his head out from the open door. Chris looks around, as he had stopped for the sake of the hedgehog.

"Sorry. Where are we?"

Up ahead is a building. Chris smiles as he points at it. "Hey, look!"

Sonic looks up weakly. There seems to be no one around on land. Chris carries the still-sick Sonic to the sand. "Sonic, come on. You're safe now."

Two pairs of feet stop in their path and Chris gasps to see crab-like robots. "They're Metarex," Sonic recognizes the glint in their eyes.

"Yeah, and whoever sent them here designed 'em especially for the water."

"Right. I bet their boss stole the planet egg and turned this place into a water world. I knew there was something fishy going on," Sonic stands up, ready to take them on. The fish Metarex attack, Sonic knocking them away from Chris. "Run while you have the chance!"

"I'm not afraid," Chris boasts confidently. "I've got a black belt in karate now."

"You know karate?" Sonic blinks in surprise. He didn't think that Chris would even take those classes.

The fish Metarex also look surprised by that news. "Tanaka gave me martial arts lessons. I'll chop through these crazy freaks and turn 'em into sushi."

He approaches the robots, punching one in the face. However, he doesn't actually hit the robot, staring at his hand in confusion. He kicks a kick, but again, he doesn't hit them. Sonic kicks one away, turning to him.

"Quit kidding around, Chris!"

"I'm not a kid!" Chris calls out as he's running from a robot. That's exactly the word he didn't want to hear from him.

"Get going!" Sonic shouts, "I'll take care of 'em!"

"Don't you want me to help you?!"

"That's okay," Sonic pushes against a Metarex casually. "Leave the fighting to the experts, Chris." He throws the fish robot away.

 _No wonder Sonic doesn't believe me. I have the skills of an 18-year-old, but the strength of a 12-year-old. Maybe I can stop these things with a surprise counterattack._

He comes to a stop and prepares himself, defending against the fins. He finally hits one. "Gotcha." However, it has no effect as his hand is burning. He clutches his hand, spinning around. The robots roar and he shouts in surprise. A few more are about to tackle him.

"Go!" Sonic pushes him out of the way and he lands into the water. The Metarex surround Sonic, but he spin dashes, knocking them away. He lands on the sand. "Get help!"

Chris swims to the sub, looking back at him. He couldn't just leave him. "But Sonic!"

"Get in that sub and get going!" Sonic insists to him.

"Look behind you!"

Sonic's eyes widen as a large purple catfish Metarex is behind him. It roars and takes Sonic with its fins. The robot throws Sonic and he spins into the water. He coughs, trying to stay on the surface.

"Just don't panic!" Chris advises and suddenly, a missile appears from the robot. It fires at Sonic, who's still screaming and thrashing around. It opens up into a net, capturing Sonic with it. "They got him."

They pull him to shore. "Just hold on, Sonic! I'm coming for ya!"

The fish Metarex also come for him.

"Go before the Metarex get you!" Sonic orders.

"I won't leave you!" Chris replies back.

"You have to. If they catch you, neither one of us will survive!"

Chris looks up nervously as they approach the sub. If he goes, he could get help...but he'd be leaving behind his friend. And if he stayed, it won't help Sonic at all.

"Alright, I'll go," He says reluctantly. He closes the door as the Metarex jump onto the sub. He takes off, knocking them into the sea. Sonic can only watch as he leaves. "You hang in there, Sonic..."

The hedgehog watches nervously, hoping that Chris will be back with reinforcements.

* * *

"Sonic was captured?!" Tails exclaims when Chris returns to the engine room.

"Yeah, but I'm going back to rescue him."

"By yourself?!" Tails exclaims in the same tone. "There's no way, Chris!"

"Trust me," Chris looks back to him. "I know what I'm doing, Tails."

"No you don't!" Tails waves his arms.

"I do!" Chris shouts, getting into Sonic's old plane. Tails runs up to him.

"But what's your plan, Chris?"

"I'll fly back to where Sonic is, and I...uh...I don't know." What was he gonna do, beg them to release the hedgehog?

"We can save Sonic if we use teamwork," Tails suggests with a smile. "There's no reason for you to go it all alone, okay?"

"Okay," Chris stands up, grateful for the help. Something beeps and Tails turns on his communicator.

"This is the Blue Typhoon. Over."

"It's Amy. I'm calling from under the island."

"I have some bad news, about Sonic," He starts off.

"He got captured," She smiles knowingly.

"How'd you find that out?"

"I just made a whole bunch of new friends," She smiles at the strangers around her in the dark room. "They saw the Metarex capturing Sonic."

"We gotta go rescue him, Amy!" Chris calls out.

"I'll take care of it, Chris. These folks will show me where Sonic's being held." She closes her eyes in bliss. "When he sees me coming, his heart will start pounding faster than my hammer!" She laughs as she holds up her Piko Piko Hammer. "Thanks for saving me, Amy. My pleasure, Sonic! Amy, you're the most beautiful girl in the universe! Oh, Sonic, really? Now I see what a fool I've been for waiting so long, Amy, will you marry me?!"

Tails frowns uncomfortably at the dialogue.

"Oh Sonic, of course I will!" She squeals in excitement, Chris leaning in.

"Excuse me?"

"Is that you, Sonic?"

"No, it's me, Chris! We have to rescue Sonic right away, Amy!" He waves his hands in panic.

"What do you mean, WE?! I don't need a chaperone!"

"Okay," He backs away, holding his hands up in defense.

"Tails, I'll need some time to set Sonic free. Pick us up in the X Tornado in an hour, got it?"

"Sure Amy," He hangs up.

"Need any help getting the X Tornado ready?" Chris offers, feeling like he had to help out somehow.

"I don't think so, Chris. Why don't you go take a rest?" He holds up his hand. "You might wanna wash up a bit, too."

"Hm?" Chris wipes his face, looking at the soot from his sleeve.

* * *

 _I learned so much in the past six years._ Chris looks up at the ceiling as he remembers studying with Danny. _I got self-confidence when Tanaka taught me self-defense. Grandpa gave me flying lessons and helped me get my pilot's license. I even got a part-time job after school so I can get work experience. But now it's like I'm back where I was six years ago..._

" _Leave the fighting to the experts, Chris."_

He turns to the side with a forlorn look. _Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here after all..._

 _Sonic jumped into the air, defeating a robot. Sonic and the others don't need my help. They all have incredible powers. Every time we get into trouble, one of them jumps into action and saves the day. And I just stand there watching. I wanna help, but what can I do? Even Cream and Cheese can do more than I can. I may as well face it. I'm totally useless. And I should've stayed home..._

 _His older self glanced at a picture of Sonic, Sophia, Tails, Amy, and him all smiling. The wind came in and knocked it down, breaking the glass. He gasped sharply, running up to the frame and picking it up. "I'm coming."_

 _But something told me Sonic was in danger. That's why I had to come here. I had to._

" _Are those your new designs, Chris?"_

" _Well, they're just some ideas," Chris replied to Helen._

" _Let me see," She offered, holding out a hand. He gave her the papers. She looked at it to see a drawing of a ring, Sophia's sword, and Sonic's shoe. "Hm, interesting. What's this?" She pointed to a ball._

" _It doesn't have a name yet, but if it works, it could help Sonic get energy wherever he needs it out in space. I'd give Sophia one too, but I don't think she needs it," He chuckled at the thought. She would probably refuse it, anyway._

" _What about this?" She pointed to Sophia's sword._

" _It doesn't have a name either, but it could channel Sophia's powers into her sword. All of them! Her heat vision, her invisibility, her flying..."_

" _And this?" Helen pointed to the shoe. He gasped in awe. "Those are speed shoes. The soles are made from a special compound that helps the shoe grip the ground while at the same time reducing-"_

 _She giggled at his enthusiasm. "Maybe they're all silly," He scratched his cheek in embarrassment._

" _I think they're all wonderful," She smiled at him._

" _You do?" He chuckled in relief._

" _I do," She nodded at him with a small smile. He smiled back at her faith._

Chris drops the blanket, sitting up. "I have learned a lot in six years, and Sonic and Sophia do need me! I can help him!" He stands up, walking over to his laptop. He sits in the chair and starts writing something down.

A couple of fish Metarex is guarding the base on the island. "This is the only entrance. I'm afraid it will be impossible to reach your friend," One of Amy's travelers tells her. She looks over to the guards behind a rock.

"I'll get in," She promises to their confusion.

"How can you?"

"I'll use a little friendly persuasion," She smirks at them.

"I warn you, those guards are vicious!"

"So am I!" She pulls out her Piko Piko Hammer. Gritting her teeth, she lunges forward at the Metarex.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside, another Metarex is lowering a tied-up Sonic towards the water, teasing him as he reels the fishing pole back and forth. He looks down nervously at the water below. A shark emerges from it and he yelps, lifting up his legs just in time. He swings back and forth.

"Hey pal! If you're hungry, let's order a pizza!"

"Sonic!"

"Huh?" He knows that was Amy's voice. Was he just dreaming?

Amy runs up the stairs, knocking down Metarex like it was no problem. A few Chaos Spears are thrown at the ones she knocked down and they explode. However, no one seems to be behind Amy.

* * *

Tails runs up to the lever, pulling it. He slides inside the secret passage.

In the hangar are two planes waiting for him. A tunnel emerges from the wall as it goes to the golden one, letting Tails inside. "Okay guys. I'm coming to get ya!"

The floor starts moving on a conveyor belt to transport the plane to another tunnel. The lights turn on as the plane then starts moving up and it stops when it reaches outside the ship. The trees move aside just like they did at Chris' house.

"Begin launch sequence!" The landing gear sticks to the floor and a panel tilts towards the ship. "Catapult ready? Launch!" He pulls the levers towards him and the engine gets fired up. The plane takes off into the sky, flying past Chris' window. He doesn't notice it as he tries to think of the next words.

* * *

The door is broken down by a panting Amy. Sophia turns visible, dusting off herself. The hedgehog gasps sharply, running towards him.

"There's my sweetie!" Sonic and Sophia give a nervous look as she lunges forward. Sonic sweats a bit, thinking that she's gonna hit him with it. He swings back and forth so that when she jumps, she lands in the water below. "You're supposed to catch me!"

"Oh, sorry," He tells her. "Amy, look out!"

The shark comes up behind her, but she knocks it back into the water. Sophia uses her laser eyes on the water to fry it. She glares up at the robot, gritting her teeth. Trying to kill Sonic by having a shark eat him? They're more ruthless than Eggman. Amy jumps into the air, hitting the robot and knocking it down. "Come on, we got a plane to catch!" She snaps off the pole holding him, running down the stairs. He gets dragged down them and Sophia sighs at Amy's...persistence.

She uses her telekinesis to lift Sonic into the air while they're running. The fish Metarex start to surround them and Amy comes to a stop, looking around.

"AMY!" They hear and she busts out through the wall, Sophia flying after her. They land in the plane as it passes by. "I'm heading back to the Blue Typhoon!"

"Roger!"

"Now that I'm free, how bout untying me?!" Sonic calls out, but some claw-shaped projectiles are fired at the plane. Tails dodges them by tilting the plane.

"Missed me!"

"Not exactly!" Sophia points to the pole and Amy gasps sharply to see that Sonic is gone.

"Sonic!"

He falls towards the water. "Next time you wanna rescue me, don't!" He glances down nervously at the water, eyes widening in fear. If he fell into the ocean, he'd sink for sure! He braces himself for the fall, but is surprised to see another plane.

"Hey Sonic!" Chris greets as he comes in.

"Hey, it's Chris!" Sonic looks in on relief.

"Try these!" Chris fires something and two blasts come out of it. One of them flies up towards Sophia while the other touches Sonic's feet. The other one then hits Sophia's sword. She stares at it in confusion while Sonic's shoes change into hover shoes. He lands in the water with a big blast, Tails looking around.

"Where is he?"

"And what just happened with Chris?" Sophia murmurs, examining her sword.

When the water dies down, Sonic is standing on water! "How's he doing that?" Amy asks in shock, Tails' mouth wide open. He didn't remember Sonic's shoes being able to do that.

Sonic smiles up at Chris and Tails. "Thanks for the lift, pal!"

"They're hover shoes, Amy!" Tails realizes, glancing at Chris. "Now that's an inventive invention!"

"Thanks, Tails," Chris smiles at him.

"Guys, look!" Amy points to another direction. "More Metarex on the way!"

Sonic looks up ahead to see the robots approaching him. "Now that I can stay dry, those fish heads are washed up!"

"Try your sword, Sophia! Swing it at them," Chris calls out and she pulls it out, shrugging at Amy and Tails. She jumps off, flying towards the Metarex. They swim towards the two and Sonic punches any who get in his way.

Sophia takes a deep breath and swings her sword. Red lasers come from it, hitting the eyes of some Metarex. Since they can't see, they sink into the water below.

"Whaaat?" She stares at her sword in shock, seeing a tiny belt around the hilt. Is that what Chris did to it?

Sonic punches Metarex into the water, a grey one firing missiles at him. Instead of hitting him, they make a wave and he hovers on top of it, gritting his teeth at the Metarex. It fires at him and Sophia, but she blocks the shots with her sword. Claw projectiles are fired at them, but Sonic spin dashes at them, heading towards the bigger Metarex. It explodes once he touches it, Tails and Amy looking on with a smile. As the mist flies, Sonic smiles at Sophia, looking up.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Chris!"

"Thanks for the help!" Sophia waves up at him. He smiles at the recognition and nods.

"The planet egg!" Amy sees something glowing in the water. It sinks into the water and there's a flash of light.

"Mission accomplished!" Tails cheers as he flies past it. Planet Secco slowly turns back into the planet it once was, the water disappearing.

"Oh, we have our land back!"

"I can't believe it!"

"Amazing!"

"Our planet's returning to normal," One of Amy's friends says. The whole planet dries up, Cosmo laying against the sand in bliss. She suddenly sits up in surprise.

"I must've fallen asleep." She gasps as she sees all the water is gone. Knuckles, however, is still digging. Cream glances around in confusion before Cheese sees something glow on a rock. He gets Cream's attention, pointing to it.

"Cheese, what's the-you found it!" She flies down towards it, Cosmo sitting up.

"Wait up!" She chases after them. They find a blue Chaos Emerald!

* * *

"This feels fantastic!" Sonic stomps on the sand. "Back on solid ground. Ha ha ha!"

Sophia rolls her eyes at him before they both look up at Chris. "These shoes are great! Hold on to 'em for me, will ya?" He tosses the capsule the shoes turned into over to Chris.

"If you like the shoes, I've got some other stuff you can try."

"Will do!" Sonic gives him a thumbs up. He returns it, winking.

"And thanks again for whatever this is," Sophia points to the tiny belt. "I never thought I could use heat vision with my sword!"

"Race you back to the Blue Typhoon!" Sonic says quickly, taking off. Tails and Amy chuckle as he trails along the sand. Sophia races off after him and he smirks, glad to be running again.

Him and water don't mix.

While Sophia races after him, she thinks about the pros and cons of following the prophecy. If she went through with it, she could save the galaxy, which was technically her home. She could avenge her fallen planet and stop the Metarex. And if she didn't...

Millions could perish, like Cosmo said. And she didn't want to be responsible for that. So she was going to do it.

She was going to fulfill the prophecy.


	56. An Enemy in Need

**Angel: I almost forgot to finish this episode because I've had a bad start to this week. I won't go into detail, but it was frustrating and upsetting to the point that I didn't feel like writing on Tuesday or Monday for the story that's being released after this one...luckily, I did not have a large workload this week for school.**

Bajy: Looking forward to reading more soon and great job here!

 **Angel: Thanks...only 22 more episodes to go!**

GreenD109: So Sophia's part of a prophecy to save the galaxy from the destruction that her (disowned) uncle Valtor and the Metarex have began creating, all while making sure that she doesn't sacrifice herself. Sounds like your average story of the protagonist saving the world/universe and it's future. But even if she has to fulfill the prophecy, that don't mean she has to do it alone, she has her friends and family to help her along the way. Lastly with every prophecy, there always will be that person who offers their life to either fulfill the prophecy or to help their comrades fulfill it. And we all know which person will be doing the sacrificing, but will not spoil it for those who read this.

 **Angel: There will be more details about what the Metarex are trying to do with her uncle in the future. I can't say much, but it's a big impact that involves the Chaos Emeralds...**

 **Sophia: If I DON'T fulfill the prophecy, thousands of planets could possibly die...**

Dream lightning: Hope she does not die that be too sad my heart will break keep going love this book look forward to update see more soon next time

 **Angel: Again, this is a kids show. Even if I had a reason, I wouldn't kill anyone off. What's up with the death theory lately? I don't get that.**

Crazycartoonss5488: I wonder shadow is still alive.

 **Angel: Um, he's not dead. If Sophia had a sense of him on Earth, that means he's alive. She can't sense him if he's dead, which he's not.**

Challishanlon99: Whoa remind me to never to mess with Amy she kind of scares me no offense but I think you're pretty deadly with your hammer also another thing I think it would be pretty cool if Sonic and the others had armor I think that would be pretty cool wouldn't that be cool Sonic everybody? PS please don't be mad at me Amy.

 **Amy: My hammer is a symbol of strength. Besides, it's fun to swing around.**

 **Angel: Amy can be pretty scary when it comes to Sonic, though...**

 **Sophia: Armor? *thinks* Well, we've gotten this far without it...and besides, I have all these powers, so I don't really need it. Imagine Sonic going on a run with armor...he'd probably take it off just to feel the wind again.**

Johanvanguard: It's interesting that Sophia's destiny might be to defeat the Metarex and save the galaxy. Sonic and the others locating a Chaos Emerald on the Planet Secco was good. Too bad for Sonic that Secco was overflowing with water because of the Metarex stealing its planet egg. I feel bad that Chris felt like he couldn't help out as much and that Sonic was captured by the Metarex because of the water. Thanks to Chris' new inventions for Sonic and Sophia, the Metarex were stopped, Secco was back to normal with the return of its planet egg, and the Chaos Emerald was fond. For the next, I wonder how Sophia will react to the praise and to Eggman tricking Knuckles again.

 **Angel: Overflowing with water...ha XD I get it. Those Metarex are jerks. Having a shark try to eat Sonic? Despicable.**

Myarosado049: Will you write star warrior girl Meta Knight after Sonic X?

 **Angel: Am I supposed to know what that is? Because I don't...and either way, I don't really take story requests anymore after the Sonic X incident. Too many people are asking me about OCs and other stories that I don't do. I don't need that.**

Isabelle13: Hi angel I like how your doing Sophia X I can't wait to see the next chapter soon and I have a question to ask you: have you seen the new show called Victor and Valentino that started in March it's so cool.

 **Angel: No.**

Jake: Hope to see the next chapter.

 **Angel: I would've had it up earlier, but I slept in today.**

On Planet Secco, the citizens all smile at Sonic, Sophia, and their friends. They had saved the planet's egg from the Metarex not too long ago. "We are grateful for your heroism. You saved our planet egg and our planet. We shall do our best to bestow upon you the thanks that you deserve, by holding a festival today in your honor. A parade, music, dancing, and a feast to show our thanks."

Sonic whistles at all the events. "Sounds good to me."

"Me too! Especially the feast part!" Amy smiles, clasping her hands.

"Sounds like fun, Tails!" Chris smiles down at the fox.

"I'm not so sure I'm gonna like this," He murmurs, not wanting so much attention.

"Oh, Tails, don't worry," Sophia places a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

They cheer as a parade boat is moving around the city. "They go all out," Chris comments at all the people.

"Yeah..." Sonic murmurs to himself. One of them grabs him.

"One, two, three!" They throw him into the air.

"That's it! Now everybody!"

Tails, Amy, and Sophia get thrown into the air too, to their surprise. "Why are they throwing us?" Chris asks while in the air.

"Don't know!" Sonic calls out, crossing his arms.

"This is how we honor heroes!" The leader cheers as they're bouncing from a trampoline.

"There they are!" Knuckles, Cosmo, Cream, and Cheese walk across from the float. "Look what I have!"

"A Chaos Emerald. Who found it?" Sonic calls out.

"I did, cuz I wasn't too busy partying with the locals," Knuckles retorts, Valentina slamming him on the head with a fist. "OW! I-I mean, Cheese, Cream, and Cosmo did! I'm sorry, your highness!"

"Mom! Dad!" Sophia calls out in surprise as they wave with a smile.

"The leader contacted us and informed us of what you have done!" Elliot shouts to them. "Excellent job!"

"Wow, that looks like fun," Cream comments at the trampoline.

"Yeah, if you wanna feel like a yo yo," Knuckles rolls his eyes.

"Why are they bouncing you like that?" Cosmo asks curiously.

"It's for getting their planet egg back!" Chris yells, soaring into the sky.

"It's a token of their appreciation," Sonic simply shrugs.

"I'm appreciated enough!" Tails calls out.

"I can't take much more!" Amy comments, Sophia appearing next.

"I do enough flying! I think I wanna get off now!"

"This is so wonderful," Cosmo smiles at them. "I can't believe we've already found one."

"That means we only have six more to find, doesn't it, Cosmo?" Cream smiles back, happy at their progress.

"You there, friends and family of the heroes! Let us honor you too! Throw them here!" The leader notices them. Cosmo, Cream, Elliot, and Valentina are thrown onto the trampoline. "Come defy the forces of gravity!"

"I'm actually a big fan of gravity," Knuckles holds up a hand. He'd rather stay on the ground.

As the parade is going on, a certain yellow camera is watching...

* * *

Eggman's ship is on the planet, chuckling as he sees the video feed. "So nice of Sonic, Sophia, and their friends to find the Chaos Emerald for me! Let's see, what sort of strategic strategy should I come up with to get it from them?" He rubs his chin and while he's in thought, Bocoe slides up to Decoe.

"Aren't all strategies strategic?"

"Not Dr. Eggman's. His strategies lack strategy the way his tactic lacks tack," Decoe explains, Eggman growling as he had heard that.

"And his thinking lacks thought!" Bokkun agrees with them.

"If the three of you are so brilliant, why don't you come up with a plan?!" Eggman shouts at the trio, who look nervous. "But whatever you do, do not disappoint me!" There's a glint in his glasses, implying that he'll make them pay if they do. They sweat nervously.

"Uh, I've got a headache all of a sudden!" Decoe holds his head, wanting to live.

"Me too!" Bocoe does the same tactic. "I can't concentrate right now! It's unbearable!"

"I think I need to lie down!"

"Oh, you have headaches?" Eggman asks skeptically. "Guess the doctor's going to have to operate!" He grins widely, causing to freeze, literally. He pulls out various tools and they run away. "Get back here!"

Bokkun hides himself, glad he didn't say anything as he watches the two robots get chased. "I'm gonna go check on the, uh, the thing." He goes down another level, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Phew. I got away before he could grab me!"

He does get grabbed, ironically, and he's thrown to the ground. He looks up to see a certain bat. "Rouge!"

"Hi there," She smirks down at him. "I just dropped by to ask if you'd do me a little favor."

"I'd have to be totally batty to do any favors for you! Huh!" He scoffs at the thought. "Just wait till I tell Dr. Eggman, you-!"

"Really?" She interrupts, pressing a finger to his mouth. "You don't wanna do that, do you? Your little secret might get out."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He denies and she holds up something.

"Oh no? Does this look familiar?" It's a necklace in the shape of a heart.

"Yeah..." He blushes in embarrassment. "It's mine." He tries to snatch it back, but she moves it away and he tumbles to the ground. He looks up in fear, wondering what she's going to do now.

"I checked out the picture inside. She's so pretty." Rouge opens it up to reveal a photo of Cream! "Pretty as a doll."

"Oh!" Bokkun sweats, holding out a hand. "Please don't say anything! I'll do whatever you want me to do, I promise!" He clasps his hands. "Just please don't tell anybody, please!"

She chuckles at his cooperation. "Good boy."

Something emerges from outside the base, digging through the rock. "Please, doctor!" Decoe begs as Eggman continues chasing them, holding a hammer in his hands now.

"You worthless metal losers!"

Bokkun emerges from the ground, sweating nervously. "I hate to do this...HEY, DR. EGGMAN!"

Eggman comes to a stop in front of him. "Yes?"

"I just got an idea."

"Hm?" Eggman bends down to his level and Bokkun whispers something in his ear. Eggman listens closely, giggling and nodding. "Eggcellent!" He stands up, "One of the most brilliant plans I've ever come up with!"

"Except that _I_ came up with it," Bokkun corrects him.

"Are you contradicting me, Bokkun?" Eggman asks, now paying attention to him instead of the robots.

"We're off the hook," Decoe whispers in surprise.

"I never thought I would be glad that Bokkun's around."

"This is my plan!" Bokkun protests to the doctor.

"And now it's mine!" Eggman boasts, but what they don't know is that Rouge is spying on them. She walks away from the ship, truly interested in what would happen...

* * *

Knuckles walks down the sand. "I don't care if it's an honor or not, nobody tosses me around." A shadow appears in front of him and he looks up to see the Egg Mobile. "That looks like..." It lands in the sand and he runs up to investigate. Eggman crawls out of the hole. "Eggman!"

He coughs up some sand. "Knuckles, it's you! What good fortune. Finally someone who can help me."

"Help you?" Knuckles asks in disbelief. "Not a chance." After all Eggman's done to them, he'd rather get tossed in the air.

"Oh Knuckles, please, you have to hear me out. My ship ran out of power and crashed on this desolate planet. If I don't find a way to leave, I'll be trapped here the rest of my life! It's my fault, I...I'm getting what I deserve!" He sobs, kneeling.

"Come on, cool it," He didn't know why, but he felt like putting a hand to Eggman's shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself." Even if it was Eggman, it was weird to see him this way.

"I just got so carried away with wanting to take over the universe!" Eggman clutches his heart. "I was evil, and greedy! It's true! I wanted planets and entire galaxies all to myself, but if I get off this rock, I'll never turn a moon into a devastating weapon or block out a planet sun again, I swear! If only I had a Chaos Emerald for my ship. I could leave here and start my new life as a good person."

Knuckles hesitates as Eggman sounds genuine...though he's actually grinning to himself. And if getting a Chaos Emerald would get him to leave...

* * *

All of them shout in shock when the echidna returns back. "You want us to let Dr. Eggman use the Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asks in shock, Knuckles nodding.

"He's promised to abandon his evil ways if we help him out."

Sonic sighs wearily. "Knuckles, I'm telling you this because you're my friend," Sophia places a hand on his shoulder, sighing slowly.

"You're crazy."

The others all laugh, Tails shaking his head. "We've heard that before."

"Tails is right, Knuckles," Chris points out, Knuckles grunting at them.

"Dr. Eggman is always saying he'll abandon his evil ways, but he never does," Cream tells him and he growls.

"And every time, he somehow gets you to believe him," Amy closes her eyes, Knuckles getting angrier by the second.

"Well, I wasn't asking your permission!" He walks up to Cosmo. "I'm the one who found this emerald," He snatches it from her. "So I'll do what I want with it!"

A shocked Cosmo turns to Sonic, who sighs.

"Knuckles!" Sophia shouts at him as the two speed in front of him.

"We can't let you do this, Knuckles!"

"Knuckles, the Emerald is one small step to defeating the Metarex," The queen walks up to him. "We cannot let Eggman have this advantage."

"You're gonna have to fight me to stop me," He declares in determination.

"Knuckles, I don't wanna fight you!" Sophia yells down at him. "Why are you always like this with Eggman?!"

"Yeah, I know," Sonic holds up his fists and Knuckles grins widely.

"If that's the way you want it!"

"Sonic, Knuckles, what are you two doing?!" Cosmo calls out in shock, since she's never seen them like this. Knuckles places down the emerald on a rock.

"Ready?" He asks as they land back on the sand. Sophia grunts, facepalming.

"I have had enough," Elliot sighs slowly, shaking his head. "Should Knuckles win this fight, he shall be stripped of his title."

"Dad!" Sophia exclaims in shock.

"No!" He holds up a hand. "Clearly his loyalties lie elsewhere."

"Darling, Knuckles has been known to be gullible," Valentina defends for the echidna. "Surely you may look past this one..."

"I will not," He crosses his arms. "We are not allowing a knight to continue to ally with the enemy. Countless times, he has taken Eggman's side. Perhaps now he can benefit Eggman."

Sophia looks down at Knuckles in worry.

"Ready!" Sonic declares and they charge at each other. Cosmo sweats nervously. They were friends, how could they act like this?

"They're...fighting..."

Knuckles tries to punch Sonic, but the hedgehog jumps into the air and Knuckles hits the sand instead. Sonic laughs at him and tries punching him repeatedly, but Knuckles blocks it with his fists. Knuckles charges next, missing. Sonic kicks the air and they both hit each other, landing back on the sand, each on one side of the emerald.

"We've got to do something to stop this fighting," Cosmo says in worry. "Hey!" She calls out to the others, who aren't even paying attention to the fight.

"Do these boots make my legs look too skinny?" Amy shows her boots to Cream.

"They look just fine, Amy," Cream answers honestly.

"You wanna go take the X Tornado first, then?" Chris offers Tails.

"Sure, why not?" He asks casually.

"Dad, please don't take his title away," Sophia is protesting to Elliot, who closes his eyes to ignore his family. "Dad!"

"Excuse me? Shouldn't we stop Knuckles and Sonic?"

"Uh," Tails looks at her, "Nah, this is how they work their problems out."

"Yeah, they do this all the time," Chris smiles and Cosmo is dumbfounded.

"They'll just fight until they get tired of fighting."

"It isn't a big deal," Cream smiles a bit.

"Most of the time, Knuckles understands that he's an idiot and backs off," Sophia rolls her eyes while Valentina tries to talk to her husband.

"Elliot, you mustn't do this to Knuckles. He is our friend."

"That no longer matters!"

Valentina growls in frustration, clenching her fists.

"I just don't understand these creatures," Cosmo says to herself before there's an explosion. She turns around to see Sonic and Knuckles continue to fight. Knuckles tries to hit Sonic, but he keeps jumping backwards. "Oh! I can't take it anymore!"

She runs up as Sonic lands on rock. "Please, stop it!"

They don't listen as Knuckles lunges for Sonic, who jumps out of the way. The echidna punches rock instead. Cosmo holds up her hands to block falling debris.

"This isn't right."

"Hey Cosmo," Amy calls out, waving a hand. "I wouldn't get too close if I were you."

Knuckles tries to punch Sonic, who dodges every single one. Knuckles hits rock and Sonic spins around, going in for the kick. He misses and they jump around to hit each other. What they don't know is that Eggman is nearby, watching.

 _My plan worked perfectly! They've left the Chaos Emerald unguarded!_ He grins as he turns around to the blue emerald. He chuckles as he crawls up to it. _No one will even know I was here._

"Hi Dr. Eggman!" Bokkun calls out as he arrives.

"If I ignore him, he'll disappe-" He stops in shock as Bokkun is suddenly in front of him.

"You forgot your lunch!"

Eggman shouts in surprise, moving backwards. "If you wanna conquer the universe, you gotta stay healthy, you know!" Bokkun holds up a banana.

Eggman covers his mouth. "Quiet or they'll discover me!"

"Sorry about that," Bokkun looks away in embarrassment, giggling.

"Go to the ship and don't come back!" Eggman says bitterly, pointing forward.

"I won't, Dr. Eggman," Bokkun shouts and Eggman shushes him. Rouge sees Bokkun leave, laughing.

"That kid's gonna be real useful."

"At last!" Eggman whispers as he approaches the emerald. "A Chaos Emerald! Nothing can stop me now."

Two pairs of legs step in front of him and he looks up in surprise to see Amy and Sophia standing there.

"That's what you think, but you're wrong!" Amy grins at him, Sophia cracking her knuckles.

"Don't move a step closer."

"I-I can explain," He stutters nervously, hoping that they'll buy it. Amy slams down her hammer. "Ah! Watch where you're swinging that thing!"

Cream, Tails, Chris, Cosmo, and Sophia's parents surround him, annoyed. "How wonderful to see you all again."

Elliot grits his teeth at Eggman, looking up at Knuckles. He knew that Knuckles was bad enough with siding with Eggman, but now he brought the man here?

Knuckles yells as he jumps into the air, Sonic running up to him. They clash together, glaring. "I had a pretty good feeling we'd be seeing his ugly mug," Sonic glances to the side. Knuckles follows his gaze, slowly stopping as they see Eggman.

"Eggman!" He approaches him. "What are you doing here?"

"You mean, me?" Eggman sweats nervously at how bad this situation is. "I was just about to consume this delicious banana!" He opens his lunch and takes a bite out of the fruit. "Tasty."

"I know exactly what you're doing here, Eggman. You went to Knuckles because you knew he'd have pity on you and he and Sonic would fight about it, so you can go behind their backs and steal the Chaos Emerald!" Amy slams down her hammer, standing in front of the emerald.

He cringes at how smart Amy suddenly is. "Eggman, is that true?" Knuckles asks in anger.

"No, of course not! She's lying, Knuckles!" He waves his hands rapidly.

"Payback time!" Amy declares, yelling as she raises her weapon.

"No, Amy," Knuckles jumps in and saves Eggman from her wrath. He puts Eggman down.

"I know I can always count on you, Knuckles."

Elliot narrows his eyes in anger and Sophia cringes at how bad this looks for the echidna.

"Knuckles, you have got to be kidding me! How many more times are you gonna fall for Eggman's tricks?!" Amy frowns at him disappointedly. "Think about it."

" _Help me, please!"_

" _Are you sure we can go back if we get a hold of the Chaos Emeralds?" Knuckles demanded from him. Eggman smirked to himself, raising a brow._

" _Please let me keep the Chaos Emerald, please? Why thank you so much, Knuckles!"_

" _No, thank you, Dr. Eggman," Knuckles smiled in pleasure._

" _I will give this Chaos Emerald the utmost care."_

" _Ah," Chris said in worry._

" _I'll trust you."_

 _Eggman laughed at him. "I will soon realize the Eggman Empire!"_

"Seriously, Eggman's never gonna change."

"You stole an emerald from me for him!" Sophia gestures to herself. "You would never do that, and it's a bad idea to trust him now! What's next, you're gonna change sides?"

"Eggman says he's seen the light and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and help him get off this planet!" Knuckles argues back, jumping to them.

"Here we go again," Sonic sweats a bit. Sophia grunts in anger, a vein on her forehead.

"Eggman lied before, Knuckles," Cream frowns slightly, joining Amy and Sophia. "And now he's lying again."

"I'm giving him the Chaos Emerald!" Knuckles defends, Sophia rubbing a temple.

"Why do you think he's always telling you? Because you'll fall for it and do things behind our backs, AGAIN!" Sophia storms off and he sweats a bit as she walks past Cosmo. If he wasn't going to listen, he'd find out the consequences the hard way.

Rouge is listening in.

"You're gonna have to go through me to get it!" Amy narrows her eyes at him.

"Is that so?"

Cosmo glances to Sonic, who speeds to Amy. "But first, you'll have to go through me."

 _This is terrible! They shouldn't be fighting with each other._ "Stop fighting, you two! We have to focus on the bigger crisis threatening all of us!" She tries to reason with them. "If all we do is argue and fight, how are we supposed to band together and save the universe?"

"Out of the way, Cosmo," Knuckles brushes her off.

"We don't want you to get hurt," Sonic leans towards Knuckles and they both growl at each other.

 _Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they aren't the heroes I thought they were._

The ground starts shaking and they look around in shock. It definitely wasn't Eggman, because he hasn't moved from his spot.

"What now?"

A hand suddenly emerges, grabbing Cosmo and revealing itself to be a large robot, but not from the Metarex.

"Dr. Eggman, we're sorry we kept you waiting," Decoe calls out from the top.

"We're here to rescue you!" Bocoe looks down to him.

"Metal meddlers, I don't need rescuing!" Eggman shouts at them angrily.

"Bokkun told us that you were in trouble."

"A jam!"

"A predicament."

"What did he say?" Eggman asks curiously.

"He told us that nobody fell for your plan to steal the Chaos Emerald."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say nobody fell for it," Eggman gets onto the other hand. "Knuckles certainly did. Oop!" He covers his mouth, but it's too late.

"I don't believe it!" Knuckles growls in anger. He believed Eggman, and for what? For him to look like a fool in front of everyone. "EGGMAN!"

"Sorry, Knuckles," Eggman rubs his head. "What can I say?"

"Hate to say I told you so," Sonic chimes in.

"You tricked me!" Knuckles is seething with anger.

"That's right," Eggman grins down at him, running up to the control room where Bocoe and Decoe are. He prepares to attack them, grinning. "But now you'll give me that emerald or I'll crush your friend in the palm of my giant metal hand!"

"This is a much better plan than the last one," Decoe whispers to Bocoe.

"Your microphone is still on, Decoe!" Bocoe warns him as Eggman holds out Cosmo, who struggles to get out. Amy gasps in concern.

"What do we do?" Cream asks fearfully as they didn't want her to get hurt.

"Come on, Tails!" Chris says as they're standing in front of the emerald.

"Cosmo!" They run up to her, leaving the emerald unguarded. Rouge smirks as she glances at it.

"Now's my chance."

"Put her down, Eggman!" Knuckles demands.

"Don't think so," Eggman grins evilly.

"Give us the Chaos Emerald, then we'll drop her! I mean, put her down gently," Bocoe replies and Sophia grits her teeth in annoyance at them.

"Risking an innocent girl's life? That is low, even for you," Valentina calls out to him. Rouge eyes the emerald.

"Hello beautiful." She's about to snatch it, but the ground shakes as she looks up, gasping. "What's going on here?" Something emerges from the sand underneath her, knocking Rouge into the air. It's a large Metarex robot.

"It's a Metarex!" Chris exclaims at it and a hand holds out from the center, capturing the tiny emerald. It licks its robot teeth.

"Oh! That frog's a jewel hog!" Rouge pouts, flying away. She'd get another chance soon.

"Ahh! That thing ate the emerald!" Eggman exclaims in shock. "Alright, boys, annihilate that amphibian and the emerald is ours!"

"Whatever you say, doctor," Their robot stands up, dropping Cosmo as they have a new goal now. Knuckles jumps up and catches her in his arms.

"Are you okay?"

"Forget me, get the emerald!" Cosmo tells him and the frog Metarex jumps. Eggman's robot attacks it, but it does no good. Eggman points to it and Bocoe makes the right arm into a drill. The metal from the frog Metarex is too strong.

"Ah! The drill isn't working!"

"It's armor is too strong!"

"What's that thing made of?!"

The frog Metarex opens its mouth, knocking the robot to the sand. "We just got a tongue-lashing!" Eggman exclaims as they're on the ground.

"I don't think we can beat it, Dr. Eggman," Decoe warns.

"I have a plan: Let's let Sonic and the others take care of it!"

"GET THIS THING BACK ON ITS KEEP AND KEEP BATTLING!" Eggman shouts at their cowardice.

"You who disturbs the order of the universe," The frog Metarex speaks up as the robot sits up. "You cannot have the Chaos Emeralds. You misuse their power. We are the only ones who should possess the Emeralds, for our fallen ruler, Valtor!"

"Oh my god," Sophia whispers in horror at its speech.

"Really? I'll take a stab at seizing it anyway! Now stand still, so I can make a frog kabob!" Eggman laughs at his joke, the robot pulling out a sword.

He launches forward to strike, but the frog Metarex jumps into the air. The robot looks up as the Metarex frog captures its arm with the tongue. It lands on the sand, pulling at the robot's arm. The robot pulls the tongue forward, but the Metarex amphibian shocks the robot, causing the trio inside to scream in pain. The robot explodes and they take off into the sky.

"I think that frog just skewered us!" Bocoe cries out as they disappear. The frog Metarex then turns its attention to Knuckles as he runs up to the robot. He uses his shovel claws to strike at the glass, but the material is too strong. The frog simply turns its head, throwing Knuckles onto the sand. He lands safely as two blurs pass by him and he looks up to see Sophia and Sonic. They try a spin dash to break through, but they fall towards Knuckles, gritting their teeth. Its tongue fires at them and they jump out of the way. The others just watch as the trio try to fight it, to no avail.

"I cannot allow you to deter me. I have a mission. I have come for the planet egg," Its voice booms.

The others gasp in shock that the Metarex came back for the egg. "Do you think they can stop it?" Cream asks in concern.

"They have to," Cosmo sweats nervously. "If they capture the planet egg, the whole planet will flood again!"

"And will have one step of progress in my brother's name..." Valentina whispers in horror. The last thing she wanted was for her brother to have his wish...

"We're open to suggestions, Cosmo and your highness," Amy glances at them.

"Don't worry, guys," They turn to Chris and Tails. "I've got an idea."

The frog Metarex starts hopping away. "SONIC! SOPHIA!" Knuckles yells, and they jump in front of the robot, stopping it in its path.

"We're not done with you yet!"

Spikes come from underneath the frog and they sweat nervously. He jumps into the air with a ribbit, heading straight towards them. They get out of the way just before the robot hit the sand.

"Oh man, how do we stop this thing?" Knuckles asks bitterly.

"We'd need something powerful," Sophia rubs her chin.

"Hey Metarex!" Chris calls out, waving from the ship. "Over here!"

Cosmo gasps in shock. "He has the...the planet egg!"

"How'd he get it in such short time?!" Sophia exclaims in surprise.

"You," The Metarex turns to Chris. "You have been hiding it from me!"

Chris releases the rope, letting the sail fall down. "If you want it, come and get it!" The ship starts to sail away.

"You will regret this!" The Metarex declares, jumping forward after the boy.

"We have to do something to help him," Cosmo voices her concerns past the blowing sand.

"Maybe Chris knows what he's doing," Amy theorizes; Chris wouldn't put himself in danger if he didn't have a plan.

"But still," Cosmo protests to her.

"I'm not waiting to find out!" Knuckles rushes forward before Elliot could stop him.

"Something tells me this plan involves the big cannon," Sonic and Sophia run off in the other direction towards the Blue Typhoon. It comes out of hiding from the sand.

The frog is led away from the group, like Chris intended. "Alright! He fell for it! Come catch me if you can! Closer...closer..." He sweats nervously, hoping that this would work. "Now." He jumps off the mast. "Sonic! Sophia!"

Cosmo gasps in shock and he lands on the trampoline. "The Heave-Ho Festival!" Cream says in realization. The trampoline bounces Chris into the air as he's still holding the egg.

"Guys, catch!" Chris calls out as he throws it towards the sun. The Metarex looks up and Cosmo gasps that Chris would do something so carelessly.

* * *

Sophia and Sonic stand on the ship as the cannon presents itself to them. They run inside towards the end.

"Connecting energy from the energy chamber to the main cannon! Pressurizing the energy within the cannon's electrical ducts!"

Sonic cringes impatiently, Sophia giggling at his face as she's standing on the other platform. "Okay, ready guys?"

"Do we really have to go through this?" He asks in disbelief.

"Get serious, Sonic! We've got Secco's planet egg in the Chaos Emerald and the whole universe at stake!" Tails exclaims in defense.

"Alright!" Sonic replies back in frustration, standing up. "Here we go."

"We're ready, Tails," Sophia calls out and they start spin dashing.

Knuckles jumps onto the Metarex's back, eventually jumping into the air. It looks up as Knuckles catches the 'planet egg.' The frog jumps up, capturing Knuckles with its tongue. The girls gasp in concern and Chris looks up, hoping that his friends were coming.

The cannon charges up as the duo spins faster. "Hold your positions steady, you two," Tails focuses on the back of the frog robot. "Metarex target straight ahead." The cannon locks onto the target. "Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, fire!"

The cannon emits two spinning speedsters and the Metarex turns around. As soon as they touch the Metarex, it's destroyed.

"Aw yeah!" Chris cheers as the debris falls around him. Knuckles lands safely on the sand, the others running up to him.

"Knuckles," Cosmo says in worry, seeing his state.

"Are you okay?" Cream asks as he looks up.

"Yeah, and I think the planet egg is okay, too." However, the egg is just a ball, which deflates in his hand. "Wha-I didn't do it!"

"Is that a...beach ball?" Amy wonders in confusion.

"Sonic! Sophia!" They look up to Chris as the two land in the mast.

"Yes!" They all high five each other.

* * *

Knuckles bends down on his knees in front of them when they return back to the city. "I owe all of you a really big apology."

"We're not gonna hold it against ya, Knuckles. You made a bad call, that's all," Sonic speaks up, Sophia glancing at her father with a pleading look. He sighs slowly as Knuckles looks sincere...

"I guess so, but how could I let Eggman fool me?" Knuckles asks bitterly.

"Eggman knows he tricked you once before, and it worked again," Chris points out.

Knuckles cringes at that. "Don't feel bad, Knuckles. You have a very trusting heart, and you wanna believe there's good in everybody," He looks up to a beaming Cosmo. "Because like me, you have a dream that everyone in the universe will unite one day."

"Uh, thanks for looking at it that way, Cosmo," He comments slowly, nodding at her. "Who knows? Maybe that is the reason." He smiles down at her and they hold hands, finally trusting each other a little bit.

"I think it is."

"That's a nice way of looking at it, Knuckles," Sonic jerks a thumb behind him. "But, doesn't change the fact that you're a sucker," He chuckles, winking as Knuckles whips around to him.

"Huh?! I'm gonna...!" He doesn't finish as the others laugh.

"Let's start searching for the other Chaos Emeralds," Tails suggests and Elliot holds up a hand.

"I must speak first," He looks down at Knuckles. "I...have misjudged you. I understand why you did it. However, if you endanger us or my family again, i will strip you of your title, Knuckles. You almost lost my trust."

Knuckles frowns as Elliot walks away, Sophia sighing in relief. Knuckles had his trust back...somewhat.

* * *

"What number failure was that, Bocoe?" Decoe asks casually as he has his hands behind his back.

"I lost count somewhere around 50," Bocoe answers dejectedly.

"Whatever number it was, it better be the last!" Eggman suddenly exclaims and they turn to him in surprise. He's never used that tone before after a defeat from their enemies. "I'm tired of you tin cans ruining everything!"

"It's not our fault, it was Bokkun's plan!" Decoe defends himself.

"And he's the one who gave your position away and then told us to save you," Bocoe explains, Eggman growling.

"Wait'll I get my hands on him!" Eggman declares angrily.

"Aw, don't feel bad, sugar," Rouge looks down at her ally. "You did everything right. It'll work out next time. There will be a next time, won't there?"

Bokkun is pouting with a glare, looking up at the smug bat. "Not for me!"

"You sure?" Rouge holds up the locket again. He blushes in embarrassment, sagging.

"Oh, whatever you say." He touches the floor in dismay. "I'll do whatever you want..." He silently sobs, Rouge looking pleased.

With Bokkun to do her bidding...this can work out very well in the long run...


	57. A Chilling Discovery

**Angel: I finally have a finalized design for Sophia's alien form! But since we're ten episodes away from that one, I'm not going to say anything else on what she looks like.**

Trent Gaines: Knuckles you knucklehead!

 **Angel: At least he won't fall for it again...**

GreenD109: Wha...? Valtor was a Leader of the Metarex. I thought he was some sort of commander of special ops division or Dark Oak's right hand man. Hopefully Knuckles won't betray King Elliot's trust anymore, otherwise it'll be hard to gain back.

 **Sophia: My uncle works for no one. He's a leader rather than a follower. He's just that vicious and self-arrogant.**

Dream lighting: That's mean of her yikes Knuckles lost his title keep it coming love this book

 **Angel: Mean of who? But thanks.**

Scrappy Doo Fan: Whoof...good to be back. Wow, have things ramped up for Sonic, Sophia, and their friends! Good luck to them all!

 **Angel: Yeah...things are never normal for them.**

Crazycartoons5488: Those evil robots are mad.

 **Angel: They're crazy mad! I hate them as much as Eggman, they're both** _ **that**_ **annoying.**

Bajy: Poor Knuckles can't catch a break. Great job here like always, I look forward to reading the next chapter. By the way, are you gonna have Molly join the Sonic/Royal gang to help fight against the Metarex?

 **Angel: Oh wow, I haven't even seen that episode for a long time. That was part of the 25% part I missed while the show was airing, so I really can't say for sure.**

Johanvanguard: The citizens of Planet Secco having a party for Sophia and the others for saving their planet was great. Rouge blackmailing Bokkun into giving the idea of tricking Knuckles was interesting, and that resulted in Knuckles and Sonic fighting. Cosmo unsure of the heroes and Sophia and the others either fed up or nonchalant with Knuckles was nice. Too bad that Eggman was found out by Sophia and the others, and that Rouge's plan to get the emerald was foiled by the Metarex frog robot. I'm glad that Sonic and the others defeated the Metarex and Knuckles was forgiven, especially with Sophia, Elliot, and Cosmo. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia and the others will react to Planet Breezer.

 **Sophia: Being on a trampoline was...fun. It is their tradition, after all...**

 **Angel: *rolls eyes* Knuckles always picks a fight with Sonic. I think that's the third time it's happened and all times it's because the same reason; he's an idiot who doesn't bother to listen to anyone but himself. Oh, and he's gullible. And it's actually Planet Breezy.**

Challishanlon99: Great job you guys I knew you would save the planet egg or whatever it's called and we have a question Sonic if you hate water do you still drink the water or do you drink soda or juice stuff like that and Sophia's parents please don't be mean Knuckles it's not his fault that he forgets whose side he's on sometimes you get very confused I have a friend that's like Knuckles except not hard-headed and Knuckles I'm not saying that to be mean I'm just saying anyway what's your guys' favorite dinosaur I've always wondered that anyway be careful you guys and good luck

 **Sonic: Of course I drink water...but I'm almost never thirsty! Sometimes I'll go to Sophia's place and her cooks will make juice with fruit from their garden.**

 **Sophia: Best in all the land! *smiles proudly* And it's not that my mother was mad at Knuckles, she was more upset with my father that he was considering to strip Knuckles' title without his knowledge. They're not mean, my father was tired of Knuckles' gullible ways. And my favorite dinosaur? Maybe Triceratops.**

 **Tails: Oh, that's my favorite too!**

 **Sonic: Raptors. They're pretty fast.**

The Blue Typhoon is back in space again, Cosmo and Sonic standing next to Chris. "My new program will let us detect a Chaos Emerald anywhere in the galaxy no matter how far away it may be," He smiles proudly at the two as the panel lifts up in front of him.

"Alright, Sonic, what do you say we try it out?"

"Sure thing," Sonic hands him the dark blue Chaos Emerald that he got back from the frog Metarex.

"Okay," Chris inserts the emerald inside the compartment.

"Now we just connect it to the main interface and we'll be on our way!" Tails explains and the screen pops up for all to see. "Knuckles, everything okay?"

"So far, so good," Knuckles reports and Sophia's father is with him, staring down at the echidna. Ever since Knuckles' actions with Eggman, the king has put him on a tight leash. He didn't trust Knuckles fully, and he wanted to make sure that the echidna knew that. So he's been keeping watch in the control room whenever Knuckles had to activate the Master Emerald.

"Whoa!" Tails suddenly exclaims.

"What's up?" Knuckles calls out. "You got something?"

"Yeah, I'm detecting a response already," Tails raises a confused eyebrow. He sees the blip as it beeps.

"It's thanks to you, Chris," Cosmo congratulates him in awe.

"It's no big deal, really," He laughs it off.

"Sure it's a big deal! I've built lots of neat stuff, but I couldn't have come up with something this good overnight!" Tails chimes in.

"Aw, come on, Tails, you're embarrassing me!" Chris rubs his neck. Sophia smirks knowingly, crossing her arms. She had a feeling that Chris wanted to prove his worth. That modesty right now was just an act. She should know; her father does that to her mother whenever he brings her flowers.

"Amy, what's the location?" Tails turns to the female hedgehog.

"The signal's coming from a place called Planet Breezy," She reports as she looks over it.

"That sounds cool. Okay Planet Breezy, here we come!" Tails comments.

"We're on our way!" Amy presses a button.

"Ah, Planet Breezy," Valentina smiles at the thought. "It has been so long since your father and I visited there, Sophia. He and I have a cabin just for us!"

"Really? Wow," Sophia blinks in surprise. She wonders just how many planets her parents visit each year...she wouldn't know what they do, since she's always at home, but now she gets to see it for herself...

The Master Emerald glows as Knuckles stands in front of it. "Engage warp field driver!"

A bullet-shaped structure has a warp field form around it and it fires into the atmosphere, creating a warp field. "Warp field ready! Let's go!"

Tails slowly pilots the ship inside the warp field and their ship turns into a bunch of colors before speeding so fast, they disappear.

Planet Breezy is full of, as expected, snow. However, it seems to have a resident. A Metarex stares at a large crystal as it reveals a red Chaos Emerald. He laughs evilly at the gem.

* * *

Eggman laughs as he has a new advantage to catch up to his foes. "I'm a genius! Sonic, Sophia, and those time-warping nitwits can't shake me! Not with my spanking new all-space tracking system! No matter what they do, or where they go, I'll be right behind them! Throw it into Egg Drive!"

"Aye aye, doctor," Bocoe says, getting to work. Bokkun is eerily silent as he pulls a lever. Bits of yellow surround the ship, forming into an egg. The egg breaks apart, the pieces floating away as the ship is no longer there.

* * *

The Blue Typhoon lands right above Planet Breezy. They all stare at the location of the emerald.

"There it is, guys," Amy speaks up after a few minutes. "Straight ahead. But it looks like rough weather. The whole planet's in the middle of a terrible snowstorm!"

"Oh, maybe the Metarex has taken its planet egg away," Cosmo voices in concern.

Tails rubs his chin. "That would explain the weird weather they're having...your highnesses?" He turns to them for help.

"Well...it is natural for this planet to be enduring a storm...but not like this one," Elliot glances at his wife, who nods slowly in agreement. They couldn't remember the last time they'd been there, so their memory was a little faulty.

The snow blows through the wind and Cosmo frowns. "Everything looks so cold and lonely..."

"Even so, we have to go down there and look for the emerald," Chris looks up at the two. "Ready, Sophia and Sonic?"

"Sure," Sonic gives him a thumbs up. "Let's go!"

"I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle. We've already been through water," Sophia cringes slightly at Sonic, who groans at the mention of it. "Sorry."

The ship lowers towards the planet and the front wings deploy. The wind doesn't seem to let up as it gets stronger. The ship starts to shake and something comes towards them. They look in shock at the newcomer.

"What is that thing, Chris?" Amy sweats a bit at the sight.

"It's a Metarex," Chris narrows his eyes. The Metarex swings its spiked tail at their ship, damaging it. Chris fires missiles at it, but the robot fires missiles of its own. Their missiles destroy the attacker, while his hit the ship, this time severely damaging it.

"Hang on guys, I'm gonna have to bring it in for a landing!" Tails calls out through the storm. He safely lands on the snow and the blizzard seems to get stronger. "Knuckles," Tails speaks through the alarm. "Do we have any damage?"

"I'm afraid so," Knuckles frowns at the blueprints. "Looks like engines one and three have been hit." He looks at the map of the planet. "We'll have to fix 'em or we'll never get off the ground."

Tails rubs the side of his head. He didn't think that they'd actually have to repair anything, given the weather. "Oh great."

* * *

"My tracking system indicates Sonic and Sophia's somewhere on this planet," Eggman has already landed somewhere nearby. "Which means those nasty creatures will be coming soon to try and destroy them!"

"The Metarex?" Decoe asks in confusion that Eggman seems...jealous, almost.

"And it's very likely we'll come under attack too, unless we play a subtle game of subterfug," He stands up, his two robots delighted.

"We're gonna play a game! We're gonna play a game!"

"Go on, get busy," Eggman orders them as he grabs two shovels. They catch them easily.

"What game do you play with these?" Bocoe asks curiously.

"There's no game! Go on, make sure the ship won't be seen!" The two stare at each other, confused on how they were supposed to do that with shovels. "Now get moving! I want this thing in an igloo by nightfall!"

Rouge smirks as she's using a hearing device to listen in. She hums at Eggman's orders. "Yes doctor!"

Bokkun sighs wearily as he flies down the hall. "Well at least Rouge isn't here."

"Really?" The aforementioned bat speaks up, surprising him. "Ha ha ha ha."

"This isn't my day," Bokkun complains, looking like he's about to cry. Rouge comes to a stop in front of him.

"If I didn't know better, I might think you're not happy to see me," She says in a tone that implies she'll show his secret.

"Oh no, Rouge," He waves his hands rapidly, sweating. "Don't think that!"

"Oh I'm glad," She smiles in approval. "Because I've got another tiny little favor I need you to do for me." He sweats again, wondering what she could possibly want now. She digs into her outfit, holding up the locket again. "You will help me, won't you?"

He scratches his cheek reluctantly. He just hoped that Eggman wouldn't find out...

* * *

The Blue Typhoon is hit with snow as the platform descends down. They're immediately hit with snow blowing at them. Chris steps out in a winter suit. Luckily, Cosmo, Knuckles, and Sonic don't need winter suits. Valentina dresses Sophia into a pink peabody jacket, placing a purple knit hat on top of her head. Elliot puts purple gloves and a white scarf around her and Sophia shakes her head.

"Mom, Dad, please. We all know that I won't be affected," She rolls her eyes.

"Planet Breezy is the only exception, darling," Valentina holds up a finger. "In this weather, you can never be too sure..."

"Okay..." She sighs in defeat, putting on some black knee-high winter boots.

"Let's get this snow on the road," Sonic winks with a thumbs up at the joke, chuckling. He jumps down first.

"It might be..." Chris calls out and they hear a crash. "Deep." Sonic is face-deep into the snow. "Don't worry, I packed some new snow shoes." Chris takes some purple snow shoes out of his bag. Sophia chuckles at Sonic slowly lifting his head out of the snow.

"Got any earmuffs?" His voice is muffled.

* * *

Chris, Sophia, Knuckles, Cosmo, and Sonic are standing in front of a tree, while the others decided to stay inside the ship. Cosmo puts her ear to the tree.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles asks her curiously.

"I'm trying to listen."

"Trying to listen to what?" Sonic wonders in confusion; trees don't talk.

"If this tree's still alive, I will hear its life force," Cosmo explains, closing her eyes.

"Her people can do this to any plant," Sophia gestures to her. "My mother told me about it. It turns out that both our people were allies against the Metarex, but their attempts were still unsuccessful...not with my uncle as their ruler."

Knuckles, Sonic, and Chris glance to each other, knowing fully well that her uncle technically set up all of these events...if it wasn't for him, then Sophia most likely wouldn't have been taken in by her parents, and Xenia would still be alive. And Cosmo's race wouldn't be so small...

Cosmo suddenly gets a sad look, drooping. "I knew we were too late."

"Don't worry, Cosmo," Chris calls out. "Maybe it'll come to life again next spring."

Cosmo shakes her head. She looks up solemnly at the tree. "There won't be a spring..."

Sophia's eyes turn sad. Spring was her favorite season...but now a planet won't get to experience blooming flowers, trees, sunshine...

The snow blows past them as they're silent for a few seconds. Sonic looks up at Chris and Sophia. "If the Metarex had already taken the planet egg away, there'd be no reason for them to still be hanging around. Maybe it's because the egg's still here someplace!"

"If that's true, we have to try and find it," Cosmo tells them.

"We don't have time!" Knuckles protests, as the Metarex could still be looking for the Chaos Emerald here...who knows what they could do with one, and then have all seven?

"If we find it, this planet might have a chance to survive," Cosmo looks at him, turning to the other three. "I know we came here for a Chaos Emerald, but couldn't we look for a planet egg too?"

Knuckles rubs his chin in thought. "No way."

"What do you think, guys?" Chris turns to Sophia and Sonic.

"The Blue Typhoon's damaged," Sonic reminds him and Chris shrugs.

"While I don't want to leave a planet in peril, we don't have a way to look for the egg..." Sophia crosses her arms in thought.

"Maybe we could use the X Tornado. If we look for the egg, we might find the emerald."

"Then I say we do it!" Sonic smiles at the plan, the three chuckling. Knuckles frowns at how they're all against him.

"Thank you all. This planet would be so grateful to you."

Knuckles growls as he didn't want to leave a planet like this either. "Alright, let's go!"

"Knuckles, manners," Elliot's voice calls out. They look around in confusion before Knuckles pulls out a walkie talkie.

"Dad," Sophia says pointedly.

"It's okay, your highness," Knuckles sighs slowly. "I'll get his trust back somehow."

The X Tornado is launched from the Blue Typhoon, with the five on it. The plane takes off into the sky, but someone's watching...

The Metarex are always watching...

The Metarex robot overseeing the procedure for the Chaos Emerald sees them flying away from the Blue Typhoon.

"Our enemies have arrived," He turns to his Metarex minions. There seems to be a whole army of them.

* * *

Decoe and Bocoe have made an igloo, where they're resting. Empty cups of hot chocolate are next to them. Bokkun watches them, sweating at Rouge's new mission for him. "Rouge really did it this time. Hot chocolate with sleeping powder..."

Rouge flies past the igloo, glancing at it. "I knocked those three out good. While they're sleeping, I'll be on the lookout for that Chaos Emerald."

The wind makes it difficult for her to see and to fly properly. "Unless I go snow blind."

The X Tornado flies towards the palace. "There they are," Knuckles narrows his eyes.

"We're ready for 'em!" Sonic declares and they see dozens of them down below.

"No matter what, we have to make sure they don't get this planet egg!" Sophia clenches a fist in determination.

"Let's go!" Chris shouts, firing two rings. Sophia and Sonic jump into the air, catching them in their hands.

"Got it!" They super spin towards the Metarex, destroying one each. Three of them head towards the X Tornado. Knuckles leaps into the air, punching and kicking them into pieces. The X Tornado fires lasers at the ones in front of them, destroying several with their missiles as well. The three land back onto the plane.

"Don't let 'em get away, Chris!" Sonic says and Chris narrows his eyes.

"I won't."

The Metarex start flying away from them and they follow the group towards a big mountain. They suddenly turn around, Chris gasping in shock. It was their tactic to run away...for an ambush. Something explodes from the mountain.

"I think we're in big trouble!"

An avalanche has formed, heading straight towards them. Chris flies straight towards it and the avalanche towers over them.

"Oh no!"

The Blue Typhoon comes in and lands near them, blocking the avalanche as they fly away. Their ship is now covered in snow...until it slowly goes away. "Back to the repair shop," Tails replies wearily.

"Hey, look!" Amy points at something up ahead and they see the shiny, beautiful ice palace. "Wow!"

"It's unbelievable..." Cream whispers in awe.

"It can't be..." Valentina smiles happily at it. "This is the cabin where Elliot and I would stay..."

"You call _this_ a cabin?" Tails' mouth opens in shock as it was the opposite of a cabin...

"Yes. We had some wonderful times here," Elliot smiles, hugging his wife fondly at the memories. She smiles back, returning the warm hug. Amy and Cream smile at their happiness.

Knuckles, Sophia, and Sonic jump off the plane and land onto the slippery ice. Sonic falls flat on his face as Knuckles slides over to him. Sophia chuckles, landing safely in front of them. Unfortunately, the Metarex catch wind of their arrival, the army running up to them.

"Sonic, use this," Chris emits a board from the plane. Sonic jumps onto it, holding out his hand to Sophia. She takes it and he pulls her so that she's standing behind him. The back of the board starts up, causing them to fly straight into the robots.

"Wouldn't happen to have one of those things for me, would ya?" Knuckles calls out to Chris.

"Sorry Knuckles! I only had time to make one!" Chris says sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, that's-" He stands up, only to fall on his butt after.

The Metarex approach, only for them to be knocked to the ground by the hoverboard.

"I don't get any respect," Knuckles grumbles as he climbs on top of the plane. "No respect at all!" The X Tornado flies into the air as the duo pass by the robots, punching and kicking like it was nothing. Knuckles is pouting, hands on his cheeks. He should be fighting them too, he can take a few measly Metarex!

"According to the scanner, the Chaos Emerald's in the center of that ice palace," Tails reports to Amy.

"Well...who would have thought?" Elliot comments to Valentina. She giggles at the irony.

"Roger," Chris says from the communicator. "But first things first. Hang on, Knuckles!" He drives into a trench, gritting his teeth. Cosmo squeezes her eyes shut.

Sonic and Sophia slide down one of the paths, the Metarex arriving from the other side. Sonic chuckles as he jumps into the air, the robots firing missiles. They jump into the air, spin dashing over and knocking them into pieces. They land back onto the hoverboard as Chris gets targeted by them next. Knuckles grabs a Metarex, spinning around and knocking out the others. He then lets go and the lone Metarex robot crashes into the wall, self-destructing.

"How will we ever defeat them all when there's so many of them?" Cosmo glances back at the wall nervously.

"Good question," Chris sweatdrops sheepishly.

Rouge is looking over the ice palace. "My, my, my. All that sparkling ice makes this place look like a 24 karat castle."

A Metarex inches towards her and she flies back a bit. "Get lost." She screw kicks it into pieces.

The lead Metarex over their 'project' is looking at all the people approaching. He glances back at the canister, walking up to it. He steps forward, as he has to make sure no one gets the emerald...

Sonic and Sophia skate down a spiral, looking up to see more Metarex. Sophia growls in annoyance, taking a deep breath. She releases it to emit ice at half of them and they're destroyed into pieces. Sonic spins around the hoverboard as the rest arrive, so that when hit, they're destroyed. The X Tornado fires lasers at them, flying next to Sophia and Sonic. Chris fires again at two missiles, breaking through the center of their destination. Sophia and Sonic fly through it, landing in front of a red Chaos Emerald that is encased in ice.

"Well, there it is," They peek inside. "Can you use anything to get it out?"

"My heat vision would take too long," Sophia rubs her chin. "And the ice is too thick to break through with my bare hands...maybe-"

Something breaks behind them, revealing Knuckles, Chris, and Cosmo. The echidna had punched the ice. "Sonic, Sophia, can you get it out of there?"

"We'll try," Sonic turns to them. Most of them don't notice Rouge spying on them. Sophia senses her and looks up. Rouge gasps, recoiling back a bit. Would Sophia tell them that she's been spying on them and that she wants the emeralds?

The princess doesn't seem to be willing to tell, and Rouge sighs in relief when Sophia turns back to the emerald without a word.

"Leave this to me!" Knuckles pulls out his shovel claws. He jumps forward, but the strength of the ice knocks him backwards. "That ice is harder than a diamond!"

"Of course it is. If it were not, we would be at the mercy of thieves like you!" A deep voice speaks up.

"Come out where we can see you!" Knuckles challenges, standing up.

"Very well. Keep your eyes on the emerald."

They do so and the Chaos Emerald starts glowing. They gasp in shock as the Metarex shows himself, laughing.

"You don't scare me," Knuckles leaps towards the ice, but the same result happens. Sonic and Sophia spin dash, but that also has no effect on the ice.

"Now I will destroy you! ...Ah, I recognize those eyes," He's staring right at Sophia, which creeps her out a bit. "Yes...those are the same eyes as our fallen leader. I shall spare you, girl, and you shall take Valtor's place!"

"I will NOT become your ruler instead of my uncle!" Sophia shouts at him. Rouge gasps in shock.

"Sophia's uncle...was their leader...?"

The leader places the emerald where his chest is and the emerald glows brighter. The ice starts emitting smoke and they gasp in realization at what's happening.

"It's getting power from the emerald!" Chris exclaims, Sophia staring in horror. The emeralds were supposed to be used for good...not like this...

The Metarex laughs evilly as an ice tornado hits the ceiling. It starts breaking apart.

"RUN!" Chris grabs Cosmo's hand and they take off.

"Oh drats," Rouge pouts, flying away. There's no way she could get the emerald with that Metarex having it in its grasp. They manage to escape before the whole thing could cave in. The Metarex stands up, Chris glancing back as a hand comes soaring towards them. It hits the ice and Sophia gasps at the destroyed palace. She narrows her eyes in anger. How dare he destroy a place that her parents loved so much?

The ice beneath them starts to crack, Cosmo and Chris about to fall through. Sophia, Sonic, and Knuckles rush to their aid. They struggle to hold on as a ship arrives.

The Blue Typhoon!

"Hang in there, guys," Tails tells them and the Metarex hits the space ship, freezing it.

"Our cannon's frozen solid," Amy says, Elliot gritting his teeth at the unfair advantage.

"Elliot..." Valentina whispers sadly and he follows her gaze towards the ice palace. His mouth opens in horror at the damage.

Chris tries next with the missiles, but they have no effect on the Metarex. "The rockets didn't phase him..."

Sonic and Sophia slide up the Metarex. "Heads up, guys!" Chris sends them four rings. They take two each, spin dashing towards the Metarex. He just holds up his hand, emitting an ice pillar from it. The two destroy it, landing on the hand. The other hand reaches out to them.

"We've got to do something to save him," Cosmo accidentally presses a button. "Huh?" A laser is fired and Chris turns to her in surprise. "I'm sorry, Chris, I just hit the laser beam."

However, that beam is what melts off the hand. The two jump onto the plane and they start flying away from it.

"Great job, Como, you're a real lifesaver!" Chris smiles at her. She gasps at the praise. "The laser beam sliced right through the ice. Knuckles, we're heading for the engine room." They fly back to the Blue Typhoon.

Tails smiles at the group. "We're almost ready, Chris. You see, all we have to do is get Knuckles to power up the laser cannon and we'll be good to go!"

"Let's do it!" Knuckles exclaims from the engines. A camera looks around as the cannon emits from the front. "The seven Chaos emeralds are the servers. Our hearts intensify their power." Knuckles watches as the Master Emerald powers up.

"60, 70, 80, 90," Chris counts down as the cannon powers up. "Energy sequence complete."

"FIRE!" Tails declares and the cannon fires towards the Metarex.

"Your weapons are of no use against me," He emits another pillar, but the cannon's lasers melt it, hitting the arm. It moves to the center and the Metarex is slowly destroyed, melting and dropping the planet egg in the process. It sinks into the ground and Cosmo smiles fondly.

The snow starts to melt as the trees get weaker. They look around sadly.

"I found it!" They turn to Knuckles, who is looking at the Chaos Emerald. Three cards are thrown at him and he backs away. Rouge snatches the emerald and he growls.

"Thanks for doing the dirty work," She holds up the emerald. "I owe you one, Knuckie."

"You bring that back here!" He threatens, clenching a fist.

Amy shouts in shock as she runs up to him. "She just stole the Chaos Emerald."

"Thanks very much for the update!" Knuckles retorts back. "Sophia, fly after her!"

"I don't think I want to fight my friend over an emerald," Sophia crosses her arms.

"WHAT?! I don't care if you're gal pals, go get it back!" Knuckles shouts at her. He gets a shoe to the face by an annoyed Sophia.

"If I know Rouge, and I do, she won't do much but keep it. She has no reason to use their powers for anything."

"Hey Knuckles," Sonic speaks up. "Take a look at this," He points to the ground, him and Cosmo smiling as there's grass.

"The grass! It's growing!"

Chris bends down to it with a smile. "Spring came after all. And before you know it, this place will be just as green and beautiful as it was before."

"Sure," Sonic gives a thumbs up with a smile. "Happy, Cosmo?"

"Yes!" She nods at him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eggman is scolding his robots. "How dare you let them get away?! I oughta dismantle you snoozing losers!"

"Don't blame us, doctor!" Decoe retorts back. "You were snoozing too!"

"We all fell asleep after Bokkun brought us hot chocolate. That's interesting," Bocoe gives Bokkun a glare.

"Uh," Bokkun sweatdrops, pointing. "It wasn't me who put sleeping powder in your cocoa."

"What?!" They all demand and he realizes what he just said.

"I meant marshmallows! I'm not a very good traitor..."

Needless to say, they're all confused.

* * *

Rouge hums as she's taking a relaxing bath. She rubs her arm. "That nasty snow globe was so windy and wintry. Even my gloves got goose pimples. Oh well!" She chuckles, holding up the emerald she stole. "Now I've got this hot little baby to keep me warm. Positively perfect. Just get a load of that shine." The Chaos Emerald suddenly loses power.

"Wait a minute...this is a..."

"Fake!" Tails finishes at the Blue Typhoon. "After I took a real good look at the response data, I noticed something I hadn't seen the first time. The components of the emeralds were off so slightly even the scanners didn't pick it up."

"I've reprogrammed them, Tails," Chris informs him. "Next time they'll only respond to real emeralds. But what I can't figure out is what that Metarex was doing with a fake emerald."

"Yeah...why go through all that trouble to protect it if it wasn't a real one?" Sophia gives a confused look at her parents, who shrug.

"The Metarex are very cunning. Whatever it was for, it was important," Elliot holds up a finger.

"Thanks for the help," Sophia sweatdrops at the back of her hair.

"Maybe the fake emerald was a decoy the Metarex used to throw us off the track," Tails assumes, Sonic shrugging.

"Wait'll Rouge finds out she fetched a phony," Knuckles chuckles in amusement. He just wished he could see the look on her face.

"They think they can fool me, do they?" Rouge narrows her eyes in rage. "We'll see about that!" She crushes the fake emerald in her hands. "I'll make them pay for this. I promise, I'll make them pay!"


	58. Desperately Seeking Sonic and Sophia

Trent Gaines: Poor Knuckles, hope he gets the Kings trust back. I also said the Knucklehead thing as a joke.

 **Angel: My bad ^^'**

Crazycartoons5488: They want to spare Sophia to take her uncle's place.

 **Angel: Spare her? The heck?**

Devin sands: Nice chapter and I was wondering when you do the episode where Shadow and Rouge meet Molly are you going to have Sophia be in that chapter?

 **Angel: I haven't decided yet. But thank you!**

Bajy: Take your time to watch that episode again. Great job as always! Yeah it will take time for Knuckles to regain the king's trust completely. Hopefully this strain won't cause anymore hindrance than it already has. Looking forward to reading more soon as per usual!

 **Angel: I would rewatch it, but I have two finals next week and I need to study. Plus my sister is coming here on Saturday since our birthday is two weeks from tomorrow. We're gonna see Aladdin the week after! And I have a cruise in June to attend to ^^' I'm so busy...**

Dream lighting: Wow fake emerald keep it going love this sonic book so much wished see if Chris made it back remember the series wished made an extra one

 **Angel: I think you lost me after you said you love this story, because I have no idea what that part means.**

Challishanlon99: So Sophia you guys have you heard a Pokemon before they're creatures and they have powers and stuff I can't explain much about it but I think it would be pretty cool if you guys had Pokemon cuz I think Sonic team would probably be the fast Pokemon there are some Pokemon that go as fast as Sonic so I was wondering if you had Pokemon what type would you have? And what kind of Pokemon? Be careful guys be safe.

 **Sophia: Angel has informed me about them, but I'd like to think that animals from our planet are like Pokemon. Just look at Cheese and Rose, they can fight. Though, I think I would have a fairy or psychic type if I had to choose. Maybe a Sylveon or Flabebe.**

 **Sonic: Ground type, since I run on the ground.**

 **Amy: Fighting type, obviously!**

 **Tails: I'd pick flying type, since...I already fly XD**

 **Angel: I'm pretty sure there's a Sonic Q &A channel that addresses this question in one of their videos...yeah, SonicSong182. She's got an Ask the Sonic Heroes series that's still going. Just go watch her videos. *shrugs***

Johanvanguard: It's nice that Sonic and the others made it to Planet Breezy, but it was on the verge of dying out. Luckily they found the signal of a Chaos Emerald on the planet, and it was located in the former "cabin" of Valentina and Elliot. The fight with the heroes against the Metarex was great, but too bad that the robot got powerful using the emerald. I'm glad that the cannon helped to defeat the Metarex, and restore the planet its egg. It's a shame that Rouge took the emerald before the heroes could get it. Thankfully the emerald turned out to be a fake, which means that the Metarex are getting crafty and probably have a real emerald. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the jungle planet.

 **Angel: Well...they've traveled around space about a hundred times. Of course they were gonna stay there at some point before Sophia was born. And they're royalty, you really expected it to be a simple cabin? No XD**

Natalie: The sonic movie trailer came out and I like it what are your thoughts on it? And even though it comes out in November and if you like it will there might be a fic of it in the future?

 **Angel: God dangit. I was expecting someone to ask me about it. I saw the trailer, and my honest opinion from my own perspective and not basing it off of reception so far? Umm...Sonic just puts me off in a bad way. It feels like he's a human smurf with fur. Don't get me wrong, I love James Marsden, but Sonic's voice...nah. I just hear Leo from Rise of TMNT (who Ben Schwartz DOES voice, by the way), because he is that cocky. I know Sonic has a high regard of himself, but come on. It's just too much cockiness in his voice alone. Mainly because I know he voices my absolute favorite character from TMNT. Honestly, I don't understand why he has to be on the run from the government, and yet this is supposed to be taking place in Green Hills (at least, that's what I read). If that's true, where are all the other characters? Sonic's homeland wasn't populated by humans, where are all his other friends? Why's it just him and Eggman? Also, his eyes creep me out. So, to answer the question, probably not. I'm not even gonna go see it because his design is that off putting to me to make me not wanna see it. It's like Sonic Underground, but worse! Anyway, I've said it before: After this fic, I'm not involving myself in anymore Sonic media for writing. No way would I write something Sonic related after I already gave you Sonic X.**

Guest: I can't wait to see them go on the jungle planet where the girls take action.

 **Angel: Girl power all the way!**

The Blue Typhoon is traveling to another planet when Amy suddenly looks up, an alarm beeping. Knuckles turns around from his seat in the engine room. Chris, Cream, Rose, Cheese, all stop what they're doing in the kitchen. Sonic and Sophia come to a stop in the hallway.

"Our scanners picked up two objects approaching," Tails reports as the two Chao, Cosmo, and Cream come in. "Dead ahead and closing fast."

"I see 'em!" Amy points to the screen and sure enough, two familiar robots are flying straight towards them.

"Metarex!" Sonic exclaims in realization.

"But what for?" Sophia asks in confusion. This was the first time they've directly attacked their ship while they were in space.

"It looks like they just stole that planet egg," Cosmo notices a green object from one of them.

"We can't let those two Metarex get away. We're gonna fight 'em to save that planet egg!" Tails declares.

"Roger!" All the girls say in unison, but one of the Metarex attacks their ship, wires attached to the space craft.

"Fire the laser cannons!" Tails orders and the two cannons fires straight at the robot. However, when it touches the armor, the shot is reflected off of it without even making a dent.

"It fell straight off!" Cream exclaims in shock. The wires get tighter as one of the wings is dangerously close to breaking.

"It's trying to pull our wings off. We have to do something before it's too late!" Amy looks up at Tails.

"We'll stop it," Tails narrows his eyes. "Load the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon!"

"We're loading it now," Knuckles reports, Chris standing next to him.

"Sonic, Sophia, enter the power cannon and get ready for launch," Chris orders and they stand on top of the ship. The cannon lifts up in front of them and they run inside, determined to stop this one before it was too late. They leap onto the platforms.

"Ready!" They shout, spin dashing into the air. The cannon powers up from the power of the Master Emerald.

"Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, fire!" Tails yells, pointing to the Metarex. The two are fired out of the cannon in a blast so powerful they phase right through the Metarex's chest. It explodes, falling towards the planet. "Looks like we knocked out the Metarex, the big one is outta commission, and the planet egg's going back where it belongs."

"Thanks to Sonic and the princess!" Cosmo clasps her hands together happily.

"Yeah, they were incredible!" Cream cheers, Amy smiling.

"They're real knockouts! ...Wait a second, why aren't they coming back to the ship?" It's only then she realizes that she doesn't see either of them. They all look up at Tails, who sweats nervously. He didn't know why either.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles turns to a shocked Chris.

"The cannon that launched Sophia and Sonic out of the ship worked great." He laughs sheepishly. "Unfortunately, we launched them too hard and they couldn't get out of their spinning in time to get back to the ship. Looks like they're headed straight for the planet."

"It's too bad they're not packed in a parachute," Knuckles places his hands on his hips.

"SONIIIIIC! SOPHIA!" Amy cries out as two little white lines land on the planet...

* * *

It's a beautiful, lush planet with green trees and mountains. Two people scream as they spin, one of them landing on the grass with a thump. Sonic rubs his head.

"Oh man, what a trip. I wonder where I-" He opens his eyes, gasping as Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe are right near him! They seem to be unconscious and their mode of transportation is damaged. "It's Eggman!" He sees a green Chaos Emerald right at his feet and picks it up.

"He found a Chaos Emerald...you don't mind if Sophia and I borrow this while you're resting, do ya? Huh?" He then realizes that Sophia isn't with him...

"See ya! I gotta find my friend! It's better to stick together than to be apart, ya know!" He rushes down the path with the emerald.

Sophia screams as she falls through branches, leaves, and vines. Two vines grip her arms and she gets stuck in a tree, dangling from the branch.

"Oh great. First Sonic gets lost, and now I'm a scarecrow," She rolls her eyes at how ridiculous she looks. Suddenly the vines and she falls flat on her butt onto the grass, groaning. "Okay, next time, no more spinning around," She rubs her head, looking around. Since she's never been on this planet before, intuitions were going to be of no help in finding anyone. She highly doubted that anyone else was here besides Sonic as there's no natives around...

She sees smoke in the distance and decides to follow the direction of it. Sophia gasps as it's the smaller Metarex overlooking the one that got destroyed a few minutes ago.

"This loser's definitely out of it. He was supposed to protect me and the planet egg. What am I gonna do now? I'm not built for battle. What if that ship comes after me? If I don't think of something fast, I'm gonna end up a meta wreck!"

Never has she ever heard a Metarex speak so freely like this...it was kind of weird. Sophia glances to her right to see the planet egg.

"They did follow me here!" The Metarex looks up to see the Blue Typoon landing. Sophia sighs in relief. "And they're coming for the planet egg!" He makes a monkey noise, as that's what he's modeled after. "What should I do? I don't wanna fight, but I can't let them put the egg back!"

He's about to take the planet egg, but Sophia's fingers are gripping it. "OH NO!" He pulls as hard as he can, Sophia pulling it back.

"Wait a second, maybe there's a way for me to fight without fighting!" He laughs boastfully, Sophia just staring at him.

"What...are you talking about? Give it back, this doesn't belong to you!"

He wiggles the egg out of her grasp and she hits the ground with a thump.

"Move over!" Amy rushes up to Tails and Knuckles inside the X Tornado. "I'm going with you!"

"Stay here, Amy. It's not safe," Tails warns her. "That smaller Metarex may be out there somewhere."

"BUT I HAVE TO FIND SONIC!" Amy jumps up and down. Valentina clears her throat and she gives a sheepish look. "A-And your daughter! Sophia's a dear friend of mine..."

"Please, Tails, let us accompany you. We are just as worried for them," She frowns to herself.

"Don't worry, your highness and Amy, Knuckles and I will find 'em and bring them back. Chris needs help fixing the ship. Who knows, maybe Sonic and Sophia will show up here," He holds up a finger.

"Our daughter could be hurt!" Elliot protests, holding his hair in frustration. "We lost her once, we will not lose her again!"

"Tails is trying to tell you that we don't want you getting in our way!" Knuckles retorts to Amy.

"In your way?!" She shouts in anger, Sophia's parents cringing.

"Come on, Tails, let's get going," Knuckles gives an indifferent look, arms crossed.

"Okay..."

"Do NOT take off!" Amy demands, but the plane gets ready to leave anyway. The engine starts up and they take off into the sky. "YOU'LL REGRET THIS!"

"Dear, I am sure that they will find them," Valentina places her hands on Amy's shoulders from behind. "Now I must go. I promised Cosmo I would accompany them to explore."

"This is going to be fun," Cream replies as Valentina is walking behind them. The rabbit giggles as she looks around. "I love to explore new places, don't you, Cheese and Rose?"

They both chirp in agreement and Cosmo feels the tree, closing her eyes. "The trees are sad. It seems the planet egg hasn't been restored yet. I can't leave here until I make sure it is."

Cream and Valentina walk up to her. "You mean you're going to go look for the planet egg, Cosmo?"

"Yes," Cosmo nods at Cream. Amy pants as she runs down the runway and onto the grass. She storms past them, confusing all of them.

"Amy?"

"Where are you going?"

"I believe Tails suggested to-"

"Where do you think?!" She interrupts, turning to them sharply. "I'm gonna go find Sonic!"

"But didn't Tails and Knuckles take the X Tornado to look for it?" Cream asks in confusion.

"I'm not gonna rely on anybody else to find Sonic and my friend! I have to go rescue him myself!" She waves her finger, hand on her hip. "I won't rest till I get him back!" She continues to walk.

"Wait!" Cream calls out to her. Valentina sighs at Amy's stubbornness, rubbing a temple. She was glad that Amy wanted to help, but not at the cost of her own life...

"Amy is right," Cosmo looks down at her hand. "I cannot rely on anyone else either. I won't rest until I hold the planet egg in my hand." She gives a determined look, following the path Amy took.

"But-" Cream protests, the two girls continuing on. She glances back at the ship and then at them. "Hey, wait for us, Cosmo!"

"Well...it would help to find my daughter faster," Valentina turns to the ship. "Elliot, I am going to go search for Sophia!"

"My Sophia!" Elliot sobs from inside. "Please, bring her back to me!"

Valentina rolls her eyes. "Perhaps then I shall go shoplift."

"My baby...!"

She sighs in defeat and goes after the others. She had a pretty strong feeling that he wouldn't stop the theatrics until Sophia was back safe and sound.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the engine room, Chris is hard at work. "Amy, could you hand me a micro circuit, please?" After a few seconds, he's confused to hear silence. "Huh? Amy? Cosmo?" He turns around to find himself all alone. "Where'd they go?" He walks down the stairs, opening the door to the main area. He walks to his station.

"I can't believe they left the ship without even telling me!" He puts on his headphones. "It's Chris calling. Amy, do you read me?" He hears nothing and sees where they're located. "They forgot to bring their comm links with them! This is the Blue Typhoon calling the X Tornado. Come in."

"X Tornado here," Chris looks up as Tails answers. "What's up, Chris?"

"Amy's gone? So are Cream and Cheese. Cosmo too."

Tails gasps in worry for Cosmo. "Are the king and queen with you?"

"I haven't checked," Chris answers skeptically.

"Where'd they go, sightseeing?" Knuckles asks in annoyance. Not only do they have to find Sonic and the princess, but now the girls too?

"Better keep your eyes on them while you're looking for Sonic." Chris hears footsteps, glancing back to see a blubbering Elliot. "The king is here, but I don't see Valentina. She and Rose might've gone with them."

The blur Chaos Emerald starts to glow and Tails turns his attention to it. "The Chaos Emerald's reacting to something."

"Yeah! That means there must be another Chaos Emerald nearby!" Knuckles cheers at the sudden luck. "Let's find it!"

"Hang on, I'm gonna make a turn," Chris looks around in confusion as he can still hear them.

"Call you later, Chris! Right now, we're going emerald hunting!"

"See ya later."

Chris blinks in confusion at their sudden change in plans. "Hey Tails, are ya there? Come in! Great, sometimes it feels like I'm talking to myself," He slams down the headphones. "Calm down, your highness, we'll find Sophia."

"My daughter...!" Elliot starts panicking and Chris sighs at him.

* * *

"Sonic, where are you?!" Amy calls out, Cosmo, Cream, Cheese, Valentina, and Rose trailing after them.

"Sophia, darling! Are you alright?" Valentina cups her hands together. Cosmo moves away a bush, getting her foot caught in a branch. She's suddenly lifted into the air.

"Cosmo!" Amy calls out as they look up. "Are you okay?"

"Chao!" Rose and Cheese fly up to Cosmo to try and help. They release her foot and flies down using her skirt.

"I'm fine."

"Maybe you should go back, Cosmo," Amy winks, pointing a finger to her head. "Leave the searching to me. Somebody as reliant as you doesn't belong out in the wild!"

"I'm not turning back," Cosmo shakes her head. "Let's keep going," She takes the lead.

"If that's what you want," Amy replies, Valentina placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Amy, Cosmo is here for the same reason you are: to help. Someone such as her has the one trait needed for such a situation like this: Courage. She has the determination to save planets just as you have determination to help Sonic. Your goals could not be any more similar."

"Hmm," Amy and Cream stare at Cosmo as she's walking. "I never thought of it like that before...Thanks, your highness."

"Of course," Valentina smiles a bit at her. They follow after the silent plant girl.

 _I'm tired of running away from danger._

 _Cosmo ran for her life, only for a blast to stop in her tracks. She gasped in fear as a Metarex stared at her right in the eyes. He could see her look of fear and something suddenly flashed in her eyes._

 _I'm not going to stand by while the Metarex destroy another planet._

She moves away the bushes after her goal is set, seeing something in the distance. "It's the planet egg."

"That was easy," Amy comments at the fact that it's just lying around here.

"There's something strange about this," Cream says her uneasy opinion.

"What do you mean, Cream?"

"How did the planet egg land right in the middle of this clearing?" Cream looks around and Amy crosses her arms.

"That is kind of weird. Almost like somebody wanted us to find it..."

"Well I'm taking it," Cosmo steps forward and Amy grabs her arm.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Amy is right. This is a trap," Valentina looks down at Cosmo.

"Maybe you're right, Amy and your highness, but we have to put it back where it belongs or this planet is finished," And with that, she walks up to the planet egg and reaches out to grab it. Amy, Cream, Cheese, Rose, and Valentina stand behind her, ready to protect her if needed. Just before she's about to touch it, a net materializes from underneath, trapping all of them inside.

"Hey, let us go!" Amy demands and the same smaller monkey Metarex laughs, stepping up to them.

"Now who's the monkey in the middle?"

"You again!" Cosmo recognizes him immediately.

"Sorry to leave you hanging, but I have to leave. I'm heading up to steal your ship now so I can escape with the planet egg!" He grabs the egg, his eye glinting.

"You fell right into my trap," He states as they're now trapped in a wooden cage that he built. Nearby, Sophia peeks out of the bush, staring at the cage and gasping. She covers her mouth quickly so that no one heard her. "I bet you didn't suspect I'd be this cagey. I can't take all the credit, though. My scheme wouldn't have worked if you weren't so gullible."

Amy growls at him angrily, gripping the bars.

"Don't blow your cool. We'll find a way out," Cream tries to calm her down.

"Amy, please. You are only giving him what he wants: satisfaction from your anger," Valentina warns her. The Metarex laughs, waving.

"Bye bye. I'll say hello to your friends for you. If they're as dimwitted as you, I should be doing a victory dance in no time. Oh, and nice try siccing your princess on me, but she was just too weak!" He laughs again, walking off.

Valentina gasps at the word princess. "He saw Sophia?"

"I don't think so, you miserable monkey! Sonic and Sophia are gonna go ape when he hears you caught ME!" Amy thrashes around in anger.

"Don't go ballistic," Cream holds up her hands.

"It's all my fault," Cosmo looks towards the ground in guilt. "I never should've fallen for the planet egg trap. Now we've lost the planet egg, Sonic, and Sophia..."

"You were only trying to save this world," Valentina bends down to her with a small smile. "I admire your dedication, Cosmo..."

Cosmo smiles at her gratefully, engulfing her into a hug. Valentina looks down at her in surprise before chuckling, returning the hug.

"Psst. Guys!"

They look up to see Sophia running up to them. Her hair is full of leaves, but otherwise, she looks okay. "Sophia! Am I glad to see you," Cream clasps her hands. Before Sophia can set them free, Amy slams the ground with her hammer, knocking all the bars down. She turns to the others.

"Don't worry, Cosmo."

"Okay," Cosmo smiles at her. "Thanks, Amy."

"Sophia, where's Sonic?!" Amy demands the princess.

"I haven't seen him, Amy. We lost each other. There was nothing I could do about it," Sophia shrugs a bit.

"We have to find Sonic and warn him before that Metarex traps him too," They're now walking through grass.

"Shouldn't we go back to the ship, Amy?" Cream asks curiously. "We could call Tails and Knuckles for help."

"No way!" Amy denies immediately. "I set out to rescue Sonic all by myself, and that's what we're all gonna do!"

"I promise to be more careful from now on. We'll never save any planets if I don't stop getting us into trouble all the time," Cosmo murmurs to herself.

"This scene sure looks familiar," Amy points up ahead to the planet egg, which is planted in a clearing, again.

"Looks like another Metarex trap," Cream comments, Amy's arms crossed.

"Well we're not gonna let it trick us a second time, are we?" Amy asks bitterly.

"Would he try the same trap twice? Well, there's only one way to find out," Cosmo steps forward.

"No, Cosmo, don't!" Amy warns her.

"Stay back. And if it's a trap, it will only catch me." Cosmo takes the egg, but they all get caught again by vines. They hang upside down, Amy preventing her skirt from flying down. Amy, Cosmo, and Valentina do the same. The Metarex laughs as he comes out of hiding.

"That makes two for two. Huh? Didn't I catch you already? How did you escape from your cage?"

"Get lost!" Amy shouts at him. "That's our business."

"You fell for the same trap twice? Whoa, you're bigger saps than the trees around here," He laughs, seeing a glaring Rose, Cheese, and Cream. She's flying using her rabbit ears.

"You know what to do, Cheese!" She clenches a fist. Cheese flies in front of her hand. "Go get him!" She throws Cheese towards the Metarex, punching it in the face and knocking him down. He sets them free and they all fly down safely. Cosmo finally grabs the planet egg, this time with no trap.

"Come on!" Amy starts running, the girls trailing after her.

"Maybe we should go back to the ship," Cream suggests again.

"No Cream, that Metarex is still on the loose. I have to find Sonic and warn him!"

"I'm afraid Amy's right on this one," Sophia gestures to her. "That Metarex isn't going to stop trying to get the planet egg back. He managed to wrestle it from me, that's how determined it is."

"You all must be angry with me after the trouble I caused you today," Cosmo still looks guilty. "I'm so focused on saving the galaxy, I can get reckless sometimes."

"You've got the planet egg," Amy smiles at her. "I really admire how you never gave up."

"You do?" Cosmo smiles happily at the praise.

"I know just how you feel, Cosmo, cause when I think Sonic's in danger, I won't give up till I know he's safe! That's why I won't stop till I find him."

"Alright, Amy," Cream smiles fondly. "Then we won't give up either!"

"And I'm with you too, Amy," Cosmo smiles a bit.

"We are too," Valentina smiles happily, placing her hands on Sophia's shoulders. "You helped me find my daughter."

"More like I found you guys, but I'm still in," Sophia giggles at her mom.

"And after we find Sonic, we can work together to make sure the planet egg gets back where it belongs."

"That's great!" Cosmo exclaims in joy at the thought.

Suddenly, a large ball made of vines comes flying in, hitting Cosmo in the face. This makes her drop the planet egg.

"Cosmo!" They all shout and Sophia runs over to help her. The planet egg falls into the monkey Metarex's hands.

"That was too easy!"

"Not so fast!" They look up to see Cosmo and Sophia flying in.

"They got me surrounded," He looks around at all the girls. Cosmo starts throwing ripe tomatoes at him, Sophia firing her Chaos Spears. Two tomatoes hit him the face and he drops the planet egg. "I can't see!"

Amy yells as she and Sophia prepare an attack, Amy hitting him and causing him to spin around. Sophia holds up her hands, creating an energy ball made up of her Chaos Spears. She throws it at him and he crashes onto the ground.

"Quick, let's go!" Sophia shouts as she takes the lead, the others following after her. Cosmo glances behind her the entire time, but the Metarex lands in front of them, blocking their path.

"Hold it!"

"This way!" Amy turns right as he slams down his fists, missing. They suddenly fall through a hole, with Cheese and Rose grabbing onto the planet egg before the Metarex could.

"Yeah!" The Metarex cheers. "I did it! I'm on a roll!"

Cream and Sophia lift up the girls and Valentina out of the hole. Amy glares at him as Cheese and Rose fly out last with the planet egg in hand. The Metarex does a double take.

"Alright, ladies...show him what you've got!" Valentina points to him and Sophia is slightly surprised that her mother used that phrase.

"Roger!"

Cream starts spinning them around and the Metarex just stares in shock. Sophia closes her eyes as she brings her hands together. Amy's hammer appears and Cream flies closer to the Metarex, Amy hitting him with the hammer. Sophia's forehead glows and a glint of pink appears on her fingers.

"Chaos Laser!" She fires a huge pink beam into the air, hitting the Metarex and he flies further into the forest...

"Alright!" Cream cheers as they land, Cosmo laughing in delight.

"When we all work together, we're unstoppable!" Amy declares, the girls high-fiving. Valentina engulfs them into a group hug.

"I am very proud of you, girls."

"Thanks Mom," Sophia smiles up at her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic is using the emerald he found to try and track down Sophia. Since she has Chaos energy inside her, maybe the emerald could track her using her energy signature. He comes to a stop as the X Tornado arrives.

"Sonic!"

"Hi Tails," Sonic smiles in relief. "Look, got a little present for ya," He holds up the emerald.

"He's got another emerald," Knuckles smiles slightly. "Hey, wait. Where's Sophia? Wasn't she with you?"

"I lost her as soon as I landed," Sonic frowns up at them. "I don't know where she could be!"

"Stay there, we're coming down to pick ya up," Tails calls out and the plane changes into walking mode. Some strange vines appear, knocking the emerald out of Sonic's hands. He grits his teeth as the metallic arms capture the X Tornado, knocking it to the ground. The emerald is then taken to Eggman, who has a bee robot ready.

He chuckles at them, flying in his Egg Mobile.

"Eggman," Sonic glares up at him.

"I'm taking that emerald back, Sonic. I found it first, so it belongs to me," Eggman glances at his robot behind him.

"But if it wasn't for the Metarex, I'd still have 'em all," Sonic glances away.

"According to my rules, it's stealers keepers, Sonic!"

"Retrieval operation complete," Decoe reports as the emerald is dropped into a control panel. "The emerald is secure."

"Time to power up!"

The bee robot starts to glow yellow and it evolves into a stronger robot. Sonic and Knuckles grit their teeth at him.

"I'm not done monkeying around this time!" The girls and Valentina suddenly run in from the opposite direction, being chased by the monkey Metarex. They jump away, each of them landing on either Eggman or his minions' heads.

"What the?!" Bocoe and Decoe stare at each other in confusion. The monkey Metarex then lands on them and the five run past the boys. Amy skids to a stop.

"Sonic!" She runs up to him.

"Oh no!" The monkey Metarex slides to a stop. "Now they're all gonna gang up against me!"

"Sonic!" Amy hugs Sonic tightly, her legs flying. "I've been looking all over for you," She starts kissing him on the cheek.

"This isn't a kissing booth!" Sonic tells her. Cosmo happily holds up the planet egg.

"Look everybody! We found the planet egg, isn't that fantastic?"

"Take it easy," Knuckles waves a hand.

"I'm not a trampoline!" Eggman shouts in annoyance. "Nobody goes hopping on my head and gets away with it."

"Activating attack mode!" The arms from the bee robot thrust forward, capturing all of them. Sonic and Knuckles struggle to break free. They even took the monkey Metarex.

"Let me go! I'm battling against the hedgehog and his friends too!"

"No way," Eggman narrows his eyes. "I won't work with anyone who looks like he belongs in a zoo!"

Cosmo squeezes her eyes shut and the planet egg starts to glow, shocking everyone. Some vines shoot up from the ground, surrounding the trio.

"What's going on?!"

"The energy from the planet egg is making the vegetation grow faster," Tails says in surprise as the vines pull them free.

"IT's growing like crazy!" Knuckles yells as the vines grab them.

"These vines sure are clingy, are they?!" Amy calls out as they're lifted in the air.

"Let me go!" Sonic demands and they're all protesting to be set free.

A beep interrupts Chris out of his thoughts, Elliot rushing over to him. He puts on his headphones. "This is the Blue Typhoon. Over."

He hears all his friends crying out to him. "Hold on, calm down and try to talk one at a time."

"Sophia! I heard her voice, she's safe!" Elliot gets onto his knees in relief.

"Bocoe, start pruning these plants NOW!" Eggman shouts as he struggles to get his arms free from the vines.

"They are growing too fast, doctor!" Bocoe calls out as the robots are now caught as well.

"Cosmo, what's wrong?" Amy looks up at her.

"I can't control the planet egg! I'm sorry!" She cries out and the planet egg causes vines to go up to the sky. Chris comes in on a plane.

"Hang on, guys!"

"Huh? It's Chris!" Sonic cries out in relief.

"Almost..." Tails tries to reach the front of his plane, pulling against the vines. He gasps, holding the blue Chaos Emerald. "Got it! Catch, Sonic!" He throws it towards the hedgehog and he catches it.

"Nice work, Tails! Sophia, grab my hand!"

Sophia struggles to move as she's all the way across from him. Valentina manages to move a bit, pushing Sophia towards the hedgehog. She lands in front of him and he holds her right hand, both of them spin dashing out of the vines.

"Sonic, Sophia, heads up," Chris pushes a button and a rocket is fired. It explodes into a yellow beam, which hits their shoes. They flip around and their shoes glow when hit with the beam. Their shoes have turned into hover shoes!

They both slide down some vines, moving right and left. Sophia laughs as it felt like surfboarding. "Wind surfing is kinda cool! And it's about to get better!" She shouts as she sees they're approaching Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe.

The two chuckle with a smirk as the trio shakes in fear. They destroy the robot, sending the trio flying into the air. They disappear into the sky with a glint. Something green flies down and Sophia catches it in her hand. She lands next to Sonic, holding up the emerald.

"I got it!"

They look up at their friends, who are still trapped. "Sorry to leave ya hanging," They rub their heads sheepishly.

The planet egg flies out of Cosmo's hands and they all watch in awe as the egg sinks into the ground back where it belongs. A green circle suddenly engulfs the area, restoring it back to normal. This also causes the vines to let go of them and they land safely, Tails, Cosmo, Cream, Cheese, and Rose flying onto the ground.

"Huh. No wonder I don't like gardening," Amy comments as she dusts herself off. The monkey Metarex has also been let go.

"What a botanical nightmare!"

"Get lost, pal!" Amy says as they all glare at him, annoyed. He sweatdrops, holding his head.

"I couldn't stop myself from tricking you. I was programmed for monkey business. I'm really sorry! I learned my lesson!" He glances away to see the emerald that Sophia gave back to Sonic. "Wow, what a beautiful emerald!" Before he can snatch it, the two speed away, stopping behind him.

"I'm not that slow, buddy!"

"I might've been lenient on you for my friends' sake, but if you try that again, I'll break you into pieces," Sophia narrows her eyes in annoyance. They're all staring at him smugly and he sweats again.

"This mission...is driving me bananas!"

There's suddenly an explosion in the forest...

* * *

The Blue Typhoon flies away from the planet as they now have two emeralds. Elliot is hugging his daughter and his wife happily, tears streaming down his face.

"My girls! I'm so happy you're alive!"

"Daaaad," Sophia mutters in embarrassment. "You're getting all emotional again."

"Please, dear, calm down," Valentina tries to get him to stop blubbering.

"Only five more to go!" Tails smiles at Cosmo, who returns the gesture.

"I'm sure we'll get them all back!"

Sonic, Knuckles, and Chris blink in surprise. "You think so, Cosmo?"

"You bet! Today I learned that if we all work together, anything is possible!" She answers as they all stare at the stars. The ship flies further into space as they all enjoy the view.


	59. Galactic Gumshoes

Trent Gaines: Hey Sophia, what's your type of guy?

 **Sophia: The kind where he doesn't exist, because I don't need a guy.**

 **Angel: Ha! XD**

Crazycartoons5488: Wow those girls chased by a robot monkey.

 **Angel: It was definitely a favorite episode of mine. That Metarex was kind of annoying, though.**

GodShynin300: Hurray for girl power! I loved the moment between Cosmo and Valentina, I expected a mother-daughter relationship between them. Keep going!

 **Angel: Girl power is awesome XD Just look at the Powerpuff Girls...the original, not the new fake ones. I heard that it might not get a fourth season, so we can only hope...**

Rose: I love

 **Angel: I don't know if that was the full thing, but thanks if it was a compliment?**

Bajy: Girl power! Poor King Elliot. Looking forward to reading more soon. And I understand, don't rush into it, take your time.

 **Angel: Especially since I'll be working on a movie now that my semester is over...possibly two. And no, it has nothing to do with Sonic XD I don't know, I do have a cruise to go to at the end of June, so I don't know yet how that's gonna affect my schedule in the future.**

Challishanlon99: Thank you for answering my question you guys I really appreciate it but if it's okay I have another question please don't be mad at me for asking but have you guys ever heard of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and if you met them, who's your favorite? Anyway thank you for this chapter can't wait to read more and please be careful I don't like it when you guys get hurt.

 **Sonic: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!**

 **Amy: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!**

 **Tails: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!**

 **Angel: Heroes in a half shell, turtle power! If you guys know me, you already know that I LOVE TMNT. I mean, my whole story archive is basically the franchise, after all, save for a few shows like this one. There is a Batman vs TMNT movie coming out on DVD, but I'm not sure when I'll get it. My favorite is obviously Leonardo, I've said it before XD**

 **Sonic: Michelangelo is pretty easy-going like me.**

 **Amy: Raphael. It's kind of obvious. *giggles, rubbing her neck***

 **Tails: Donatello is my favorite. I'd love to be able to invent great things like him one day.**

 **Sophia: We don't need a copy, we just need you, Tails.**

 **Tails: Thanks... *blushes in embarrassment at the praise.**

 **Sophia: Leonardo is my favorite. He's very honorable and brave. Reminds me of myself.**

 **Angel: Anyway, I think the question has been thoroughly addressed XD**

Dream lighting: Wow her dad is king of dramatics...good chapter both split from each other see how much her and Sonic have a close bond like siblings do a chapter where her and Chris have a bonding moment keep it up it's amazing

 **Angel: Well, after almost losing her to the Space Colony Ark once, it's understandable...plus, she did disappear for a while before her parents found her. And I might do one, but it would depend on what happens in the future. At least you didn't say that Sonic and Sophia are close like a couple, because I don't need that again. It's not gonna happen, people need to move on from that.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that the heroes stopped one of the Metarex in space, but then they had to rescue Sonic and Sophia from the jungle planet. Sonic finding another Chaos Emerald and Sophia being all right was good. The girls really stepped up with finding the planet egg and dealing with the Metarex monkey. In the end, even though Eggman took the emerald back, at least the heroes were reunited, the planet egg was returned, and the Metarex monkey was defeated. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the return of Vector and his crew.

 **Angel: And then more beef with the Metarex, Shadow reappearing, and Chris going home...oh, and Sophia's alien form. (8 more episodes, guys!)**

In Station Square, Chuck is talking to Lindsey and Nelson, as they still worry over their son who has still not returned. They haven't even gotten any news from him. "There's no doubt about it. Chris built this machine to teleport himself to Sonic and Sophia's world."

"Then let's use it to find him!" Nelson declares in determination.

"Unfortunately, Chris seems to have designed the machine so that nobody but him could be teleported."

"What?" Nelson murmurs in confusion.

"Can't you reprogram it?" Lindsey asks curiously, to which Chuck shakes his head no. She sobs in horror, hugging her husband. He hugs her back in comfort.

"There is one thing." She opens her eyes as Chuck steps up to the computer. "Even though we can't teleport ourselves, it seems we can use the machine to teleport material objects to Sonic's world."

They both beam at the thought of being able to show him how much they miss him. "Really?"

"Yes," Chuck nods with a smile.

* * *

Vanilla looks at the shrine where the Master Emerald was. "I wonder where Cream and the others are and how they're doing." She looks up to the sky, clasping her hands in hope. "I hope everything's okay...but I'm sure it'll be fine. After all, they have the king and queen, and their staff are doing a wonderful job of taking care of things around here."

When they announced that the three would all be gone on important business, their council immediately took action on making sure everyone had everything they needed. Right now, they're in a conference to look up everything they could on the Metarex in the past few years, as ordered by Valentina herself. She couldn't take any chances of not knowing what they're up to since Valtor is her deceased brother.

Suddenly, the spot where the Master Emerald was starts to glow to Vanilla's surprise. A whole bunch of boxes arrive and a baseball falls near her feet. She picks it up curiously as they don't usually have baseballs.

"This looks like-" A bunch of clothes fall on top of her and her head pops out of them, a little overwhelmed by all the items.

* * *

The phone rings, but Vector ignores it in the favor of snoozing. "Charmy, get the phone," He calls out with a yawn. The bee yawns as he flies from the ceiling to down below. He picks up the phone and drops it onto Vector's head as he's still sleepy.

"That's not what I meant!" He shouts in annoyance.

"You better answer before they hang up," Charmy tells him. He was no one's butler. And he did technically get the phone, didn't he?

"You little-!" Vector picks up the receiver, annoyed that he was woken up early. "I already told you the check's in the mail!"

"Vector, is that you?"

He screams at the voice of Vanilla. He couldn't believe he just shouted into the phone at her. "Cream's mother, how have you been?" He blushes in embarrassment...or maybe for another reason.

"I'm calling because I need your help," She smiles softly.

"My agency's at your service, ma'am!" He offers immediately.

"I'd like to explain the job to you in person."

"Sure, we'll come over right away!" The alligator blushes again at the thought of seeing her. He hangs up, grunting in pain when the receiver goes back in its spot. Charmy starts laughing at him and he glares at the bee. "What are you laughing at?"

Charmy immediately stops laughing and gets tears in his eyes. He starts bawling his eyes out and Vector puts the phone back on the desk.

"Hey, don't cry."

He stops crying at Vector's words. "Okay!"

"Now where's Espio?" Vector crosses his arms, his left leg over his right.

"He's right there," Charmy points to the corner, where Espio is meditating. Which means that he probably won't suspect anything...

"Get me the pepper mill!" Vector orders, holding out his hand.

"Sure boss," Charmy smiles at him. When he gives it to Vector, he sprinkles pepper over Espio's head, causing him to sneeze and lose focus. The two laugh at him as he stands up, shaking his head.

"Can't you buy an alarm clock?" He asks bitterly.

* * *

The three are staring with their mouths wide open at all of the things for Chris. Vanilla had packed the clothes in a box. "All of this suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Chris' family must've sent his belongings. He's travelling in space, with Cream, and I was hoping you could deliver these things for their ship. And please check on Cream, I've been worried about her."

"Don't worry, ma'am!" Vector exclaims with that same blush still on his cheeks. "We'll take care of it no problem."

"Vector," Espio speaks up.

"What's the matter?!" Vector exclaims at him, offended that he interrupted his time with Vanilla.

"We can't do this job."

"How come?"

"If you think we're cruising the galaxy without a ship, you're spaced out," Espio reminds him.

"Where can we get a ship?" Vector rubs his chin and suddenly a ship just happens to land behind them. They peek over the stone to see the ship, sent by Chuck since he knew that it could help.

"Looks like that problem's solved," Charmy comments as Vector sweats a bit. He wasn't expecting _that_ to happen.

"I hope you boys have a safe trip," Vanilla smiles at them.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the Blue Typhoon, Tails smiles at the sight of the stars. "It looks peaceful out there."

"No sign of any Metarex," Chris gives a thumbs up to Tails. Amy glances at them while sipping some tea Valentina made for her. She flips a page from her book. Valentina and Sophia are playing poker (one of the maids snuck a card pack into her bag), Valentina wearing a green visor.

"Hm...I'll call," Sophia places a chip on the ground.

"Oh, is that so?" Valentina shows her cards. "As a wise man once said 'read 'em and weep'!"

"A royal flush?!" Sophia's eyes widen in shock. "Mom, you wouldn't be deciding to cut me a break, would you?"

"If you cannot afford to pay, one should not play," Valentina smirks, dragging the pile of coins towards her. "Sucker."

Sophia groans in defeat as her mother laughs at her victory.

Cosmo and Cream look out the glass with the two Chaos. "It's nice to travel in space when you can take the time to stargaze!"

"They really are beautiful," Cosmo comments and Knuckles growls angrily all of a sudden, everyone staring at him.

"Why don't you move your king?" Sonic asks as they're playing chess, in which Knuckles doesn't know what to do... "Well, call me when you make your move. I'm gonna go for a run." He speeds around the ship and Knuckles grits his teeth, gasping when he sees a move he can make.

"That's check-huh?! Where'd Sonic go?!" He looks around as he was too busy focusing on his pieces to hear Sonic. He then sees the hedgehog speed by outside. "Hey, Sonic!" He runs outside while holding the board. "It's your move!"

Sonic ignores him and Knuckles holds up the game board. "You're not giving up, are ya?!"

The hedgehog skids to a stop and flies off the ship, scrambling to get back. He flies further away. "Sonic!"

Sonic wiggles around and then he's gone. "That's just great. Sonic can't get back, so somebody has to go after him!"

"Say what?!" Amy exclaims once she's told the news. "Sonic can't get back to the ship?"

"And he's getting farther away from us every second!" Knuckles elaborates. Amy screams, panicking as she waves her arms.

"We have to go rescue him now!"

"I know, but how will we get to him? Think of something fast before he's out of reach!"

She starts sweating as she worries about what could happen to Sonic, and she quickly forms a plan. "I got an idea, but first we need to find a rope."

* * *

They stand on the exterior of the ship, with Knuckles wearing a sort of backpack on him. "Hang in there, Sonic. I'm coming." The backpack is tied to a rope and he flies towards the hedgehog. While he's doing that, a glint appears and the others just stare at it.

"What's the matter?" Amy asks as she comes into the main room.

"We're being followed," Cream points to a red ship with a house on it?

"That ship will catch up to us soon," Cosmo notices how fast it's going.

"Who are they?" Amy turns to Chris.

"We can't be sure yet," He says skeptically.

"But they're probably Metarex," Tails voices his concerns.

"I don't think any Metarex would have a house on top of their ship," Sophia rubs her chin in thought. "And anyway, wouldn't they have attacked us already?"

"She's right, our sensors aren't picking up any weapons on the ship..." Chris looks at the schematics of the red ship.

"Do you know where Sonic and Knuckles are?" Cream looks up at Amy.

"Sonic slipped off the ship, so Knuckles had to take a rocket pack and go rescue him," She explains to everyone, Tails and Chris shouting in shock with their eyes popping out of their heads.

"Idiot," Sophia grunts, facepalming. Judging by that description, Sonic must've fell off the ship while running. Even she knew better than that.

"But we could've gone after him in the Blue Typhoon!" Tails protests, Amy sweating a bit. She was so worried about Sonic that she forgot about that possibility.

"Right now, we have to worry about getting this ship battle ready," Chris narrows his eyes. "That other ship is definitely trying to intercept us."

"What if they board our ship?" Cosmo asks in worry.

"I'm on it," Sophia runs out of the main room.

"Good luck, dear," Elliot waves at her.

"We'll be ready!" Tails declares in determination.

* * *

"I wish we knew how to use the ship's communicator," Vector laments as they're unaware of the Blue Typhoon's approaching attack. "I guess we'll just have to surprise them!"

Charmy is eating chips with a sparkle in his eye. "Want a chip?"

"Stay out of those boxes," Espio warns him.

"Espio's right! We was hired to deliver that stuff, not devour it!" Vector scolds as they arrive at the ship. He parks it near the wings. "I'm gonna go let 'em know we're here."

He enters through a side entrance, looking around. "Which way's the bridge?" He sees a sign pointing to a door. "Must be that way."

Behind the door are the others, with various weapons prepared in their hands. Sophia had planted the sign, and now they wait. The princess punches her knuckles together, ready to fight in case her friends couldn't handle them.

"Alright, everybody get ready."

They all nod in unison as Chris turns off the lights. "Hello?" Vector knocks first before doing anything else. "Anybody there?" The door opens. "I've come to-"

He gets dragged inside by Chris and they immediately start beating him up. When he comes back to his friends, he falls to the ground with a big bruise on his head and a few bandages. "I haven't got this beat up since the time we staked out that shark tank!"

"Really?" Espio asks curiously as they stare at him.

"You mean those guys attacked ya?!" Charmy exclaims in shock.

"I think it would be better if _I_ handle this," Espio brings his hands together, turning himself invisible.

* * *

"What a mess," Amy is painting the wall. "It's lucky that Metarex didn't get past us, or it could've wrecked the whole ship!"

"Are we sure it was a Metarex?" Sophia frowns in concern while holding the paint. "If it was, it didn't even try to fight back."

"That's because we're so strong he ran away!" Amy winks at her. The door suddenly opens and some paint accidentally gets onto Espio's horn. They both gasp, looking closer. Amy then paints on him some more to see his face.

"Uh oh."

They both scream in fear and the others come immediately. "Girls?"

"What's going on?" Chris asks as there seems to be nothing.

"L-Look!" Amy points forward to see Espio trying to escape.

"It's an invisible Metarex!" Tails exclaims at him.

"Since when could a Metarex do that?" Sophia asks in confusion, Valentina shrugging. She wouldn't know anything until she got the report from the council.

"Let's get it!" Chris declares and Sophia holds them back.

"I'll handle this." She speeds in front of Espio and he comes to a stop. Sophia jumps past him, smacking him to the ground with her hand. He groans and stands up. Sophia hits him several times in the chest and stands in front of the others, smacking him from behind and making him crash into the wall. She sweeps her hands, thinking to herself how easy it was to defeat him...

* * *

"I'm in pain." Espio stands in front of the injured Vector and the bee. He pants in fear. "The princess is frightfully strong."

"Looks like you're in pain too," Vector sees all the bandages on him.

"I can't believe I was discovered so easily!" Espio falls onto his knees. "I'm so humiliated, I wish I could disappear. I got defeated by the princess..." Normally, he could consider that an honor, but to be beaten by a girl so easily? Not honorable in the slightest. He couldn't have this! He'll get a reputation if anyone else found out.

"Maybe they'll listen to me, Vector!" Charmy raises a hand.

"You sure?" After the last two attempts, he wasn't sure if the third time was the charm.

"I won't let you down!"

"Just be sure to protect yourself, Charmy, it's dangerous in there," Vector warns him.

"I know!" Charmy puts on a hard hat.

* * *

"Snack time, everybody," Cream arrives with a pitcher while Cosmo and Valentina come in with trays of cake.

"We've got tea and cake!"

"Wow, perfect timing. I was just starting to get hungry!" Chris smiles at them.

"This looks delicious!" Tails exclaims as Cheese hands him a slice. It has strawberries and blueberries on top, with whipped cream around the strawberry and vanilla icing. "What kind of cake is it?"

"I call it Cream Strawberry Cream Cake!" Cream exclaims, holding out a plate to Chris. "I made it myself!"

"I thought that we made Cream the chef of the ship!" Amy smiles, holding a cup of tea.

"She can make cake for every meal," Cosmo comments and they all laugh at the joke.

"Did somebody say cake?" Charmy appears behind her, wearing ridiculous armor and holding a shield.

"It's a Metarex!" Chris exclaims in panic.

"Let's get it!" Tails shouts and they all agree except for Sophia and her parents. She sighs, pinching her nose and sitting in her seat.

"Charge!" They all beat up the bee, with the royal family just watching while sipping tea. Sophia would've told them it wasn't a Metarex, but with their paranoia, they were better off learning later...besides, their embarrassment will be worth it.

* * *

"It's totally unfair!" A bandaged Charmy exclaims to his friends when he returns. "We came in peace and got torn to pieces!"

"Yeah, we flew across the galaxy to help these guys. I didn't expect a party, but they didn't have to treat us like pinatas!" Vector shouts in rage.

"They are most ungrateful, but I will not step quietly through the door of defeat!" Espio declares, holding his sprained arm.

"I say we head for home pronto," Charmy suggests with a smile.

"We ain't gonna give up yet, Charmy!" He promised Vanilla that they would deliver these items, and that's exactly what they're gonna do. "The reputation of our agency is at stake and we're gonna do the job we was hired to do! We're gonna board this ship again, and this time, we'll succeed cuz I'm totally fired up!" Fire literally appears around him after his speech. "And, while I'm getting warmed up, let's go cool off and think of a strategy. I mean, there's no rush or anything, right?"

Espio and Charmy stare after him in confusion. "Come on, let's take a coffee break!"

* * *

Chris finishes the last of his cake, noticing something outside the window. "Do you see something?" Tails asks him, holding his tea. Chris can see the red ship outside leaving.

"Looks like the Metarex are taking off."

"They're escaping?!" Tails asks in shock. "Don't worry, I'll go stop 'em in the X Tornado!"

"Uh, you're really gonna go after them all by yourself?" Chris questions in concern.

"I think I speak for myself and my parents when I say that we should leave them alone," Sophia crosses her arms. "They've been through enough."

"Relax, you said it yourself that ship doesn't have any weapons on it," Amy calls out, Sophia dragging a hand down her face.

"That's right!" Tails grins at his advantage.

"I guess if they're retreating, they can't be very tough," Chris agrees with him.

"Or perhaps they are not Metarex," Valentina speaks up. "You are too quick on judgement."

"What?!" Chris and Tails exclaim in defense.

"They came onto our ship!"

"Three times!"

"That may be true, but since when could a Metarex turn invisible, knock on a door first, or be so small?" Elliot crosses his arms. "I do not know who they are, but they are not Metarex."

"I'm gonna stop them and you'll thank us later!" Tails runs off to the hangar. Elliot sighs, turning to his girls. They hold up their hands slowly, sitting down, meaning that Tails was on his own and they were gonna stop trying to see reason.

As the ship leaves, Vector lets out a sneeze. "You know, my snout's starting to feel kind of stuffed up. I wonder if I'm getting a cold."

Espio shrugs at Charmy. "Maybe you're just allergic to space," Charmy suggests, to which Vector sneezes again.

The X Tornado comes to a stop and the duct moves over to the pilot seat. Tails lands in the pilot's seat. "All systems ready! Now let's go!"

The plane starts to move forward to the passage and is lifted up into the air. The landing gear deploys. "Catapult is set! Take off!" He pulls on the levers and the plane takes off into the sky, following after the 'Metarex' ship. "Hang on a minute, that little rickety house looks familiar! It couldn't be..."

He decides to have a closer look, coming to a stop above the house. He can faintly see them inside. "Hey, it's okay, you guys! We didn't know it was you! ...Wow, I owe the whole royal family an apology."

"Looks like he wants to negotiate. Should we talk?" Vector glances at Espio.

"It's probably just some sort of ruse."

"Espio's right, I bet they're trying to trick us!" Charmy comments.

"Nobody tricks me! Hold onto your seats, boys, we're gonna shake this turkey! Here we go!" Vector takes off, leaving Tails behind.

"They're too fast," He frowns a bit. "I'll never be able to catch them in the X Tornado." He calls Chris to let him know.

"I saw everything. Looks like that ship's gonna be harder to stop than you thought."

"Yeah, you'll have to catch 'em in the Blue Typhoon after all," Tails rubs his head sheepishly.

"Will do!" Chris smiles at him.

"Once you catch up to 'em, try grabbing onto the hull of their ship with the mechanical claw!"

"I've been wanting to use that! Hold on, everybody, we're gonna pull a quick 180!" Chris turns the Blue Typhoon around. "Let's catch those Metarex!"

"Mm," The royal family say nothing this time.

"Uh, correction, Chris, that isn't a Metarex ship after all," Tails informs him.

"Then who are they?"

"Ah!" Charmy sees something on the screen.

"What is it, Charmy?"

He looks up at Vector. "It looks like they're trying to chase us down."

"No way!" Vector shouts in disbelief.

"See?" Charmy looks at a tiny red blip. Espio's mouth opens in shock.

"Well, uh, I'll bust this bucket space craft and try to escape even if I have to!"

"Vector, no!" Espio warns him, and when Vector uses the rockets, the ship goes out of control, spinning around. "Slow down, Vector!"

"No, speed it up!" Charmy smiles, reveling in the speed. He opens his eyes as they suddenly stop spinning.

"We stopped..."

"I didn't do it!" Vector protests, leaving them confused.

"So then...how'd we stop?"

It turns out that the Blue Typoon has caught up to them. "I've completed the capture, Tails. I'm bringing the ship in."

"It's Vector, Espio, and Charmy," Tails explains, the trio not happy about the situation. "Their radio must be broken or something."

"Huh?" Amy puts down her cup of tea. "You mean it wasn't a Metarex?"

Chris chuckles nervously as Amy sweatdrops in embarrassment. "We're really sorry, your highnesses, for not listening..."

"I don't think it's us you should be apologizing too..." Sophia tells him.

* * *

He bows his head when the trio are on the ship. "We're sorry, you guys."

"Sorry," The others say in unison. The three stare at them, glancing at the royal family, who nod at the same time. This was really happening.

"At least it's all settled now."

"We forgive you," Charmy smiles with his eyes closed.

"It was just a misunderstanding. Let bygones be bygones...however," He turns to Sophia, holding out his hand. "You fought honorably, princess. I hope one day we can have a rematch."

"Sure," She smiles a bit, shaking his hand.

"Why don't you help us unload the stuff Chris' family sent for him?" Vector gestures to the cargo bay. And so, they all help out by putting everything inside, with Charmy having a pulley somehow, to his teammate's shock since they're carrying things.

Chris takes the second-to-last box, looking up at the ship. "They sure went to a lot of trouble..."

"And you sure showed poor judgement," Sophia crosses her arms as she walks up to him. He laughs sheepishly at their earlier mistakes.

"Yeah...still not proud of that!"

Vector places down the last box in Chris' room. "I think that's everything."

"Thanks Vector, I'll do all the unpacking and stuff myself."

"Great," Vector leaves the room, the door closing behind him. Chris looks at all the boxes. _Grandpa must've found a way to teleport these things from home. I'm sure Mom and Dad are worried about me. They don't even know if I made it here okay...I wish I could a find a way to tell 'em I'm alright..._

* * *

The Chaotix start walking to the ship, prepared to go back. "Hey!" They turn around to see Cream, Amy, and Sophia running up to them. "Wait, you guys! Come have some tea."

"We got cake, too!" Cream adds in and they smile.

"It's their way of saying sorry, since I didn't think you were Metarex to begin with," Sophia gestures to them.

"Alright! Cake!" Charmy cheers, Espio placing him back on the ground.

"What Charmy means to say is we must be leaving."

"Hang on, Espio," Vector places a hand in front of him. "These folks are offering us their hospitality. We don't wanna be rude, do we? It's impolite to refuse a princess' request," He laughs, showing drool coming from his mouth.

* * *

"Vector, would you like thirds?" Cream asks politely as Vector licks his lips.

"You bet!"

Cosmo pours some tea for him. "By the way, Cream."

"Yes Vector?" She places down a slice of cake for him.

"Creamy, I hope you'll forgive me if I sound just like a nosy old croc," He starts off, confusing her. "But are you sure you should be playing around in space?"

"I'm not playing around," She narrows her eyes at him. "I'm helping save the universe!"

"I don't think you realize what's at stake here, Vector," Cosmo defends as she walks past Cream. "We're on a mission to stop the Metarex. It's serious business. The royal family of Cream's home are their archenemies who destroyed their former planet under Sophia's uncle's rule."

"Whoa, really?" Charmy asks in shock.

"Maybe, but I think Cream's mother wants Cream to come home," Vector argues.

"My mother doesn't want that! She trusts me, because she knows that I'm here to help my friends! Come on, Cosmo," Cream storms off and Cosmo silently follows her.

"Why did you say that, Vector? Cream's mother didn't tell us to bring the girl home," Espio speaks up. "She told us to check on her."

"Yeah, that's what she told us, but she was trying to be strong. She was really thinking 'I'm so worried about my little baby, you've gotta save her, Vector! She's too young to be out there all alone'!"

"Hold on!" Espio points a finger at him. "Cream's mother never said that."

"She thought it and I'm a detective," Vector rubs his snout proudly. "So I detected it."

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of delusional thinking with Vector!" Charmy announces, flinging around the plate and spoon.

"We're taking Cream with us!" Vector declares, hands on his hips.

"But Vector-"

"No buts about it. I made a solemn promise to Cream's mom and I ain't going back on my word!" He holds his snout up high.

"You never made any promise," Espio stands up on the table, trying not to hit Vector his stubbornness and stupidity.

"I made a promise, you just didn't hear it!"

Espio groans at him, holding his head. "Cause I made it from the bottom of my heart!"

 _This is hopeless! I can't argue with someone who refuses to make sense!_

"I'm tossing Cream into this bag," Vector holds up a sack out of nowhere. "And then we're gone!"

"Just look at him go, ladies and gentlemen! He's out of control!" Charmy cheers while dancing around still, "There's no stopping him!"

* * *

Chris is searching for any energy signatures from Chaos Emeralds, but there doesn't seem to be any. "It doesn't look like we're gonna find any Chaos Emeralds around here..."

"I agree," They look at a three-dimensional map. "Since there aren't many planets around here, the Emeralds wouldn't be drawn this way," Tails explains, none of them noticing Vector sneaking into the room.

"Why's that, Tails?" Amy asks curiously.

"Chaos Emeralds are attracted by the gravitational fields around planets." Cream looks up at Vector, who acts casually around her.

"I see," He agrees and Cream looks back up at the map.

"I think we better search someplace else," Chris suggests just as Vector puts the sack over Cream and Cheese.

"Time for us to skedaddle, folks," Vector waves to them. Sophia raises an eyebrow in confusion, wondering where the sack came from...

"You sure you don't wanna travel with us a little?" Chris offers, Amy smiling.

"We can use all the help we can get battling the Metarex," Amy tells them. "Valentina and Elliot have given us some good information, but we need a way to defeat them."

"We will fight with you in spirit," Espio replies.

"That won't do us much good," She comments and Vector starts to leave.

"Keep up the good work! The galaxy appreciates your heroic efforts!"

"Catch ya later!" Charmy calls out.

Sophia stares after them. _Huh...Vector is a good guy, but he's never said that to us before...and I have a bad feeling about what's in that bag..._

The ship takes off and they stare. "Well that was fun..." Chris murmurs at how quickly they left.

"Hey, where did Cream and Cheese go?" Amy notices that they're not there and Tails turns around.

"Cosmo was here too, wasn't she?"

"They were here until Vector and his gang showed up to say goodbye," Chris explains and Sophia looks out to the sky.

"Wait, so they just happened to disappear just as Vector and the others came? Guys, this is bad."

* * *

Vector pulls out an angry Cream, placing her down in front of him. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"You're going back to your mama," Vector tells her in an authoritative tone.

"And I am too?" Cosmo asks as she reveals herself.

"How'd you get in there?!" Vector's eyes widen in shock.

"You didn't think I was just going to let you take Cream, did you?" She asks as she flies back a bit. "Well, I'm not going to."

"This don't have nothing to do with you, missy!" Vector tries to grab her, but she jumps out of the way. "No stowaways allowed on this ship!" He tries again, but she moves out of the way again.

"You are taking me back, and taking Cream too," She tells him sternly. He tries jumping again, but every time, she dodges him. Cream and Cheese cheer for her.

"Give it to him, Cosmo!"

"Over here, Vector," Cosmo waves her hands as she flies over to Charmy's station.

"I wanna play too!" Charmy smiles and Vector bumps into the metal. "Maybe not..."

"Well don't you just-" Charmy looks up and Vector follows his gaze. "What is it?"

"We've got company!" Charmy yells as the Blue Typhoon comes back, reaching out to their ship.

"I'll handle it this time," Espio jumps into the air, disappearing. He appears on the top of the ship and flings shuriken at the claws. At first, they seem to do nothing. _One, two...three._

They explode, and Espio gasps in shock. It did damage the claws, but it also did damage to the house on top... "Well, that kind of worked."

"They just broke the ship's claw," Chris turns to Amy and Tails.

"But there's gotta be some way to catch him. We can't let him get away with Cosmo, Cream, and Cheese," Amy replies and Tails thinks of one idea.

"Let me try to get the backup claw working..."

"What's the point, they're just gonna destroy it again," Sophia gestures to outside. "We need someone to get in there and get our friends back themselves..."

"You are not saying that you-"

"Yes, Father," Sophia interrupts, narrowing her eyes. "If Vector thinks he can do things his own way, then so can I. I'll be careful; you know me."

Valentina glances at Elliot and he sighs in defeat. "You may go."

* * *

"I thought I was gonna run out of room," Knuckles says as he's finally found Sonic.

"Thanks a bunch, Knuckles," Sonic takes the pack from him and puts it on. "Gotta fly." He flies past Knuckles. "I'll see ya back at the ship!"

"Uh, Sonic!" Knuckles calls out to him.

* * *

Sophia has just about made it to the back entrance of the Blue Typhoon. "So can you get it to work?" Amy asks as she and Chris peek over to Tails.

"I think, but it'll take a little ingenuity on Chris' part."

"No problem," Chris gives a thumbs up and Sonic suddenly arrives, knocking on the glass. "Sonic!"

"We were worried about you," Tails says in relief.

"Think you can help Sophia catch a ship while you're out there?" Amy asks and he gives a look of confusion. "Vector took Cosmo, Cream, and Cheese."

Sonic narrows his eyes, determined to put a stop to this.

"Come on, give me more speed!" Vector orders as they're barely moving. Charmy and Espio do all the can to fix the repairs, none of them noticing Sonic and Sophia flying to them. The two look up as the two land on the roof and break into the room. Cream, Cheese, and Cosmo smile at him.

"You made it!"

"I don't know what this is about, but Cream and the others are coming with us!" Sonic declares, Vector standing up.

"I don't wanna fight ya, Sonic or your highness, but I said I'd bring little Cream back home to her mama and nobody's gonna stop me!" Vector says as Espio and Charmy land next to him.

"Let her go, or you'll be sorry," Sonic threatens, hands on his hips.

"Vector, can't you see this is crazy?! You had no right to take them away!" Sophia yells at him in anger.

"Oh, yeah? It's lucky for you that you're blue and pink because nobody's gonna notice your bruises when I'm done whooping ya! Now put up your dukes!"

They recoil back in shock as Vector lunges towards them for a punch. They jump out of the way, landing on the ceiling.

"Is this what you meant to do?" They ask in unison, falling towards Vector and kicking him to the ground.

"There's plenty more where that came from!" Sonic looks down at him.

"Will you please stop fighting?" Cosmo asks them. "Don't you understand? Only one of us can decide what Cream should do."

"Cosmo's right. Cream's mom may worry about her and want her to come home," Chris lands inside the ship wearing a space suit. "And we may want her to keep traveling with us. But we don't get to choose what Cream does. Only Cream can decide that."

"Exactly," Sophia steps up to him. "And what would Vanilla say if she found out you technically kidnapped her daughter?"

"Sorry kids, but you know how parents are," Vector stands up.

"Believe me, Vector, I do, but still," Chris replies, Sophia huffing at being called a kid.

"No matter what you believe Cream's mom wants, you can't make decisions for someone else. It's wrong," Sophia narrows her eyes at him. "And someday, you're gonna want Cream's forgiveness, you know."

"So what's it gonna be, Cream?" Sonic turns to her and she closes her eyes.

"I wanna stay here and help cuz it's important to me. I'm sure my mom's worried, but I also think she trusts me to do the right thing."

Vector sighs at her decision, turning around. "Espio, Charmy, we're outta here. Our mission has been accomplished, guys."

"Huh? Aren't we supposed to take Cream?" Charmy asks in confusion.

"We were sent to make sure Cream was okay, and that's what we've done," Vector says to everyone's relief. "Oh, and, uh, I'm sorry that I took extreme action, your highness and for the...kid thing."

She says nothing as Cream and Cosmo climb after Chris. "Hey Cream?"

"Yeah?" She turns to him.

"Be sure to drop your mother a line from time to time."

"I will!" She smiles at him and Charmy snaps a photo, giggling.

"Girls, get onto the ship," Sophia tells them, the Chaotix sweating nervously. "I'll be there soon."

"Okay!" Cream chirps and Sophia takes a deep breath.

"You made a rash decision, boys, and didn't think of the consequences. I only hope that one day, you'll look back on this and remember this lesson: We are allowed to make our own choices, no matter who disagrees. Cream's mom surely didn't tell you to snatch Cream like this and take off, because she knows that Cream is safe."

"Yes, your highness," They bow in shame.

"Good," She's about to climb on and the three sigh in relief.

"We got off scot-free..." Charmy murmurs to himself and Sophia comes to a stop, grinning.

"Not really."

In a matter of seconds, she beats them up, leaving them groaning. "Shame on you for taking matters into your own hands, and for you two letting him do it! Good day, sirs," She curtsies and climbs up the ladder. She knew that some might find it a little overboard, but Cream deserved it. While the three can be a bit dense, she didn't think they'd stoop that far...

* * *

At Vanilla's house, the fax machine beeps. "What could that be?" She looks at the gift and smiles to see a smiling Cream. "I miss you, Cream, but I know you're doing something important..."

"No Chaos Emeralds in this area," Decoe reports to Eggman as they're somewhere far away from the two ships. Rouge breaks into a room, walking up to something.

"Why's that capsule here?" She looks around and gets a déjà vu vibe... _No...it couldn't be..._

The capsule is similar to one Eggman knew all too well...


	60. Trick Sand

**Angel: Hi everyone! Only 18 episodes left until the end of this series...can't say I'll miss it XD Anyway, tomorrow's my birthday! YAAAAAAAS! Can't wait to be another year older!**

Trent Gaines: Damn! You hardcore! XD

 **Sophia: *shrugs with a smile* I try.**

Crazycartoons5488: It's Shadow he alive.

 **Angel: It's he's. And yup, pretty much.**

Dream lighting: It's Shadow found this episode not the best was funny they're grovelling to Sophia ha though writing a TMNT story not many around looking forward to the Batman crossover too using the original 2003 version yes love the sonic book big time.

 **Angel: I've seen that the movie is on a website I use to watch episodes, but I haven't had the time to watch it yet. And I've heard that the turtles aren't really modeled after any incarnations we've seen, the movie turtles have their own design. But thank you!**

Bajy: Looking forward to reading more soon and great job here.

 **Angel: Thank you!**

Johanvvanguard: It's nice that the Chaotix tried to get Chris' stuff to the heroes' ship and to check on Cream for her mother's sake. Too bad that the heroes mistook the Chaotix for Metarex and attacked them for no reason. Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, it's terrible that Vector decided to take Cream back to her mother instead. Thanks to the wise words of Cosmo and Chris, Cream stayed with her friends and let her mother know everything was okay. It looks like Rouge just found the missing Shadow. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the planet Hobidon.

 **Angel: Why do the Chaotix keep getting beat up whenever they meet them? I don't understand that XD You'd think they'd learn after last time...**

Challishanlon99: I'm sorry for asking so many questions but I have to just say to them Sonic Knuckles you guys know how to play chess?! So Amy why do you really like Raphael is it because when somebody makes him mad that he just wants to hurt somebody or is there something else and if there is who do you like more Sonic or Raphael? (sorry for asking Sonic maybe it'll get her off your back) And Tails I have a pretty cool question to ask you how is it that you guys aren't floating in the spaceship I forgot the name of your spaceship sorry anyway I just thought I ask and please be careful you guys and Cream, Cheese, Cosmo, I think you guys are pretty brave and you're the greatest at fighting too just like the others I have a saying even though you may be small never ever judge a person by how small they are cuz they're just as strong and as smart as anyone else in the world or universe. Good luck you guys.

 **Knuckles: Hey! I can play chess! What was that supposed to mean?**

 **Angel: Let's move on before he gets angry ^^'**

 **Amy: I guess I like him for his fighting spirit. He never backs down from a fight unless it's absolute necessary! And he may not admit it, but he is kind of a softie. But I'll always choose Sonic!**

 **Tails: Uh, we don't have any problems with gravity on the ship as far as I'm concerned...and it's the Blue Typhoon! *winks***

 **Cream and Cosmo: Thank you!**

 **Cheese: Chao Chao!**

On the Blue Typhoon, the ship flies through the stars, a red Chaos Emerald showing a certain black hedgehog. "Shadow..."

" _It's useless. I made a promise to Maria and Sophia, and I'm keeping it."_

" _Shadow, getting revenge won't bring Maria back, or get Sophia to really remember what happened."_

" _So what?" He narrowed his eyes._

" _There's still time to stop this, Shadow," Chris tried walking over to him. "Please, you have to listen to me!"_

 _Super Shadow, Super Sonic, and Super Sophia all worked together, Super Shadow struggling to hold on._

" _You can do it, Sonic and Sophia!"_

" _Give it all you've got, Shadow!"_

" _If you all fail, the entire planet will be destroyed!"_

" _Tough it out, you guys!"_

 _As they continued holding back, Super Shadow heard two voices. "Shadow..." He suddenly remembered Maria and the younger Sophia. "These people need you, Shadow..." He narrowed his eyes in determination._

" _I am Shadow!" A yellow aura appeared around him. "Shadow the Hedgehog!" His rings came off his wrists and his aura grew brighter. "You ready?"_

" _You bet!" The other two answered. "Here we go!"_

 _They both started glowing like Shadow and a bright light grew larger._

" _CHAOS!"_

" _CONTROL!"_

 _All three of them pointed their hands at the Space Colony ARK, chaos energy coming from them. Together, they saved the world._

 _Sonic held out Shadow's ring to Chris, who shed a single tear onto it._

Chris lays asleep in his bed while some red blinking lights come from the wall next to him. He wakes up at the emergency alarm and sits up, pressing a button onto the intercom. "What's going on, Tails?"

"Chris, come to the bridge right away! I think we found another one!" Tails exclaims in excitement.

"Okay. I'll be right there." After a few seconds, he holds his head, recalling the dream he just had. "Man, that sure was a weird dream." He glances to the ring he kept next to the photo of him and his parents. He takes it and sits up, looking at it forlornly. Sophia says that she's still alive...but where could he be? She searched everywhere on Earth and she couldn't find him anywhere...was he really gone?

* * *

"Hey Chris," Tails turns to the boy as he enters the room. "It's coming from-huh?"

Chris says nothing as he walks by, confusing him and Sonic. He sits in his spot, Sonic and Sophia walking up to him. "What's up, buddy? You don't look so good."

"Is it about the Metarex?" Sophia asks in concern.

"Huh? Uh..." He turns to them, not sure of what to say. "I don't look good?"

"You're all sweaty," Sonic points to his face, something Chris hadn't noticed until now.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Weird nightmare," He wipes the sweat off his forehead.

"Well, good thing it's over," Sonic smiles at him.

" _Sophia..."_

"Hm?" Sophia lifts her head up in alarm at the voice. That sounded like...

"What's up, princess?" Sonic asks her and she shakes her head.

"I...thought I heard something." She decides to keep this silent for now...she had no idea if she was just hearing things or if it really meant something...

* * *

On Eggman's ship, Rouge opens a door and looks around curiously. She sees the capsule she saw before. "Let's see...ah." She notices a red Chaos Emerald at the top of it, which seems to power the capsule. "How pretty. I couldn't possibly resist." She goes up to snatch it and an alarm goes off.

"Ah! I take that back."

"The alarm! The alarm!" Decoe sits up in shock.

"Intruder in the secret laboratory!" Bokkun announces and the two robots run around in panic.

Rouge flies back onto the ground, seeing something in the capsule.

Shadow.

He looks to be asleep as he doesn't open his eyes. "Shadow? What in the world's he doing here? I haven't seen him since he-"

"Well, if it isn't my old friend Rouge."

She gasps at the voice, turning around to see an angry Eggman. "I see you've stumbled upon my shadow little secret," He bends down to the capsule as she looks away.

"And here I thought I was the sneaky one. What are you up to, anyway?"

"You will find out all in good time, you sly little spy, but not until I'm good and ready," He turns off the alarm. "Out!"

"I'll say this for you, Eggy," She starts off as she walks to the entrance. "You sure know how to keep a gal in suspense." She waits for him outside and he locks the door.

"Dr. Eggman!" Decoe and Bocoe arrive.

"There is an intruder onboard!"

Bokkun notices Rouge and yelps, hiding behind Bocoe. "It's her, doctor! She is the intruder!" Decoe points to her accusingly.

"Ridiculous," Eggman glances at her. Rouge looks up at him curiously, wondering why he didn't rat her out. "Rouge is a member of our team. She is our guest."

Bocoe and Decoe look to each other in confusion while Bokkun looks on in dismay. If that's true, then his spying days are going to be out in the open sooner than later...

"From now on, it's all about teamwork, right fellas?" She smirks at the trio. She bends down to Bokkun. "Bokky knows about teamwork, doesn't he?" She scratches his nose and he says nothing out of fear.

* * *

The Blue Typhoon phases through a wormhole.

"The ship scanner isn't showing any signs of life below," Chris reports as they're nearing a planet. "Maybe the Metarex took this planet egg away too."

"Wow, if this keeps happening, there'll be no planets left anywhere in the galaxy!" Tails exclaims, "We've gotta stop 'em somehow and fast!"

"You're right," Chris agrees with him and they stare at the environment. It looks abandoned and dark...so no one really is there...

"The Chaos Emerald is somewhere up ahead in those ruins," He reports.

"Those ruins are part of Planet Hobidon," Elliot speaks up, staring at the ruins sadly. "It was home to creatures such as yourselves...the Metarex...must have destroyed them." Everyone sits in silence for a few moments, in memory of the planet. Sophia places a hand on her heart. A whole planet...just gone like that. They were too late...

"It should not be hard to find the emerald."

"Yeah, but where exactly?" Chris asks curiously.

"There's only one way to find out," Tails replies.

"This'll be a cinch. All we have to do is split into two groups. I'll go with Sonic!" Amy holds up a finger.

"Why do you always get to go with Sonic?" Tails complains with a frown.

"I'll tell you why! Throughout history behind every great hero, there's a great woman guiding him!"

"Really?" Tails asks in confusion, looking at Sonic and Sophia. They just shrug at him.

"How do you think my parents came to be?" Sophia smiles at them and they smile back.

"We'll use our com links to stay in contact," Chris says as he's standing with Cosmo and Valentina. Sophia and Elliot are with Knuckles, Amy, and Sonic. Knuckles groans in embarrassment as Elliot is giving him an intense stare. He insisted on coming with Sophia as a witness if Knuckles showed any signs of 'betrayal.' She thought it was dumb, but her father was the king...

"Why did you have to tag along, anyway?" Amy places her hands on her hips at the trio. She wanted to be alone with Sonic... "Sonic and I can do just fine on our own, thank you very much. You're just excess baggage!"

"This wasn't my idea," Knuckles informs her. "You're no picnic either, you know."

"Amy, first off, we all know that you wanted to be alone with Sonic," Sophia steps in between them. "And second, if it wasn't for the fact that you're my friend, I'd be offended by your lack of respect towards us," She gestures to her father and Knuckles. "And third, you'll have plenty of time to spend time together on the ship, so let's just go, respect each other, and move on!" She points angrily up ahead and takes the lead, surprising everyone.

"Oh wow..." Amy murmurs, blinking. "I didn't realize...I'm really sorry, your highness," She looks up at Elliot.

"It is not your fault," He places a hand on her shoulder. "She is a little uncomfortable with the circumstances of this world."

"She's right," Amy frowns a little. "Let's go." She pulls Sonic along with her.

* * *

"Looks like this was some kind of space colony," Chris notices the architecture of the ruins.

"Until the Metarex came," Cosmo looks up at him.

"I guess so. I wonder how long it's been deserted."

"From the look of things...I would say for a very long time." Valentina gestures to moss that's still growing. "Moss usually grows within 3 weeks, and by the look of it, many of it is here..."

None of them notice someone watching...

* * *

"Amy, have you checked inside that old castle yet?" Tails asks from the ship. He stayed behind with Cream and the two Chao. "According to my scanner, the Chaos energy is much stronger in there. I think you should make that the first place you look."

"He's right. The energy levels here are high. It's affecting my ring bracelets," Sophia holds up her arms to show her rings glowing.

"Good idea, guys. We're heading in now," Amy says as they walk in. Suddenly it starts to get foggy and creepy feeling. Sonic looks around uneasily.

"Amy, you getting a reading?" Knuckles asks after a few seconds.

"No, Knuckles. I'm looking at my wrist for the fun of it," Amy replies sarcastically, still a little bitter that the others had to come.

"Just a simple question," Knuckles whispers to the others with a shrug.

"Just drop it," Sonic advises him. "All women can be hard to read."

Amy and Sophia come to a stop, looking back at him with a glare. Elliot covers his mouth, smiling sheepishly.

"What was that he said?" Valentina asks, unamused as she's speaking into her own comlink.

"Nothing, sweethearts," He smiles widely at his daughter. "Let us move along!"

They arrive at a staircase as weird noises can be heard throughout the hallway. The group look around in confusion, wondering where it's coming from. A large eye acts as a lamp from above and they look up to see nothing there.

"...Let's see here," Amy looks at both staircases. "My accurate instincts are telling me this is the right place to start!" She goes to the left, Sophia running after her. The boys follow after them and they look down a dark hallway. The five walk in line, with Sophia behind Amy, Sonic behind her, Knuckles behind him, and Elliot behind Knuckles. They stop at a door. "Let's see if this opens..."

They enter what looks to be a bedroom, judging by the bed and vanity. Amy looks down at her comlink, which shows that the emerald is through the door that's in front of her. She opens the closet, gasping as she looks at the barren room, with nothing even close to an emerald being present.

"Huh?! Why would it lead us to an empty room?" She asks in confusion.

"Well?" Sonic wonders as the others enter. She looks at the comlink, which shows that the emerald seems to be moving...?

"That Chaos Emerald is moving!" Knuckles exclaims and Sophia rubs her chin.

"Either it has a mind of its own...or someone-"

There's suddenly a bright light, causing Amy to hug Sonic in fear.

"What?" Elliot demands as they look around. Knuckles punches the door open.

"What is this?" He is baffled as they're in another room, and not the one they just entered.

"I'm not so sure I really wanna know," Amy frowns uncertainly.

"How is this possible? Did we teleport?" Sophia murmurs as she tries to think of a plausible explanation, but there is none.

"Don't just stand there, check the scanner!" Knuckles says to Amy. She gasps in realization and looks at it, but there's an error.

"It disappeared!" The hedgehogs' eyes go wide.

"But that's impossible!" Amy cringes and Sonic sweats a bit. He glances at the room they're in.

"Unless..."

"It's some kind of trap," Knuckles finishes for him.

"But this place has been abandoned for what seems like forever. Why would there be a trap if there was no one here besides us?" Sophia asks in thought.

"Well, we'll never know until we find out," Sonic chuckles as he steps up to the middle, followed by the others. He opens a door and something seems to be shimmering at the end of the hall. Sophia squints her eyes at it.

"I don't like this," Amy voices her concerns. Sonic silently steps forward to her worry. "Don't you think we should send Knuckles in first?"

Sophia rolls her eyes and Knuckles just shrugs again. The other three follow after them.

* * *

Chris, Valentina, and Cosmo are in a dark engine room, the boy looking around with his flashlight. "This must've been the center of the colony's operations."

"I'll see if I can find anything over here," Cosmo starts to walk off, but she trips, dropping her flashlight. She peeks over to see her flashlight on the machine. "That was clumsy. I'll go get it."

She flies down safely and grabs the flashlight. "There we go."

"You alright down there, Cosmo?" Chris calls out to her.

"Yes," She smiles up at him. "Everything's okay." She accidentally presses a button from the control panel, activating a screen. She blinks in confusion and the other two look up in interest.

The five walk down the hallway silently, trying to follow the shimmering lights. It looks to be a mirror. "Just as I thought! They're trying to confuse us!" Amy exclaims knowingly, even though she didn't know. "But it won't work!" She stares at the mirror right in the eye. "Uh huh. Uh-" She places a hand on the mirror and suddenly disappears through a secret entrance.

"Amy!" Sonic shouts as they break through the mirror, falling down with the broken glass. Knuckles grabs Sophia and Elliot and they land safely, the echidna putting them down gently.

"Thank you, Knuckles," Elliot blinks in surprise.

"No problem," He gives them a thumbs up. Elliot stares at him while he's not looking.

 _Perhaps Knuckles can be trusted a little more..._

Sonic sits up, only to be hugged by Amy. "Somebody's playing with us," Knuckles glares up at where they fell through.

"Well, I don't like this game anymore," Amy murmurs to herself.

"Who could be doing this?" Elliot grits his teeth and they hear a sound, looking up at the ceiling. The same eye is there, and then it disappears again.

"Sonic, your highnesses, I think it's time we got out of here," Knuckles turns to them.

"Okay," Sonic holds out his arms to Amy. "Hang onto me, Amy."

She does so and they jump into the air, breaking through another window. They land in another room, where they're surrounded by doors, not sure of which one to go through.

"Which one?" Sophia murmurs as they have no idea to know which way was correct. She looks down at her wrist to confirm that the scanner is still malfunctioning.

 _Whoever is doing this must know that we use comlinks and probably made this trap so that we couldn't track the emerald._

Sonic, Knuckles, and Elliot open the doors, but there's brick walls at every single exit. "We're walled in."

"Now what?" Amy asks with a confused shrug. Sonic grits his teeth, wondering how they were gonna get out now.

"If you are watching this, then you have somehow found a way onto our home planet," One of the native creatures that Elliot mentioned is on a video, recording for any off-worlders. "Which was destroyed along with most of its citizens many years ago by evil Metarex monsters. Those of us survived built this space colony, in the hopes that one day we could make contact with others, like King Elliot and Queen Valentina of the Xenians, and eventually restore the glory of our planet."

Valentina covers her mouth in shock at the sound of her and her husband's name.

"But the monsters destroyed it as well. All is lost. Destroy them, or they will destroy you." The video flickers before cutting off there.

"Why did they do it, Chris and your highness?" Cosmo asks sadly. They have no answers as they look down sadly...

Because they didn't know.

They walk out of the room and into the open bleak air. "How could we be foolish enough to think we could ever defeat them?" Cosmo looks up at the two. "Chris? Your majesty?"

"Yeah?" He turns to her.

"You look like you're lost in another world."

He smiles a bit. "Just thinking about one..."

"You are?" She asks curiously.

"You know, it's kind of funny," Chris turns back to the environment. "I had a strange dream last night about this guy we used to know named Shadow. Just when everyone in my world had lost hope, he, Sophia, and Sonic made us believe again."

"You mean there's someone else like Sonic?" Cosmo asks in surprise. Chris smiles a bit at the memories.

"Yes," Valentina answers her. "My daughter told me about him. She knew him before she came into my care. They met each other again on Chris' world, but Sophia could not remember him at the time. However...she could not deny that Shadow was someone she could trust. And so he was kind to her...cared for her...he also helped her escape a villain's clutches. While I do not condone Shadow's previous intentions...I am grateful for what he did for my child."

"Into your care...?" Cosmo murmurs slowly. "Sophia...is not your real daughter?"

"...My daughter came from a space station, created by a man who wished to use her powers for evil. But she had friends that gave her hope, and made her into who she is now. My husband and I had wanted to wait to conceive a child, but I do not regret finding my daughter, crying in a capsule...having seen unspeakable things. So we made them go away with our magic...a mistake I regret now. While she is not royal blood...she will always be a brave, strong, and selfless princess in everyone's eyes...hopefully yours," She glances at Cosmo, who smiles a bit.

"Sophia is still my friend no matter who she is, your royal majesty, and an inspiration to us all."

"You may call me Valentina, young one," The woman smiles softly. "I am not always a queen...like now, with you."

Cosmo's comlink suddenly beeps and she opens it to see Tails. "We've got an emergency! I lost 'em! My link with Amy or Sophia cut off and I can't through anymore!"

"What's going on?!" Chris exclaims and Cosmo notices something.

"Chris, Valentina, the castle!"

They look up in shock to see the castle wavering as something was controlling it...

* * *

Sonic stands in front of Amy protectively, Knuckles doing the same with Elliot and Sophia. Sonic jumps into the air, kicking through a wall and falling outside.

"Gotcha!" Chris comes in with the X Tornado, catching Sonic.

"Thanks!" He gives his friend a thumbs up. The hedgehog jumps into the air. "Time to fly, Knuckles!" He lands to his friends and Knuckles grabs Amy. Sophia holds her father's hand and flies into the air, Sonic jumping back out. They look up in surprise to see one of the castle's towers crumbling into dust. It grabs Sonic and Sophia to their shock. Chris fires his lasers, but it does nothing as the two are pulled back into a vortex.

"Oh no!"

"Sophia!" Elliot calls out in anguish.

There's suddenly evil laughter coming from the vortex. "It seems your friends Sonic and Princess Sophia have come to an entirely new low..."

"It's talking!" Knuckles says in disbelief.

"You little fools thought you could destroy us, but in the end, it is us who will destroy you!"

"Sonic! Sophia!" Amy looks down in worry.

"Hang on," Chris flies past the three, causing them to look up. The plane turns around with the dust firing right at it. Chris dodges it and fires two rings into the vortex. It starts glowing and the two spin dash free of their hold, but a metal wall suddenly forms, knocking them down. Knuckles runs up to them.

"I'm coming!" Knuckles holds out his hands to him.

"Okay," They reach out to him and he grabs their hands, spinning them around in a circle spin dash. They turn back and aim at the wall, piercing right through it, landing safely on the other side...and the wall suddenly heals itself.

"What?!" Sophia exclaims in shock at the sudden heal.

"Who knows what that thing's gonna turn into next?!"

* * *

Eggman's ship is watching the whole ordeal. "Sophia, Sonic, and Knuckles are sure having a time of it," Decoe comments as they watch.

"That's one tricky Metarex," Bocoe adds in.

"Speaking of tricky," Eggman turns to Rouge. "I have an assignment for you, Rouge"

"Oh yeah? I was wondering when you'd say that," She smiles in interest.

"This assignment will require a great deal of skill on your part. If it is done to my satisfaction, you will get a Chaos Emerald." Rouge opens her mouth in shock. Eggman...is going to willingly give her a Chaos Emerald?

"Give her a Chaos Emerald?!" The robots shout, just as surprised as Rouge is. "She's a double-crosser!"

"Why the sudden generosity, Eggy?" Rouge wonders what the robots are thinking.

"Just feeling magnanimous is all," Eggman answers simply.

"I'd be touched if it wasn't pure baloney," She shakes a finger.

"Now, don't be that way. Don't you at least want to hear what my brilliant plan is?" It seems to involve Shadow...

"Okay," She smiles in amusement. "But only for the emerald."

"I promise you won't regret it," He chuckles at the thought.

* * *

The Blue Typhoon has arrived to help their friends. "Okay Tails, the laser's at full power," Cream reports to him. "We've got the target locked."

"Fire the laser in scatter mode!"

"Ready!" She presses a button and the front of the ship glows, firing a flurry of lasers towards the metal wall. It starts glowing and Cream smiles. "It's a bullseye!"

Cheese and Rose cheer happily as they arrive, the five looking open in shock. "They've got it," Knuckles says and then they gasp as the vortex forms into razor sharp teeth.

"Enough of your child's play. Your weapons have no effect against our omnipresent evil! Ha ha! Your destruction is at hand, it's too late to turn back!" The teeth then turns into little blue arrows, threatening to skewer them. They dodge the arrows as they take off into a run.

"Okay, activate laser shield right away!"

"Okay Tails," Cream replies as the lasers hit Chris' plane. Sophia jumps left to right, holding onto her father's hand.

"We can take shelter under here!" Sonic points up ahead and they come to a stop, the arrows starting to affect the Blue Typhoon.

"It's too powerful for us, Tails!" The rabbit turns to him in worry. "I don't think the shield can hold on for much longer!"

"Stay calm. We're not gonna let this thing beat us!" He narrows his eyes, sweating a bit. At least, he hoped that they could beat it... "Hold steady." Suddenly there's an electric ball.

"I'm pretty sure that weird Metarex up ahead swallowed the Chaos Emerald," Tails reports to Chris. "We may beat it if Sonic and Sophia use the ring tunnel."

"Roger! Sophia, Sonic!" Chris fires red blasts at them and they lock onto their feet, turning into hover shoes. "Ring tunnel!" A bunch of rings are fired towards them.

"Okay!"

They fly through the tunnel on their hover shoes, gritting their teeth. They shoot into the sky. "Let 'im have it, guys!"

"You betcha!" They exclaim as they spindash into the Metarex, but are electrocuted by it.

"Oh no!" Everyone shouts in worry.

"This will give you pain, Sonic and your highness." The Metarex laughs and the duo fall from the sky, unconscious.

"What do we do?" Cosmo frowns, "They've been hurt."

They slowly open their eyes to see Chris' plane flying towards them. "I'm coming!"

The two see a blue arrow tunnel. "Turn around! It's too dangerous!"

"I don't care!" He shouts and one of the wings gets damaged, causing him to lose control.

"Chris!" The two shout and a red ring suddenly flies in front of the boy.

* * *

"Shadow? What's happening in there?"

The capsule room starts sparking, with the energy of the Chaos Emerald.

"Hey, wait for me," Rouge jumps into Eggman's chair as it sinks into the floor. The robots peek in and there's an explosion, leaving smoke. Shadow steps out of it, holding the red Chaos Emerald.

Rouge and Eggman run over as fast as they can.

Shadow takes a look around the room, wondering where he is. He gets a brief memory of a purple Chaos Emerald and looks at the one he has. He stares at it as he tries to figure out what to do with it...

"Now, what's that blasted code again?" Eggman murmurs to himself as he tries to unlock the door.

"Time for Chaos Control," Shadow looks up and by the time Rouge and Eggman arrive, he's already gone.

* * *

As Sonic and Sophia are falling, Sophia gets a familiar feeling...like someone's woken up. She looks around in confusion, but sees nothing.

"Chris, no!" Sonic yells and a gold blur zips right past them. It hits the plane, then the Metarex, destroying it. Amy, Elliot, and Knuckles try to cover themselves from the blast, Sophia and Sonic being knocked back. They land safely and out of the smoke, they're all shocked to see the moon. And also, Shadow is standing on top of the castle, two Chaos Emeralds surrounding him.

"What in the world?" Sonic turns to his left and when Sophia turns around, she gasps sharply. A glow near Chris causes him to wake up, seeing Shadow.

"Am I seeing things...?" He murmurs as Shadow just stands there. "Shadow!"

Sonic turns to the others, who are seeing him too. "...Shadow..." Sophia blinks back tears and he looks straight into Chris and Sophia's eyes.

"Chaos Control." He then disappears, Chris blinking slowly.

"But he was..."

They're all silent, wondering what just happened. Shadow...saved them...

Shadow arrives back in front of Rouge and Eggman. "Shadow!" He steps up towards them, holding the two Chaos Emeralds. He then falls unconscious, tired from all the transporting. Rouge and Eggman just stare at him...


	61. Ship of Doom

**Angel: Sorry this is so late, I wasn't done with this episode and I had to post chapters for other stories today. Also, I didn't notice this until after I was done editing, but we're at over 50,000 views! Thank you so much, you guys!**

Trent Gaines: Who's your favorite alien from Ben 10?

 **Angel: Gosh, I don't even watch the show like that...but the four-armed one, I think. Forgot his name. And before someone asks, I don't watch the reboot XD**

Trent Gaines: And Knuckles, I hope things between you and King Elliot work out.

 **Knuckles: ...Yeah...**

Challishanlon99: Hey Sonic you guys I have a quick question Sonic if you had a little sister and she was as fast as you and I had other powers I think it would be pretty cool if you also had brothers and sisters and I guess you consider your friends brothers and sister or a family can I have a real quick question about the Chaos Emeralds isn't it dangerous to have the Chaos Emeralds all together and if it is then why bring them together and Tails you're very very very smart just like Chris so if you could make a device that could protect the Chaos Emeralds would you build it and one more thing Sonic if you did have a little sister what would you do if you had a little sister I have two brothers Chris I've been I've heard that you do have another brother well sort of like a brother from the future his name is Silver but what would you do if both Shadow and Silver were your brothers plus having a little sister that might be able to control the Chaos Emeralds? I really hope you're not mad at me for asking these questions oh and Happy Mother's Day Cream's mom Chris' mom and Sophia's mom your moms are out of this world and Chris I know she's not with you but next time you see her tell her I said Happy Mother's Day even though it's probably already passed anyway good luck you guys and please be careful PS Cream, Cheese, Cosmo will you be my friends? But if not that's okay anyway good luck everyone.

 **Angel: This is already really long XD Not that I mind. But if we're not counting Sonic Underground...**

 **Sonic: I already think of Sophia as a sister. She's like my big sister.**

 **Sophia: They're dangerous if used by the wrong hands. They can be used for good or evil. We bring them together for immense power in this case, or to do impossible things, like sending us back home. But most importantly, to give us the power to defeat enemies.**

 **Chris: Well...Sophia still has her case, but we only have the Master Emerald right now ever since Shadow took both of our emeralds. Besides, we already have the Master Emerald secure.**

 **Sonic: If I did have a sister, I'd teach her how to run fast and to beat Eggman. But again, I have Sophia.**

 **Angel: Whoooa there, can I stop you at the Silver question please? I'd like to remind you that this show ended at 2004. The game came out 2 years later. Also, there is no way that he and Silver are related. They live in two different worlds, they're a human and hedgehog respectively, and also, Silver doesn't technically exist. I've already addressed this: if they don't exist now, they don't need to be discussed here. I would've added other characters if I had played the other games, but what's done is done. Keep in mind this is still my first Sonic fic. Anyway, happy belated Mother's Day, even though that was done already xD**

Johanvanguard: It's unusual that Chris had a weird dream about Shadow and Sophia thought she heard his voice. Good to see that Shadow is alive, but how he survived the Chaos Control from before is a mystery. On Planet Hobidon, it's good that another Chaos Emerald was there. Too bad that the Metarex at the abandoned space colony proved to be too tough for Sonic, Sophia, and the others to handle. Thankfully, Shadow showed up and defeated the Metarex, but took that Chaos Emerald and gave it to Eggman. For the next chapter, I wonder if Sophia will be really hung up on Shadow's surprising and sudden return.

 **Angel: Do we really ever get an answer on how he was in Eggman's ship this time around? I don't really remember since this was aired over 15 years ago...**

Crazycartoons5488: Wow I was right Shadow is back baby yeah.

 **Angel: Anyone who is watching it now knows that XD**

Bajy: Great job here as always. I look forward to the next exciting chapter of the story.

 **Angel: Aw, thanks!**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Chris had a strange dream and was shocked when a familiar figure emerged from the shadows of his past. On Dr. Eggman's ship, Rouge made a grab for the Chaos Emerald, but got caught red-handed. To her surprise, she learned that Dr. Eggman had an even more valuable treasure locked away in a capsule. Meanwhile, the Blue Typhoon landed on a barren and mysterious planet. As Sonic and friends explored the ancient ruins of a long-lost alien race, they were ambushed by the Metarex. To our heroes' horror, their trip quickly turned into a nightmarish battle for survival. Not even the firepower of the Blue Typhoon could overcome this fantastic foe._

 _Just when all appeared lost, Sonic, Sophia, and company got a blast from the past as Shadow the Hedgehog suddenly came to their rescue. Before they could thank him, however, he snatched up their Chaos Emeralds and vanished. Now the crew of the Blue Typhoon are struggling to understand their shocking encounter with Shadow. Where will Shadow show up next? Has he returned to fight besides Sonic and Sophia or against them? Find out next on Sophia X!_

A huge Metarex is attacking an armada of smaller ships. "The Metarex are attacking! We must do whatever it takes to protect the base!" Some of them suddenly explode and Scarship reveals itself to the army.

"It's Scarship!" A woman exclaims in fear. Scarship hits their ship and the others attack with their lasers.

"Do not retreat! Keep firing!"

However, their lasers are not enough to destroy the powerful Scarship and it fires back at them, destroying more ships.

"Attention all ships. Fire laser cannon now."

The remaining ships all fire at Scarship, but the armor is impossible to penetrate. It immediately fires back with a bunch of lasers, destroying every single ship except a few.

"All ships retreat!" The last one is about to leave, but it gets destroyed.

"Only a coward would flee a combat."

"This is Dark Mocha calling Scarship."

"Scarship here."

"You have a new mission: Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman are throwing our plans into disarray. Find them and destroy them."

"And what of the girl?" Scarship asks curiously.

"Ahh yes...Princess Sophia. Capture her."

Scarship turns around and leaves the area. "Acknowledged."

"So, one ship escaped."

A lone ship is flying past an asteroid. "But not for long." Scarship fires a heat-seeking missiles and fires at the last ship, destroying it.

* * *

Cosmo is sitting in the main room of the Blue Typhoon, recalling her first sighting of the black hedgehog. She gasps sharply, sitting up as Cream enters the room.

"Cosmo, are you okay?" Cream asks in worry.

"Sorry Cream. I was dreaming," She answers simply.

"Was it about Shadow?" Cream wonders.

"It was..." The two look up to their sleeping friends.

"Sonic and the others have been thinking about him ever since he reappeared..." Cream looks up further and sees the only other person not sleeping...

Sophia.

She's looking out to the stars, not sure what to think. While she is glad to see Shadow...she wonders why he didn't say anything to her. And why did he steal their emeralds? Where did he go?

Well...at least she knows why she never sensed him on Earth. It was because she didn't think he was off-world this entire time. She should've known that when she was able to sense him earlier...but why was she able to notice his presence just then? He must've been in stasis again, which would explain his sudden appearance. This does nothing to ease her, however.

It just means that he was enclosed into another space that was meant to block off any access of sensing him.

"Why is Shadow the Hedgehog so important to you, anyway?" Cosmo asks, sweating a bit.

"Well..." Cream glances up at Sophia. "They met him when we were on Chris' planet. You see, when Dr. Eggman found out that his grandfather had created the ultimate creature, he broke into a government lab and woke Shadow up from suspended animation. Shadow worked with Dr. Eggman to threaten Chris' planet and he fought Sonic and Sophia. But later, Shadow joined up with Sonic and Sophia and sacrificed himself to save everybody. We all thought he was lost forever, except for Sophia. She has a telepathic connection with Shadow, and so she thought she could find him...but she was never able to."

"But we just saw him, so he must've survived," Cosmo frowns at the story.

"Yes."

"But...how could the princess share a telepathic connection with a hedgehog? I don't understand," Cosmo says in confusion.

"Shadow was the one who told her the truth about her past, about how she's not really a princess. Eggman's grandfather was the one who created her with powers, because a few friends he knew couldn't have a child of their own...but they died when the space station was raided. Sophia and Shadow escaped, but they got separated, and that's when the king and queen found her. They made it so that she wouldn't remember what happened, and gave her memories of a childhood that never existed...a childhood that had her remember that she was a Xenian, the people of their destroyed planet by the Metarex. Before the king and queen found her on Chris' planet, she met Shadow and he recognized her, but she didn't remember him. He kidnapped her and told her the truth, and they became friends. She learned to use Chaos Control like him, and he helped her escape. During her capture, he told her that he was the one who taught her how to control her powers, and that because of their connection to the Chaos Emeralds, that they had a telepathic connection."

"Oh," Cosmo says in understanding. Everyone else is lost in thought over the recent events.

 _It's not possible, there's no way Shadow could've made it through that battle, even if Sophia said she was able to sense him._

 _I thought I was imagining it at first, but we all saw Shadow. How did he survive?_

 _He didn't say anything. Why was he acting so mysterious? There was always something weird about him, and not because he knew Sophia in a different life._

 _How do we do know it wasn't a trick? Maybe Eggman's trying to fool us._

 _It felt like Shadow...that was him, alright. But how come he didn't talk to me? It's almost as if he doesn't remember what happened before..._

"Why are we wasting the day asking ourselves questions that we can't possibly answer?" Sonic speaks up, bringing them out of their thoughts. "Next time he turns up, we'll just ask him what's going on!"

They all sigh at him.

"What'd I say?" He asks in confusion.

"Sonic," Sophia jumps down from her spot. "I don't know how or why, but that was Shadow. I know it's him...I felt the same feeling I had when I was trying to track him down on Chris' planet. Now, the real question is...what happened to him before he came back?"

* * *

On Eggman's ship, Shadow looks out to the stars, arms crossed.

 _Chris stared up at him in shock. "Is that Shadow?"_

 _Sophia looked up in relief. "Shadow..."_

"I don't understand how those strangers knew my name. They acted like they met me somewhere before...but when and where?" Shadow asks himself. "And that girl...it feels like I knew her a long time ago...in another life."

"When is easy," Decoe speaks up, sliding his chair over to him. "It was back when you were in that other world."

"As for where, it was on Space Colony Ark, where you met Princess Sophia for the first time," Bocoe holds up a finger. "You sure have a terribly memory."

"Princess?" Shadow blinks in surprise. "I knew a princess?"

"It might be better for Shadow if his past stays forgotten," Eggman speaks up, Shadow glancing at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Eggman shrugs casually.

"You're hiding something," Shadow states simply. He could tell by Eggman's insistence of him not knowing.

"Are you suggesting that I would try to deceive you? Why, I've never been so insulted in my entire life!" Eggman exclaims defensively, Shadow narrowing his eyes at him. "Then I won't tell you anything."

"Dr. Eggman needs to go back to bad guy school to brush up on his lying techniques," Rouge comments, arms crossed.

Shadow says nothing as he stares at the doctor. He's definitely hiding something...and he was gonna find out more about this 'Princess Sophia.' She seems to hold some answers for him about his past...so far, she's probably the only one who could tell him the truth and be trustworthy. Whenever he sees her again, he's going to ask her some questions...

The tracker starts beeping and they look to see something approaching. The stars in front of them start to waver and Scarship emerges out of nowhere.

"Wall complete. Primary target identified. Launching attack now."

The Metarex fires at the Crimson Egg, surprising all of them. "Who's attacking us?!" Eggman demands while he's on the ground.

"It's a ship we've never seen before! It came out of nowhere!" Bokkun shouts over the shaking. Eggman looks up and sees the ship.

"A Metarex!" He exclaims in realization and Scarship fires again. "Shields up!" The protective white circle forms around the ship, the cannons hitting the shield.

"Its laser cannons are too powerful!" Decoe calls out.

"Our shields will not hold up for long!" Bocoe shouts while holding onto a chair. Eggman growls at the situation and turns to the hedgehog.

"Go get it, Shadow! Destroy that ship and I'll tell you all about your past!"

Shadow glances at him in interest, but he was still wary. He needed to see whether or not Eggman or Sophia would tell him the truth. Normally, he wouldn't bother going to a princess, but this girl seems to be different.

Scarship fires at them again and Shadow stands on top of the ship. He soars over to the giant ship. "They're launching a counterattack. How pitiful."

Scarship fires at Shadow, who spin dashes, blocking the lasers. "Not bad."

Shadow spins over and hits the armor, but it does no good. "But it is useless."

"You think so?" Shadow spins again and manages to get inside.

"You cannot harm me!"

However, Shadow's attacks are starting to hurt him.

"Well done, Shadow!" Eggman cheers for him.

"What kind of attack is that?" Decoe asks as they can't see Shadow.

"I have no clue," Bocoe comments cluelessly. Eggman shoves buckets on their heads.

"Allow me to demonstrate," He starts pounding on their heads with hammers, knocking them down on to the floor. "As you can see, a series of rapid strikes on the ship's hull will create an intense vibration, which will shake the ship apart from the inside."

And Shadow does just that as he spin dashes around the ship, hitting the armor and coming to a stop. He lets out a scream and soars into the mouth, arriving back into the stars. Scarship laughs as he sees the hedgehog floating around. Eggman shouts in surprise.

"Shadow can't fight anymore because he used up all his power!"

"He needs a jump start," Rouge comments.

"I'm going to have to bring him back," Eggman starts typing away and a claw emerges from the side, capturing Shadow and pulling him back towards the ship.

"Your silly games are over," Scarship fires a flurry of laser cannons.

"Now what are we gonna do?!" Bokkun panics and even Rouge looks worried.

"Fire lasers now!" Eggman orders angrily and their lasers fire one at a time, getting rid of each rocket that comes their way.

"Oh no! Our lasers are destroyed!" Bokkun cries out and Eggman yelps as Scarship is getting dangerously close.

"Launch all missiles immediately! Target that Metarex!"

The ship fires with every missile they have, but again, it does nothing. Scarship fires back with its own firepower, and the ship starts to take damage.

"Time to ship out," Rouge smirks as she's in her own ship. "Bye!" She escapes alone, to Eggman's shock.

"Hurry up and get us out of here!" Eggman shouts to his robots.

"I am trying!"

"The engines have overheated and are not working!"

"A missile's coming!" Bokkun sweats nervously as he looks at his screen. "Our shields can't stop it!"

A large missile comes their way and they all shout in fear. The missile hits their ship, causing an explosion and the ship is no longer there.

"Now I will exterminate that hedgehog, and snatch the princess!" Scarship declares, determined to find them.

* * *

"What?! A Metarex attacked Eggman?!" Tails asks in shock. Rouge is talking to them from her own ship.

"He didn't stand a chance. Take a look," Rouge plays the footage of the explosion and Sophia gasps in horror, covering her mouth. Not because she was worried about Eggman, but because she was worried about Shadow...she had just seen him and now he was gone again?

They watch silently and when Scarship comes on screen, Cosmo, Valentina, and Elliot gasp in fear. "What's wrong?" Sonic glances at her.

"I know that ship!" Her eyes turn sad. "That Metarex attacked me and my clan!"

"And he aided Valtor when they destroyed our planet," Valentina frowns angrily. Cosmo starts to cry at the memory, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Cosmo," Amy stands up, "We'll stop that Metarex!"

"Fat chance, that thing was too powerful for even Shadow to defeat!" Rouge points out.

"Whoa, it must be strong," Chris comments in worry.

"I fear the worst," Elliot closes his eyes as Tails rubs his chin in concern.

"I think we'd better retreat..." He suggests quietly.

"Are you kidding?! We can't let it win!" Amy protests, hands on her hips.

"I just wanna pull back temporarily. I don't think we should take that thing on until we have a chance to analyze it and come up with a plan to blow it away!" Tails explains himself.

"I agree. We have to think this thing through," Knuckles replies to Amy's disbelief.

"That'll be a first!"

"I'm only trying to use my head," He retorts back, crossing his arms.

"Then we might as well give up now," Amy holds her head up high, eyes closed.

"She's right~" Rouge sings and hangs up. Knuckles growls, clenching his fists.

"Shadow..." Chris murmurs in worry.

"Don't worry about him. He's a survivor. Am I right?" Sonic winks up at Chris, who nods.

 _Shadow made it to the battle on Space Colony Ark. He MUST be okay!_

He glances at Sophia, who is noticeably silent. "Let's get going while we have the chance!" Knuckles declares.

"I say we stay!" Amy glares down at him.

"We better decide now, there's something big heading this way," Tails tells them and they look up to see a heat signature in the area. "It's coming out of warp space."

Scarship reveals itself to them and Cosmo narrows her eyes in anger. "I swore I'd destroy it, but...I can't risk their lives," She glances at the others. "Tails, get us out of here now!"

Tails looks down at her in confusion.

"But Cosmo, you're the last one here who should want to retreat," Amy looks over to her. "That Metarex is responsible for wiping out everybody you cared about, and the royal family's too! Now's your chance to make that ship pay for the pain and misery it caused you!"

"I can't. I want to fight that thing alone, Amy," Cosmo blinks back tears. "I'm willing to risk my life to battle Metarex, but not yours."

"She's right."

Everyone except Sonic turns to Sophia as she steps up front. "It's useless to risk others' lives for a ship that might've hurt my friend and destroyed our planet. We do this alone."

"Sooner or later, we'll have to face it," Sonic smirks smugly. "And there's no time like the present!"

Cosmo gasps at his statement, looking up. Sophia stays silent as the others seem to agree.

"Alright, then!"

"I still think it's a long shot, but I'm willing to try. Let's do it!"

Chris nods in agreement.

"I'm glad you see it my way," Amy grins at them.

"We can win!" Cream exclaims, Cheese and Rose agreeing with her. The two girls smile, tears in their eyes.

"This means so much to us. Thank you all!"

"Yes, thank you," Valentina smiles as she puts her hands on Sophia's shoulders. Sonic and the others give thumbs up in response. Scarship approaches them.

"This battle is already over." It fires missiles at them.

"Raise all shields!" Tails orders.

"Right!" Cream turns them on and the missiles don't make a dent.

"They're only delaying their destruction." Scarship fires more missiles.

"There's no turning back now! Ready?!" Tails asks to Amy and Knuckles.

"Okay, let's go!"

"Just give me the word!"

Tails turns to Chris and Sonic. "Are you ready to go, Chris?"

"All set."

"Let's go for it," Sonic winks at him.

Scarship watches the ship fly into the air. "What are they up to?"

"Expand the shield, change to cloaking mode!" The ship suddenly disappears as the shield gets bigger

"So, maybe they can hide." He fires a flurry of missiles. "But these seeker missiles will find their target." He fires two more projectiles that fly right past the Blue Typhoon. "I'll unleash my entire arsenal against them!"

He fires every single weapon he can think of at them, but none of them hits the spaceship. Chris sweats nervously, hoping that the cloak will last the attack. A bunch of stuff leaves the ship and they wait as another missile flies by.

"That debris is made to convince me I destroyed their ship, but I haven't, yet!" Scarship sees right through their plan and fires at them again. They all shout in shock that he was able to figure it out.

"I will destroy that ship, I'll keep firing missiles until it's obliterated!"

What he doesn't know is that Knuckles is hiding in a stray cabinet, smirking. "All clear." The doors are opened to reveal Amy, Knuckles, Sonic, and Sophia, all of them wearing jet packs. Amy and Knuckles leave first.

"That Metarex saw through our trick, but it didn't realize it was a double trick!" Sonic looks up at Amy and Knuckles moving things around. "Let's go junk that Metarex!"

"We'll teach it not to attack others!" Sophia clenches her fists.

"Enough of these games! I'll fire all my missiles at once, and wipe them out with one big bang!" Suddenly, all of his holes are covered in trash. "Huh?! Why can't I fire?!"

"This Metarex is in a real jam now!" Amy exclaims knowingly.

"I can blast right through it!" Scarship brags, starting to heat up.

"Let's get out of here!" Knuckles declares and the four fly away as some of its holes start exploding.

"It's a really bad idea to fire your weapons when your missile tubes are clogged up!" Amy smirks as they stare.

"Now that you can't fight anymore, your only choice is to surrender!" Knuckles brags and it starts getting closer.

"Never!"

They fly away as it moves past them. "It's gonna crash into the Blue Typhoon!" Sonic realizes where it's going.

"We have to do something!" Sophia looks in on horror.

"Tails better move it!" Knuckles says as they stare in the direction it went.

"Engines up," Tails lets the engines release, but they're not fast enough. "We don't have enough power to get away in time."

"Routing all power to the engines!" Chris puts all power, but it's still not enough to escape Scarship.

"Oh no!" Amy exclaims as she realizes what's going on with the Blue Typhoon. "They won't get away fast enough!"

"The one way to get enough power is to use the Master Emerald at full force, but only I can do that," Knuckles explains.

"Look out!" Sonic cries out, but they can't hear him. Sophia closes her eyes and tries to hopefully contact someone who can help them.

 _Wherever you are...please, help us...we need you._

"It's no use!" Tails sweats nervously, Valentina hugging her husband in fear. "We're gonna crash!"

"It's all over!" Chris shouts, Cosmo, Cheese, Rose, and Cream screaming in fear. Suddenly, Scarship gets knocked away to the side. They look up in confusion as a certain hedgehog has arrived. "It's Shadow!"

He lands at the window and jumps, spin dashing towards Scarship. He touches the body all over, the other four just looking on.

"Should never underestimate that guy," Knuckles comments, Sophia smiling in relief. He actually came...he heard her voice.

"But why wasn't Shadow destroyed with Dr. Eggman? Er, not that I would want him to be," She glances nervously at Sophia, who waves it off.

"Heh heh heh heh. I'm like a bad rash! You can't get rid of me!" Eggman brags as his ship appears in front of them. "Metarex missed me!"

 _A missile neared the ship, but because of a secret hatch, it flew right past them._

"As usual, I used my brains and showed that missile the door!"

Sophia frowns at Eggman's explanation. Does that mean Shadow showed up because they weren't destroyed? It was difficult to say.

"It's lucky for you you don't have to fit your head through there," Knuckles taunts, waving him off.

"Even more brilliant was the way Dr. Eggman faked an explosion by using a smoke screen!" Decoe retorts back.

"While the smoke was hiding us, we warped away to a safe part of the galaxy," Decoe finishes their story.

"Hey," Amy turns to Knuckles. "Sonic and Sophia were just here, where did they go?"

They look around in confusion, but the two are nowhere to be seen. Shadow lands and runs onto Scarship's armor.

"Something tells me we're all thinking the same thing," He turns his head to Sonic and Sophia running on opposite sides of him. "If we destroy the engine room, this Metarex will be out of commission for good!"

"We can do this, Shadow!" Sophia declares in determination.

"I didn't ask for your help, so stay out of this," Shadow retorts to them, confusing Sophia. He's acting as if he doesn't know them.

"I see you haven't lost any of your charm," Sonic smirks at him, not fazed at all by Shadow's statement. They jump around the exterior and into the ship.

"You certainly are persistent, strangers."

"What do you mean, strangers? Don't you recognize us, Shadow?"

"We've known each other for years," Sophia frowns at Shadow. Something was definitely up with his memory...and she knew that it wasn't because he had memory loss, this was an entirely different thing.

They split up and start to damage Scarship from the inside, flying back out into space.

"They did it!" Knuckles cheers as Scarship is on fire.

"If you agree to surrender now, we'll try to help you put out those fires," Amy demands as Scarship is badly damaged.

"I'll never surrender, or give up my mission!"

Cosmo looks at the ship in fear at how determined it is.

Amy glances at the Blue Typhoon and then back at Scarship. "What's your mission, anyway...?"

"To destroy Sonic and Dr. Eggman, and to kidnap Princess Sophia so that she may take our fallen leader's place!" Sophia gives a look of horror and disgust. She would never rule the Metarex in place of Valtor. The girl hated her uncle anyway and wanted nothing to do with him.

Suddenly, Scarship starts glowing. "What's it doing?" Knuckles asks in confusion.

"That Metarex is trying to blow us all away by self-destructing," Eggman grits his teeth in annoyance.

"Let's go, doctor!" Bokkun exclaims in panic.

"It's too late to get away!"

Scarship starts exploding. "What do we do?!" Sonic shouts in alarm.

"We need to buy some more time!" Shadow holds a red Chaos Emerald, holding it up into the air. He lets out a scream as the emerald glows brightly and then Scarship suddenly stops moving.

"What'd you do?!" Knuckles asks in surprise.

"I stopped time from advancing around the ship."

"You can do that with one emerald?!" Sophia screeches in shock.

"We have 90 seconds!"

"Alright, now count down with me!" Eggman pumps a fist into the air.

"*8, 87, 86."

"If you wanna disarm it, you better hurry," Shadow smirks at Sonic and Sophia. For some reason, he couldn't let this Metarex kidnap this princess...there was something about her that intrigued him for some reason.

"Right!" Sonic agrees and Sophia smiles at the advantage he gave to them, nodding sharply.

"Okay!"

Sonic turns to his comlink. "Come in, Tails."

"We'll use the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon!" Tails explains, as it's the only thing they haven't tried. "Come to the ship as fast as you can!"

"That Metarex's armor is strong," Chris looks down to Tails in worry that it won't work.

"Yeah, I know, Chris, but we can use a warp field to make it weaker."

"Right." They ready the cannon.

"64, 63, 62."

"Warp field drive is all set, Tails," Chris reports nervously.

"Prepare to send out a warp field to surround the Metarex!" Tails looks up at him.

"Roger," Chris pulls a lever and a ring appears around the front tip of the Blue Typhoon. It's fired at the ship and it starts moving around once hit with the warp field.

"44, 43, 42."

Sonic and Sophia stand in front of the emerging cannon. "Route all energy to the power cannon!"

"We have full power," Chris says as the two run inside.

"Load cannon!"

"Sophia and Sonic are set for launch!"

They land on the two platforms. "Ready!" They start spin dashing and they charge up the cannon.

"Fire the cannon at my command! Targeting Metarex," Tails gets a target on Scarship. "Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, fire!"

The cannon shoots out a powered up duo as they near the Metarex.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Zero!"

The two hit Scarship from the front, sending him into the warp field and causing an explosion. He then disappears, to the Metarex's dismay.

"That was one of my most powerful Metarex. How did they defeat it?!"

"Thanks for saving us, Sonic and Sophia! You'll regret it!" Eggman cackles as the ship makes its escape.

"I didn't do it for you!" Sophia calls out as she grits her teeth. She turns around and leaves, Shadow staring after her with his arms crossed.

Sonic stares at the leaving ship, the others staring in silence. Cosmo is clasping her hands together.

 _I finally got even with the Metarex who wiped out my clan, and the princess' planet. I wish I could be at peace now, but there are more Metarex out there, and more planes in danger. I have to keep fighting until the galaxy is safe again!_

* * *

Sophia walks into her room, her mind still stuck on why Shadow didn't seem to remember her. Now she knows how he felt when she didn't remember him...true, she didn't know she knew him, but she understands just exactly how heartbroken it feels to have someone you knew for so long...forget everything. But...

She'd rather have an alive Shadow than one that was presumed to be dead for so long. So...she'll be patient and wait to see what he'll do.

A ring from her comlink interrupts her thoughts and she answers it. "Yes?"

"Princess."

Her eyes pop out in surprise at the voice. "Shadow? How did you get this connection?"

"Anything is possible. Now...you have some information that I need to know."

"Um..." She bites her lip nervously. If she told him everything at once, how was that going to affect him? It may be Shadow she's talking to, but she didn't want to overwhelm him. "I don't think it's a good idea to-"

"Please!" She pauses at his insistent voice. "You're the only one I can trust. Eggman holds things back, insisting that I don't need to know. I deserve to know the truth."

"..." It's good to have his trust, but it wasn't going to change anything. Still...she wouldn't feel right if she held back the truth from him. She's no liar, and she's no deceiver either.

"Alright. What do you want to know?" She asks slowly, letting out a deep breath.

"Tell me...everything."


	62. An Underground Odyssey

**Angel: Apparently they pushed back the Sonic film to February due to all the backlash regarding his initial design XD So now people have to wait longer, all because Sonic looked that awful...wow.**

Guest: His name is four arms from Ben 10

 **Angel: Thanks XD**

Dream lighting: Want Shadow to be on her side she tells Shadow the truth he stays with her not work for Eggman please

 **Angel: Time will tell...**

Isa Nakai: I don't wanna to sound rude but are you going to update the I meet the Turtles Movie? Because it is getting so good.

 **Angel: *sighs slowly* ...Not at the moment, no. I'm not cancelling it, but I'm also working on other things that take up my time. Such as, I don't know, _two movies?!_**

Trent Gaines: A word of advice, DO NOT watch the Ben 10 Reboot! It will scar you for life.

 **Angel: I was never planning on watching it, anyway. Almost anything on Cartoon Network at the moment sucks.**

Challishanlon99: Thank you so much for this chapter. And I'm sorry for such questions in the last chapter I feel bad for asking you about these questions but I'm just really curious. Anyway I wanted to say I'm sorry again I hope that you guys can forgive me it's just hard being special needs and autistic you guys are so brave and smart and incredible. You guys can go out into the world heck the universe I wish I had powers or at least something to help me feel better sorry anyway Cosmo, Cream, Cheese I know this might sound stupid but in my last question I was wondering if you three would be my friends I know I'm not as brave or smart like you guys. Again I'm very sorry for asking so many questions I hope that all of you are not mad at me but if you are I understand and stay safe please. Good luck.

 **Angel: Like I've said before, it's not really a problem. People have asked me a lot more questions than you have, whether it's this story or another story I'm doing. Just be grateful that you haven't annoyed me like some other people XD I won't name names, but let's just say that some people can be way more pushy...not that I'm mad at them, it's just a little annoying.**

 **Cream: Everyone is smart in their own way.**

 **Cosmo: That's right.**

 **Cheese: Chao Chao!**

Johanvanguard: It's nice that Cosmo was told about who Shadow is and his relation to Sophia. Shadow does have a right to know of his past, but of course Eggman refuses to tell him, fearing a possible betrayal. Scarship was difficult for Eggman and Shadow to deal with. Scarship proved to be a tough enemy for even the heroes to handle. Luckily with Eggman having survived the attack, the heroes and Shadow worked together and defeated Scarship for good. I wasn't expecting for the Metarex wanting to have Sophia take her uncle's place. It was surprising that Shadow contacted Sophia and wanted to know from her everything about his past. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to what the Metarex are doing with the emeralds.

 **Angel: I felt like Cosmo had to know. Eggman is such a jerk for not telling Shadow everything. Actually, I take that back. Any Metarex is a big jerk. Eggman may be evil, but he's not the bigger threat here. And as the series is ending, you'll be seeing more of my own personal touches to the story.**

Trent Gaines: Hey Sophia, what's your favorite animal?

 **Sophia: Over time seeing my friends, I'm more into mythical creatures. But if I had to choose one...unicorns.**

Bajy: Great job here. Awesome as always. Looking forward to reading more soon, as per usual, have a good day!

 **Angel: Thank you. I'm hoping to go to the Cheesecake Factory this weekend. Fingers crossed!**

SwanGirl24: Have you seen the trailers for Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I'd like to see you put Amy in that.

 **Angel: Ummm...I've seen the movie online, but...even if I were to do it, I'm not sure if I could do a good job. See, I've never written anything related to Batman, and assuming that my OC Amy has ice powers in that version, I wouldn't know how to write his interactions with her. Well, I do, but...well, either way, I'm not confident that I would do a good job considering how I've never written a Batman fanfiction. I know it would be a crossover, but still. I wouldn't say no outright, but I'm already updating TMNT 2007 and I'm already starting on TMNT: Out of the Shadows...**

GreenD109: They may have destroyed one Scarship but that apparently means that it's the heroes calling card to the Metarex that they will take them down should they choose to mess with them. Not to mention that with that attack it just made the Metarexes more bent on destroying any nuisance that tries to stop their ambitions of ruling the galaxies and getting a brand new leader. (Though, I'm guessing that when Valtor died, Dark Oak had to take the helm and be the De Facto Leader.) If you don't mind me asking, what does Valtor look like anyway?

 **Angel: Scarship was just as annoying as all the other Metarexes that attacked. This one just happened to be more powerful. *waves it off* And I can't answer that question for sure. All I can say is stay tuned for more.**

9655: "You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention."

 **Angel: Thanks? XD**

 _On a space ship, Cosmo was escorted by the floor to somewhere. She looked up to see a fellow Seedrian. "Hi there, Cosmo!"_

 _"How are you doing today?"_

 _"Be sure to give your mother our regards. We'll see you later, Cosmo."_

 _"Okay!" She waved back to them. "Goodbye!" She smiled when she sees her big sister Galaxina. Almost 4 inches in height, she had teal medium-length hair, pale peach skin, purple eyes, a blue jacket with yellow cuffs, a green jewel/amulet, white petal-like skirt with blue tips, white tights, and blue shoes._

 _"Galaxina!"_

 _"There you are, Cosmo. You've had Mother worrying all afternoon."_

 _"I didn't mean to," Cosmo gave a guilty look. "I was playing my pretend game again, and I must've forgotten what time it was."_

 _"Don't worry, little Cosmo. We're all pretty used to your daydreaming by now," Galaxina gave an amused smile._

 _Cosmo blinked at her before crossing her arms with a pout._

 _They reached a room with the tallest tree from their species, staring up at it. "Sorry to worry you, Mother."_

 _"She was dreaming again, like always," Galaxina smiled up at the tree._

 _"Hey," Cosmo turned to her sister curiously. "Have you ever wondered if Mother likes to daydream too sometimes?"_

 _"Well, maybe."_

 _"I'll bet she dreams about being back home again, like I do," Cosmo smiled at the thought._

 _"Yes," Galaxina smiled warmly. "I'm sure it's a great comfort to her, to hope that one day, we'll all be back there..."_

 _"Galaxina...the elders say we'll be journeying through space like this forever," Cosmo pointed out with a frown._

 _"Not forever, Cosmo, just until we destroy the evil Metarex monsters for good. Only then can we rest and search for a new planet to call home. Don't forget, we have royalty on our side: King Elliot and Queen Valentina of the extinct Xenia. May they have good luck with their infertility problems..."_

 _Cosmo opened her mouth in awe. The king and queen were in high regard, but she never knew they were having problems conceiving a child. She hoped that one day, she'd get to meet the little prince or princess._

 _"Come on," Galaxina winked at her sister. "Let's go. Mother has many errands for us today."_

 _"Yes! Oh," She turned to the tree. "Goodbye, Mother, see you later!" The two daughters left the room._

 _Suddenly there was an explosion, knocking Cosmo against the wall. Something had attacked the ship outside as it was smoking. Scarship made himself known, Cosmo seeing him out the window. She gasped in horror, recognizing the metal. The dark shadow moved past her as she could only stare._

 _"Metarex approaching!" A female Seedrian reported as they could see the Metarex from their screen._

 _"Sectors three and seven have been irreparably damaged. We can't fight them much longer."_

 _"We have to stop them!" Before she could do anything, a bright light flashed, causing her to look up. A laser damaged the front part of the ship, where Cosmo was running. The walls were cracked and debris fell from above. Another explosion occurred in front of her._

 _"COSMO!"_

Cosmo opens her eyes in alarm, blinking. She looks around as Tails and Knuckles are nearby. They're on another planet trying to locate the egg.

"My comlink's indicating there's a Chaos Emerald somewhere nearby, but it won't pinpoint where exactly," Tails reports to them.

"Could be this one's buried way underground where it's hard to get to. Just means we're all gonna have to work a little harder to find it, that's all," Chris says from the X Tornado.

"Well, let's not all stand here twiddling our thumbs, let's look for this thing!" Knuckles exclaims into the communicator. Sonic suddenly appears in place of Chris, giving a thumbs up to the two.

"Yeah, move it down there, will ya?"

The two stare at Sonic in surprise, looking up to see the X Tornado fly past them. Chris smirks, Cream, Cheese, and Rose inside the plane. They wave the group.

"Good luck, everybody! Be careful, okay?" Cream waves to them.

Tails waves back and so do the royal family. Cosmo smiles a bit at the leaves passing by. "Poor Cosmo," Cream notices her sad smile. "I wish we could cheer her up somehow."

Sonic stares at the plant girl silently. "It's not easy when your family's not around. In fact, it's just about the loneliest feeling in the world...I'm sure Sophia felt the same when you and her first appeared in my world, Sonic."

Sonic hums in agreement.

* * *

Sophia looks around at the barren trees and stone, yet abandoned, structures. "Why do I have a sneaky suspicion the Metarex have been here too?" Tails asks the group. "This place gives me the creeps!"

"No place can substitute the fact that the Metarex want me to rule in my evil uncle's place," Sophia shudders at the request from a few days ago. Valentina puts her hands on her shoulders.

"You have too much of a good heart to allow yourself to accept such a request, darling."

"Thanks Mom," Sophia smiles in relief.

They walk through the crumbled building. "Yup, just another sad ex-planet," Knuckles comments as they scope the area.

"Look around," Cosmo frowns sadly. "Families lived here once. Children played all day without a care in the world...they didn't know what was coming..."

 _The ship suffered another explosion._

"Now they're all gone...just like Mother, and Galaxina, and they'll never come back...Sometimes I miss them so much."

"Huh?" Tails catches the last sentence. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Cosmo denies, closing her eyes. Sophia glances up at her parents, knowing that look.

Her parents had that look when Xenia was destroyed.

"Take a look at this, Tails!" Knuckles calls out at the four join him to see a huge trench in front of them. "This has to be at least a mile deep!"

Tails looks at his comlink. "This is it, you guys. The Chaos Emerald's down there somewhere."

Cosmo holds onto Tails' hands as he flies down, Knuckles climbing down the wall. Sophia holds onto one hand from her parents as she uses her wings to fly down safely.

They're silent until Cosmo suddenly gasps. "A cave!"

Sophia eyes the opening as Knuckles glances to Tails and Cosmo. "You two and Sophia go check it out," He tells them.

"We're on it!" Tails exclaims and Sophia plants two little devices on her parents' shoulders.

"I asked Tails to make these for me. They'll help you fly when I'm not around."

The two parents glance at each other skeptically, but decide to trust her and activate them. The two levitate into the air, waving to Sophia as she follows Tails and Cosmo inside the cave. They stare at how dark it is.

"Be careful Tails, it's dark in here," Cosmo warns as she feels the rock. Tails looks around and Cosmo accidentally touches a button. She gasps in surprise, recoiling back to the two.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm not sure, it felt like some kind of-" The cave starts shaking and half the surface breaks apart. Debris falls from the ceiling and Tails rushes towards the plant girl.

"Cosmo!" He pulls her out of the way and they all start falling towards who knows where. Knuckles, Valentina, and Elliot see the other side of the cave, which is blocked off by rocks.

"They're sealed in! Hang on!" Knuckles cries out. Valentina covers her mouth in horror, worried about all of them.

* * *

"Please, Tails." The fox starts to wake up at Cosmo's voice. "Oh, please be okay..."

He sits up, taking in their surroundings. Sophia had been pressing a cold towel against his head. "What happened?"

"The cave suddenly started caving in. I managed to catch and rescue you before we fell, but I have no idea where we are now..." Sophia explains, taking off the towel.

He holds his head where there's a bruise there. "Careful, you're hurt," Cosmo warns him.

"I-I'm feeling kind of dizzy...uh?" He looks up at the unfamiliar area they're currently in. "Strange, I remember walking inside the cave, and then hearing this rumbling and I must've passed out..."

"It's my fault," Cosmo closes her eyes. "If I hadn't touched that thing, then none of this would've happened."

"The button, I remember now! Hey, don't feel too bad, Cosmo, this is a good thing. We'll tell Chris where we are and then we'll start looking around," Tails smiles slightly, looking at his comlink.

"Why have a button that causes a cave in, anyway?" Sophia huffs, crossing her arms. "If anything, I blame the psycho who did it."

"What if the Metarex are in here?" Cosmo asks in worry. The comlink seems to be jammed, however. "Chris, Amy, do you read me? No good, we must've lost our connection."

"I'm sorry..." Cosmo murmurs in guilt.

"Don't worry, Cosmo, we'll make the most of it."

"Tails is right. We'll get out of here and find the emerald," Sophia places a hand on Cosmo's shoulders. The plant girl smiles, noticing that she and Valentina are very similar in personality, as they're both very caring. Cosmo smiles up at Sophia a bit.

"Thank you, Sophia."

Tails manages to get a reading for the Chaos Emerald. "We're still getting a reading, so the emerald's gotta be down here somewhere. Let's go!"

"Wait, Tails!" Cosmo rips a piece of her skirt, holding it out to Tails' head.

"Really, I feel just fine, Cosmo," Tails insists to her. Sophia stands in front of him, hands on her hips.

"Tails, as princess, I request that you listen to what we say and put it on!"

"Y-Yes, your highness," Tails stammers as he couldn't argue with her. Not with that stern face on her features.

"It's better to be safe than sorry, we always say," Cosmo recites, tying the bandage around his head. He sighs in defeat, silently blushing at how much Cosmo cared about him. Sophia glances between him and Cosmo, smiling to herself.

* * *

The X Tornado is keeping a lookout over the planet. "I just hope they're okay," Chris says his concerns. "I can't get rid of this bad feeling! If that emerald is buried underground, things can get kind of dangerous!"

"Don't worry. If things get scary, at least Knuckles and Sophia are there. They wouldn't let anything happen to them, Chris," Cream smiles at him. "Cause they're tough!"

The two Chao agree with her and Sonic walks up to the window. "Don't sweat it, buddy. I got it covered. If something goes wrong, I'll be there in a jiffy!"

"Thanks Sonic," Chris smiles in relief.

"Blue Typhoon to X Tornado!" Amy's voice suddenly interrupts. "Chris, do you read me?"

"I read you."

"I just got a radio message from Knuckles and their highnesses! They say Tails, Cosmo, and Sophia are trapped in a cave somewhere and they can't get through to them!"

Chris gasps in horror for being right, Cream and Cheese looking at each other in worry.

"Chao Chao!" Rose flies around Cream in panic.

* * *

"You know, I really gotta upgrade this thing when we get out of here," Tails says while the trip are walking. "Like maybe add some type of software that allows you to cut through subterranean rock formations."

"Uh huh," Cosmo doesn't seem to be paying attention to him. By the look of her face, she has something else on her mind.

"I mean, it sure would make it a lot easier to find hidden Chaos Emeralds. Plus we'd have the ability to send digitized contact signals to and from wherever we might be, even if we're underground or outer space in some secret high-tech laboratory somewhere...yeah!"

 _I'm so frightened._

"Mother would know what to do," Cosmo frowns towards the ground, knowing fully well that her mother is no longer with her.

"Cosmo?"

She looks up at Tails. "You okay?"

"Uh huh, just daydreaming," Cosmo blushes in embarrassment.

"Cosmo, can I talk to you for a second?" Sophia speaks up suddenly, guiding her away from Tails. She bends down to Cosmo, trying to smile, but it doesn't really work. "You miss your family...don't you?"

Cosmo is slightly surprised that it seemed that obvious to the princess. "...Yes." Cosmo closes her eyes. "It's been years, but it feels like it happened yesterday..."

Sophia's eyes grow soft and she takes a deep breath. "Cosmo...I've been through many things that a child should never see and experience. But...you don't need to go through this alone. I lost a whole planet too, you know."

"...Thank you," Cosmo smiles weakly.

Suddenly, little lights appear around them. "Hey look, Cosmo. Like some kind of fireflies or something!"

Cosmo looks in awe as they fly past two rocks. "I wonder where they're going..."

"Yeah, let's follow 'em!"

"With any luck, we might get closer to the emerald!" Sophia takes the lead and together, they follow the tiny fireflies, coming to a stop at the sight that greets them.

"Huh? Whoa..."

It looks to be a giant base...

* * *

Knuckles punches rock with his shovel claws. "There's a whole avalanche worth of rocks in here. Something must've charged them all loose!"

"Sophia! Sophia!" Elliot cries out even though he knows that no one besides his wife and Knuckles can hear him.

"Calm down, dearest," Valentina puts an arm around his shoulder. "I am positive that Sophia is taking good care of Tails and Cosmo. She will not let them perish."

"We lost her twice, Valentina," Elliot points to her fiercely. "Twice! I cannot lose her again. She is our flesh and blood...our light of darkness."

"She has always returned to us, my love," She tries to calm him down, but it does nothing to stop his worrying.

"Just listen to him in there, showing off with those big silly claws of his," Amy looks down at the spot where they found the trench. Sonic, Cream, Cheese, and Rose are with her. Rose is currently patting the king's head. She worries about Sophia, but Elliot is definitely more excessive.

"Say what you want, Amy, but I have faith in Knuckles," Cream glances at her. "You should too..."

Chris is trying to track down the comlink. "I'm using the infrared movement tracker, but I can't seem to get a reading from anywhere. It looks like a system of interconnected caves, and I'm guessing there's gotta be more than one way down there."

"So while Knuckles is busy boulderizing, we can snoop around for a bit," Amy suggests with a smile. Cream looks down in worry.

"Let's hurry. It must be awful spooky in that place. I don't like to think of them down there."

"Cheer up," Sonic gives the rabbit a thumbs up. "We'll find 'em!"

Chris smiles in agreement.

* * *

The fireflies fly around as a giant Metarex approaches a room. Tails, Sophia, and Cosmo peek around the corner. "This is a nightmare."

"I think we're all having the same bad dream," Tails sweats nervously. He looks at the comlink again. "The Chaos Emerald is located somewhere in this complex."

"Getting it is not going to be easy," Sophia shakes her head.

"Okay, so Sophia, you keep an eye out as we move along." She nods at him and he turns to the plant girl. "Ready, Cosmo?"

She nods silently.

A snake Metarex slips by and Sophia waves them forward when the coast is clear. They run into a hall and hide behind another corner, peeking at a Metarex that passed by. Sophia leads them down another hall and then come to a stop. The doors open to reveal several emeralds.

"A whole room full of emeralds..." Cosmo murmurs in surprise.

"Rouge would love this room," Sophia snorts to herself. "How do we know which one is the right one?"

They step up to a blue one and Tails narrows his eyes, looking up at the machines holding the emerald. "It's some kind of...manufacturing plant," Cosmo explores the room and stops at a silver one. "This must be the real one. They're feeding off it somehow."

"So they'll all have the same kind of power," Tails realizes, "This explains the counterfeit one that Metarex had on Planet Breezy."

"Why would they make fake emeralds if the real ones are just as powerful? What's their endgame?" Sophia asks curiously.

Cosmo gasps sharply as she remembers something. "You're right. It looks so real, it fooled all of us. And now there's a whole factory full of them! Sophia is right, why would they be doing this?"

"I don't know," Tails closes his eyes. "It's weird, but if I can hack into their computer system somehow, we just may be able to find an answer." He finds the computer and hacks into it. "Some kind of strange code...I can't decipher it."

Cosmo and Sophia look closely together. "It says here Operation Resurrection. With a list of key Chaos Emerald components." Tails beams at her in relief, though he was curious as to how she knew how to read it. "Let's see, stabilized energy, 93 percent compression rate, distillation of properties...Xeniaium? What's that?"

"That's a mineral from my planet," Sophia steps up in confusion. "They were rocks that sort of had the powers of the Emeralds before people from their world knew they existed," She rubs her chin. "They could power anything. Computers, planes, communicators. Kind of like batteries, but...they ceased to exist when Xenia is destroyed," Sophia shakes her head slowly. "I was told that it was extinct...so why is it listed?"

"You mean you can read this?" Tails asks Cosmo in surprise.

"Only some...but I'm not all that familiar with a lot of the more technical data," She admits with a small frown. "Wish I could help more."

"You helped a lot, Cosmo!" Tails gives her an encouraging thumbs up. "Now let's download this information right away!"

Tails links a circuit board to his comlink to download. "We'll look at the data when we get back to the Blue Typhoon. Will you help me translate?" He looks up at Cosmo.

"Sure, I'd love to," She smiles softly at him. "It's the least I can do after this mess I've gotten you both into..."

"But Cosmo, we wouldn't have discovered all this if it weren't for you."

"Yeah, every cloud has a silver lining," Sophia recites, holding up a finger.

"Ah, intruders," They hear a raspy voice, turning around to see the snake Metarex approaching.

"Cosmo, get the real emerald!" Tails tells her and she runs off, the two-tailed fox standing up. Sophia stands next to Tails, ready to protect both of them if necessary.

"I will teach you not to trespass! You are not wanted here," He slithers forward as Cosmo is pulling at the cover. "Stay away from there!"

She pops it open and as he gets closer, she grabs the emerald. Tails and Sophia pull at the cable and rip it free. The Metarex jumps forward and Tails throws the cable so that it hits the Metarex, electrocuting him. While it's distracted, Sophia grabs their hands and speeds out of the room. An alarm goes off and the other Metarex stop what they're doing.

"Attention, intruders have removed the Chaos Emerald. They must not escape!" There's a laugh from the electrocuted Metarex as he gets a lock on their location. "The Chaos Emerald will show us exactly where they're hiding. How convenient..."

As they slither into the water, the trio pop out of hiding in the cave, Cosmo looking around in worry. "I hate to say it, guys, but I think the emerald is leading them right to us!"

Tails just smiles as he looks up at her. "I've got a plan. I knew there was something funny about these fireflies," He opens up his hand to reveal the fireflies.

"What do you mean?"

"They're tiny robots powered by the energy of Chaos Emeralds! Same components and everything!" He explains and she smiles at him, realizing his plan.

"Tails, you're a genius!"

Tails blushes at the compliment, laughing a bit. Sophia smiles at them from behind.

The one signal turns into multiple ones, confusing the snake Metarex. "Impossible!"

* * *

The trio walk through the cave. "We'll be safe now that we threw off the Metarex! And we'll be out of here in no time!"

"Sure," Cosmo smiles at him, looking at the emerald in her hands. "We'll be okay..."

"We just have to figure how to escape this cave." Sophia grins at them.

"The light, it reminds me of how Mother made me feel. Like nothing bad could happen. It's just so bright...and warm...and loving," Cosmo remembers fondly.

"Yeah, I guess Chaos Emeralds have that effect on folks. You know, it's kind of interesting. You could be in the worst kind of danger, but once you hold a Chaos Emerald, in your hand, you feel a lot safer," Tails says with a smile.

"When I was a young girl, my older sister Galaxina used to tell me the legend of the Chaos Emeralds, and I...I used to dream that one day, I would hold one in my hand and feel all of its magical power. She also used to tell me about your parents, princess." She looks up at Sophia.

"Your people and my parents got to know each other very well before I came along," Sophia smiles sadly.

"A power that is greatest when it's used by those who are pure of heart and intention," Tails recites to Cosmo.

"I don't understand," She turns to him in confusion, unfamiliar with the phrase.

"Its power depends on those who use it, you see," Tails explains, remembering the times when his two friends turned super. "Like Sonic or you, your highness, for instant. Sonic and Sophia use it for good so only good can come of it. But then there are those like the Metarex or Dr. Eggman who use it for purposes of evil. That's when the power changes into something dark and destructive."

Cosmo comes to a stop at his explanation, frowning in worry. The other two turn to her, noticing her expression.

"What's the matter?" Tails stands in front of her.

"Oh Tails, Sophia, I'm not worthy to be touching the Chaos Emerald!" She holds it out to them. "Please, one of you take it away from me!"

Sophia glances at Tails and he takes it from her. "Why, Cosmo?"

"Because my soul is filled up with nothing but sadness and hatred..." She struggles to let her tears stay where they are. "Hatred for those monsters who destroyed my planet...and to claim my family, and my friends, and everything else that was precious and left me all alone..."

They both gasp at her confession. "There is no way any good comes from me. I will only bring you evil and disaster!"

"Cosmo..." Tails whispers softly and before either of them can say anything, the two are knocked back by a tentacle. The emerald falls out of Tails' hands and he hits a tree.

"Tails!" Sophia calls out, turning around as the emerald is snatched away.

"Give that back!" Tails demands as Cosmo tries to help him up.

"I'm afraid that is not possible," The snake Metarex tells them.

"Forget it, Tails, we have to get out of here, now!" Cosmo pleads, but Tails stands up anyway. "I'm begging you!"

"Stand behind me, both of you," Sophia warns them and the Metarex laughs.

"Perhaps you should listen to your little friend." They're suddenly surrounded by Metarex and Sophia backs up a bit. It's unfortunate that she didn't bring her sword...

"Okay, I guess all you Meta-mutants think you're pretty tough, don'tcha? Well, we're pretty tough too! And we've got good on our side, which is more than you can say!" Tails glances at Cosmo.

"Tails, don't do it," Cosmo murmurs in worry.

"Tails, leave it to me," Sophia glances at him.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll be okay." He jumps into the air, using his tails to fly straight into the Metarex holding the emerald. It drops in front of Cosmo.

"Now!" Tails calls out and she gasps, running towards the emerald.

"Stay away from that emerald!" Sophia slaps his hand away before he can do anything.

"Leave my friends alone!"

He sees Tails flying up to him, capturing him in his tentacles. "Let go of me, let go!"

Cosmo gasps happily, holding the emerald and then seeing Tails' predicament. "No, Tails!"

Sophia jumps towards Tails in a spin dash, only to be smacked away by the Metarex. She lands on the ground roughly, gritting her teeth.

"I've had enough of your foolishness."

Cosmo backs away from the approaching Metarex and one of them slinks a tentacle around Sophia's waist, holding her up into the air.

"Tails, Cosmo, Sophia," Chris' voice suddenly says from the comlink. "Do you read me?"

The Metarex turn to each other in confusion.

"HURRY! THEY'VE GOT US!" Tails shouts as loud as he can.

"Not for long, buddy!"

Tails smirks at Sonic's voice and soon the hedgehog himself arrives on the scene, spindashing onto the Metarex's head. He spin dashes to the other ones.

"Who dares help the enemy?" The lead Metarex sweats a bit at Sonic's power.

"I dare!"

He turns around at Amy's voice and she swings her hammer onto his head, knocking him onto the ground. Sophia dusts herself off as she stands up. Tails lands in front of Cosmo with a smile.

"Cosmo, are you okay?"

"Sure, I'm fine."

"Man, that was close," Chris lands between Sonic and Amy, putting down Cream. Rose flies up to Sophia and hugs her as best as she can. Sophia chuckles at her. "Hey, you guys."

"You really are lifesavers, you know that?" Tails asks them.

"Well, yeah," Amy says with a shrug and smile.

"Thank goodness you're safe! Now the mean monsters are gone, we can all go home!" Cream says happily.

"That's right, Cream."

"My father must be freaking out," Sophia sweats sheepishly at the thought.

Suddenly, the lead Metarex emerges from the rocks. "Not so fast! Don't let them get away!"

"Bring it on, we're ready for ya!" Amy challenges while holding up her hammer.

"You want some more of this, huh?" Sonic asks as he and Sophia run up to him, spin dashing.

"Get 'em!" Cream and Chris cheer for them. The Metarex jumps over their spin dash, but they come back around and knock him down from behind. Amy smirks as she swings her hammer at the wide-eyed army. The leader ducks as one of his men is knocked into a tree. Cream throws a spinning Cheese, knocking some down. Cheese stops spinning with a yell, Cosmo staring in surprise. Some of them get hit by Chris' laser gun and he blows off the top as they come tumbling down. Rose kicks some down, despite her small size.

"See, Cosmo? Nothing but good can come when you help your friends," Tails says knowingly and she smiles.

"Right!"

"Let's go," He grins at her and she nods sharply.

"Sonic, princess, I will destroy you," The lead Metarex threatens.

"Just try!" They challenge it.

"WAIT!"

They turn around to Tails, who's flying Cosmo over with the emerald.

"Over here, you two! Catch!" She throws the emerald with a big smile and Sonic catches it.

"Got it!"

The Metarex sweats nervously as Sophia places her hand on top of it. They laugh as the emerald glows.

"Bye bye!"

A bright light appears and then they're back at the Blue Typhoon. Sonic is leaning against the tree from the Blue Typhoon, grinning for their victory.

"You know, I have a feeling whatever's on here might help us put an end to their planet egg plot once and for all," Chris smirks at the data Tails downloaded earlier. "But what could they want with minerals from your planet?"

"What I'm concerned about is how they managed to get a hold on it," Sophia frowns, crossing her arms. "I don't know what unspeakable things that mineral could do along with the power of a Chaos Emerald..."

"Maybe the com will tell us where all the planet eggs are hidden and we can save the galaxy," Cream says hopefully. Cheese chirps in agreement.

"That's right," Amy smiles at Cosmo. "Good thing we have a brilliant translator with us!"

"Huh?" Cosmo looks at her in surprise. "Well...thanks, Amy, but...I feel like I put you all in danger today."

"That's silly," Tails dismisses it. "Plus, we're used to dangerous situations by now."

"Danger is our middle name!" Cream recites playfully and Cosmo sees Tails winking. She giggles at him.

"They are correct."

"Hm?" Sophia turns around to see her smiling mother.

"We have been through much, Cosmo. Your incident turned into a benefit for your friends, and it would not have happened had you not pressed that button," Valentina smiles knowingly and Elliot pushes past her, sobbing as he brings Sophia into a death bear hug.

"My darling, I was so worried!"

"Oh dear," Sophia sweats sheepishly at his behavior. "I'm fine, Papa."

"Let's get going, you guys," Chris tells them.

"We still got plenty of Metarex to mangle!" Amy reminds, smiling as she makes her hands into fists.

"That's right, and thanks to our friend Cosmo, this time we'll be way ahead of them! Right gang?"

"Yeah!" They all cheer. Knuckles suddenly emerges from the ground.

"Finally!" He looks around in confusion. "They must be around here somewhere. Huh?" He looks up to see his friends. "Hey, where did you guys come from?"

They start laughing at his obliviousness and he's just confused. "What's so funny?! Think you can stop chuckling long enough to get me out of here?! Hey, come on! I mean it! Get me out of here, guys!"

* * *

"Good, they have fallen for our bait," Dark Oak says as the 'fireflies' emerge from the floor. "Soon they and that fool Eggman will be back catching Chaos Emeralds in their greedy little hands. And then when they least expect it, we'll strike! You're perfect. One day they will know the true extent of our power, but by then they will be too late! Soon, you shall rule again...Valtor."

He looks at a man in stasis that has long black hair, skinny body, and wearing a red royal outfit...


	63. Station Break-In

**Angel: I have some news. At the end of this month, I will be gone for at least two weeks. On the 27** **th** **, I will be leaving for a cruise for one week and then I'm staying in Orlando for another week...and, with the state of my laptop, I can't bring it with me. I'd rather not risk it anyway if I'm gonna be on a boat. So, I obviously won't be here to update any chapters of anything while I'm gone, including this. I'll update at least 3 more times before I'm done for the month. I just wanted to let you guys know that we're almost done with this, I'll be on hiatus, but when I come back and finish this, I'll be moving on to other things.**

GreenD109: That's a shocker at the end. It seems that the Metarex might not need to find a leader anymore since they have a plan to revive Valtor who's in stasis. And all they have to do is let the pieces of their plan fall into place with the heroes and Team Eggman being none the wiser. You know, there's a pretty good explanation somewhere upon how Valtor was put into stasis and how he became the Metarex's leader all those years ago. But I'm sure that some of those questions will be answered someday.

 **Angel: I plan on telling those backstories soon. I originally wasn't going to have him be in stasis, but I changed my mind as it's some good drama.**

Trent Gaines: Hey don't sell yourself short! I'm sure you'd do an excellent job on the Batman Vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story.

 **Angel: Well...I've decided to be more lenient and confident. I can't guarantee it for this summer, but I'll tackle the movie sometime after I get back...probably after TMNT: Out of the Shadows. And then hopefully after that, Big Hero 6.**

Crazycartoons5488: Gasp Sophia evil uncle alive but how? They turn him half robot aaaaaaahhhhhhh.

 **Angel: I'm not going to say anything regarding any potential spoilers.**

Bajy: The ending there...YIKES! No one will be happy once they find out what's going on with the Metarex and their secret project. Excellent job and well executed. Looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: Thank you. And believe me, there's plenty more in the next 15 episodes...muhahaha.**

Challishanlon99: Thank you so much for this chapter I can't wait to read more I love Sonic and everybody I wish they were a part of my family even you Cosmo. I wish there was a way to understand the Chaos Emeralds I don't like having them all together but it would be pretty cool if there was some way to use their powers to heal others speaking of them. Knuckles I have a question if the Chaos Emeralds are very powerful then why don't you guard them along with the Master Emerald what would happen if the Master Emerald in the Chaos Emeralds were together I'm just wondering that's all. And I was wondering something put the Master Emerald in the Chaos Emeralds somehow we connected the Sonic and everybody I mean I know that almost everybody has power and I know that the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald have powers so could they all be connected I'm just wondering that's all anyway please be careful everyone.

 **Cosmo: Thank you. *smiles softly***

 **Knuckles: The Chaos Emeralds can be hard to track down. We can't keep them together because they'll just separate all over again due to their immense power. The Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds have their own separate amount of power. The emeralds can power planes, like the X Tornado. Think of it as Xeniaium, that mineral is on its own separate amount of power and could power almost anything on that planet.**

 **Angel: It's kind of like Xenia's own version of Chaos Emeralds, but I have a reason for putting in that mineral. Let's just say it's important right now.**

Johanvanguard: Cosmo's past with her family and knowing about Sophia's parents was nice, but it's a shame that the Metarex ruined it. While on a planet looking for a Chaos Emerald, it's too bad that Sophia, Tails, and Cosmo got separated from the others. At least Tails and Cosmo got a bit closer and Sophia can relate to Cosmo's sadness about her family. Good thing that Sophia, Tails, and Cosmo found out that the Metarex are creating fake Chaos Emeralds and then found the real Emerald, but then the Metarex found them. Luckily Sonic and the others showed up to defeat the Snake Metarex and the others. It's surprising that Valtor is still alive, but just in a coma. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to teaming up with Eggman to get Chaos Emeralds.

 **Angel: I can't say who I hate more, the Metarex or Eggman. Poor Cosmo, though...**

On the Crimson Egg, Eggman is looking at something blinking on his screen. "Ha ha! Looks like I've hit the jewel jackpot!" He grins evilly. "I've found two Chaos Emeralds!"

"Hmm, let me think," Decoe speaks up. "We already have two emeralds and Sonic and Sophia have three more."

"Plus these two equal seven. All the Chaos emeralds have been found! You are brilliant, doctor!" Bocoe finishes for Decoe.

"Yes, I know."

"Don't pat yourself on your hunchback yet," Rouge suddenly says, causing Eggman to frown.

"Rouge, what are you doing here?" He asks while cringing. He was wondering just how much she heard. Rouge will most likely steal the others.

"Just having a little look-see around," She moves his hand off the tracker.

"Hold on!" He protests, but she sees it anyway.

"Why doctor, have you found some emeralds?" She asks curiously, Bokkun shaking at her presence nearby.

"I hope she doesn't tell Dr. Eggman my secret," He whispers to himself.

"I wasn't attempting to keep my discovery from you! I meant to call you up to the bridge! It's just that in all the excitement, I forgot that you were interested in the Chaos Emeralds too! You know how absentminded we geniuses can be." Shadow is watching nearby, eyes narrowed. It would take a fool to notice that Eggman is obviously lying.

 _There are many things that he's keeping from others...unlike the princess._

" _Tell me...everything."_

 _Sophia leaned back against the wall, frowning to herself as she was holding onto her comlink. She took a deep breath. She had no idea where to even start with Shadow. Whatever he decided to do with the information, that was up to him. She only hoped that it wouldn't come back to her. The last thing she needed was her friends to get involved._

" _...Like?"_

" _Who are you, for instance. I only know that you're a princess, or at least supposed to be."_

 _Sophia coughed awkwardly at that. "Yes...I'm not a true princess. I was really born on Space Colony Ark. We were both created there, but I was the last creation by a man named Dr. Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather. My real parents are gone...I wish I could've met them. At least I had you...and Maria."_

" _Maria?" Shadow murmured, the name sounding familiar._

" _Maria Robotnik, Gerald's granddaughter. We all grew up together on the Ark...and we had a close bond. But...the government raided us and now she's gone. We were both separated when we went through the escape pods. I ended up being taken by my parents, the king and queen of a now extinct planet called Xenia. They wiped my memories of what happened on the Ark, and I didn't think there was a past that I lived...until I met you...somewhere else."_

" _Did I...remember you then?"_

 _Sophia stayed silent, since those memories were not something she talked about often. Mostly because she learned of a life that she couldn't remember. Her childhood was only a memory now, and she spent her life not knowing until a few months ago._

" _...Yes. But I didn't have any idea of who I really was or how we knew each other...until you told me. You...kidnapped me, told me the truth about my identity, and then you set me free...and we saved the world with Sonic. Everyone else thought you were dead, but I spent until I returned home from my friend's world to find you...I'm only glad that you're alive Shadow, memories or no memories of me or what happened. Whatever you choose to do with this information...is up to you. I'll support it. Because that's what friends do."_

 _Shadow was the one now silent. A friend...he couldn't remember the last time he had one. Eggman certainly wasn't as sincere as this...Sophia was._

" _I need time to think about this...we'll be in touch."_

Sophia was definitely an ally worth keeping around...

"So, where are they?" Rouge asks, her voice dripping with interest.

In an area where asteroids are floating, Eggman decides to tell Rouge. She was going to find out anyway no matter what he says. "There are two Chaos Emeralds inside that space fortress."

There's a large green fortress in their sights. "We've got to seize them.

"But how, doctor?" Decoe asks skeptically.

"That is a Metarex base! It will have a heavy-duty security system," Bocoe stares at the base, remembering Scarship...that was not pleasant.

"How do you plan to get in there? It's not like you can go up and knock on the door. If they spot us, we'll be space toast," Rouge states the obvious.

Then something of interest appears nearby their ship.

"What's the Blue Typhoon doing here?! They must've come looking for the Chaos Emeralds," Eggman glares at the ship.

"Mm?" Shadow looks at the ship outside. _That's the ship that the princess is on._

"You slowpoke!" Rouge scolds the doctor. "Sonic and the princess are gonna beat you to them!"

Eggman glares at her. _Rouge drives me bats. Especially when she's right. What'll I do?_

* * *

The gang are on the bridge while Knuckles is arguing with Tails. "How do you know you can't break in unless you try?!"

"You saw what happened to that meteorite! It's too dangerous!" Tails retorts back.

"Hey, guys," Sonic steps in between them. "We need to come up with a plan here."

"Don't worry about that, Sonic and your highness." They all look up at the voice. "I've got it all figured out." Eggman appears on their screens. "I have a proposal for you."

"...I've gotta hear this," Sonic says after a few seconds.

"I don't know. It could be a trick," Sophia frowns, crossing her arms.

"Why don't we join our forces and work together?"

"What's that?" Sonic's not sure if he heard that right.

"I see," Rouge catches onto his plan. "You're planning to double-cross them, aren't you?"

Shadow frowns, staring at the ship. Double-crossing all of them meant betraying Sophia...he wasn't sure he could do that. No matter how much the doctor seemed to despise her, she seemed more trustworthy than Eggman.

"We shouldn't work with Dr. Eggman, he's trying to trick us," Cream tells them all as they've huddled to talk about it.

"Yeah, don't even think about it, Knuckles!" Amy exclaims to the echidna, as he's the most likely to side with Eggman again.

"I didn't say anything," Knuckles points to himself in confusion.

"I think we should work with Eggman. Our chances are better that way," Sonic speaks up.

"But Eggman has pulled this before," Sophia shakes her head. "What if he's planning to betray us?"

"I agree with Sonic," Tails says and the others nod. Sophia sighs, but nods, as do her parents.

"Fine. But don't come crying to me when it happens," Sophia warns them.

"Alright," Sonic looks up at Eggman. "Let's go for it, Eggman!"

"So, how are we gonna get in the base?" Chris asks curiously. The Metarex would obviously detect them.

"We can sneak in without getting caught by using Chaos Control," The screen then changes to Shadow.

"Of course," Decoe looks up at him. "How brilliant!"

"This is your most ingenious plan ever, doctor!" Bocoe compliments him.

"This plan is the pits," Rouge seems to disagree as she flies in front of Eggman. "Sophia I wouldn't mind having fun with, but why do we need Sonic's help for this scheme? We have Shadow on our side!"

 _Our side?! Don't make me laugh! If you ever get a hold of those emeralds, you'll skip ship in a flash!_

"Here's what we'll do," Eggman shows a map of the base. "The first group in will head for the computer that controls the security system. They're responsible for shutting it down. Then the rest of us can sneak into the base undetected."

"Sounds cool!" Sonic grins at the plan.

"What'll we do when we find the emeralds, though?" Knuckles asks skeptically. "Will we share them 50/50?"

"Whoever gets to them first can keep them."

Sonic gives a thumbs up. "It's a deal."

"To make sure it's a fair contest, both sides will supply members for the entry team. I've selected Shadow and Rouge to represent our side."

"Wait," Rouge speaks up, "Why should I go?"

"Because when it comes to break-ins, you're a real smash," He glances at her. "You're not afraid to go in there, are you?"

"Of course I'm not afraid!" She scoffs at him. _He's putting me on the entry team because then I can't get to the emeralds first, or so he thinks._ "I'd be thrilled to join the team!" She decides to be cooperative for now, so that he doesn't suspect anything later.

"I knew that I could count on you, Rouge. Thank you!"

"I'll do it," Shadow suddenly says and they all look up at him. "On one condition. The princess comes with us."

"What?!" Everyone asks in shock.

"Me?" Sophia gestures to herself. "But I'm not on your team."

"I've heard that you are a powerful ally. And if we happen to find anything...interesting, you'd be the first to know."

Sophia immediately knows what he's talking about, glancing at the others. "Well...I guess I don't have much of a choice. I'll meet you there with whoever decides to come with me."

"Count me out," Amy says, "I refuse to join any team with Shadow and Rouge cause I don't like 'em!"

"Amy," Sophia warns her, "You may not like them, but Shadow's still the same hedgehog I grew up with."

"It's not like you're going on a picnic with them, Amy," Tails agrees with Sophia, sweating a bit.

"I'm not going either," Knuckles crosses his arms. "I won't work with that burglaring bat anymore."

"Maybe we should pick a name out of a hat," Cream suggests and Chris steps up.

"I volunteer."

"Are you sure?" Amy asks him in concern.

"Yes," He nods at her, turning to Sonic. "You approve?"

"Sure Chris," Sonic smiles with a thumbs up.

"Please promise that you'll be very careful and stay close to the others," Cosmo tells the boy.

"I will," He nods at her.

"He'll be fine, I'll be with him regardless," Sophia shrugs at them.

"Good luck," Amy deadpans to her and Sophia crosses her arms with a glare.

"And I advise you to watch yourselves next time," She gives Amy and Knuckles a look. "They may be with Eggman, but you're judging them too quickly. Shadow is the only other person who remembers what happened on the Ark. I don't care what they did, stop being rude!"

"Y-Yes, your highness," They stammer nervously, knowing fully well that she wouldn't take their refusals the next time...

The screen goes back to Shadow, Chris staring at him. _This should be an interesting mission._

* * *

The Crimson Egg stops at the Blue Typhoon. Chris holds out Shadow's inhibitor rings. "Hm? What are those?"

"Here, Shadow. I made an extra one of these to go with the one you had back on Space Colony Ark."

Shadow gasps at hearing the name again, glancing at Sophia. She nods in confirmation that it's the same one where they met.

"One of those...was mine..."

Chris nods at him.

 _Sonic held out Shadow's left behind ring. Chris took it and shed a tear, which disappeared once touched with the ring._

"Take them, Shadow," Sophia's voice brings him out of his thoughts. "They belong to you."

"If you wear them, you won't lose energy when you're in the middle of a fight anymore."

"I see...and you have them too," Shadow stares at the rings on Sophia's arms.

"Yes," Sophia holds up her arms. "We...share the same abilities with Chaos Energy."

"Oh...alright, I will wear them," He takes them from Chris and puts them on. They glow and Chris looks happy that Shadow agreed. He holds out a red Chaos Emerald and looks up to Sophia. She smiles softly at him.

"Ready team?"

They all nod.

"Chaos Control!" He says, the emerald glows, and then they're gone.

* * *

In the hangar, Tails approaches Sonic and Knuckles. "I got something to help us increase our speed!" He gives Sonic the last two emeralds they had, giving Amy the green one.

"Thanks Tails!" She smiles at him. "We have a real advantage over Eggman now!"

"You need all the help you can get!"

They turn to the entrance to see the evil trio approaching. Elliot and Valentina glare at him, angry that he has Sophia's friend on his side.

"Hup, two! Hup, two! Hup, two!"

"Why have you come to our ship?" Cream asks in annoyance, the others looking less than happy as well.

"Now now, Cream. Remember, we're on the same team! From here on, what's mine is yours and what's yours is all mine!" He chuckles at the emerald in Amy's hand.

"Back of! I'm not sharing my stuff with you!" She spits back at him.

"I'm just looking," He defends, examining the ship behind her. Sonic and Knuckles just stare at him as the robots sneak around behind them. Decoe plants a device under the X Tornado. Eggman looks at them and they move away.

"Very impressive," Eggman approaches the X Tornado. "Your machines are well maintained. And clean, too!"

The two robots move to Amy's ship, planting the same device. He takes a look around, glancing at the robots again.

"Thumbs up, gang!"

"Eggman, leave this place! We may be temporary allies, but trespassing was not one of the conditions of our deal," Elliot narrows his eyes at him.

"Of course, of course, your highness! Goodbye!" He leaves with his robots.

"That certainly was a strange visit," Amy stares after them.

"At least it was short," Sonic shrugs with a small smile.

"Chris to Blue Typhoon," He drops the smile once hearing Chris' voice. "Chaos Control successful. We're inside the base. We're gonna start looking for the security system controls."

"We copy. Be careful, guys," Sonic tells the boy.

"We will." He looks up at Shadow, Sophia, and Rouge. Sophia seems to be talking about something serious with Shadow.

"Eggman refused to tell me anything of importance," Shadow stares at the controls.

"I'm sorry, Shadow," Sophia places a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps it's time to change futures," He narrows his eyes.

A metal foot steps into the hallway as they stare at a Metarex dinosaur walking. "All clear," Rouge whispers and they run forward. Shadow chaos controls in front of them and Chris chuckles sheepishly, forgetting that he could do that.

 _I have to think of some excuse to ditch these three so I can look for the Chaos Emeralds._ "Say," Rouge speaks up with a smirk. "Why don't we split up to look for that control room?"

"No," Shadow denies as he could see her face.

"The doctor wants us to stay together," He turns around with a knowing look that she'll just look for the emeralds instead of trying to actually help. Shadow could actually care less of what Eggman told them, but he also couldn't let Rouge have them, so he said what he had to.

"Really?" _Looks like Eggman was one step ahead of me. I'll have to change tactics._ She stares at Shadow and by his stance, she's a little wary of him. _He knows I'm up to something. My only chance is to get him to let his guard down. I'll have to turn on the charm._

"Remember the last time the four of us used Chaos Control? As I recall, the circumstances were rather explosive," She smirks at Chris.

"You mean Prison Island," Chris recalls and Shadow gasps.

"Rouge, what are you doing?" Sophia frowns at her.

"I was afraid Shadow would leave me there. And do you remember what happened next?"

"Of course I do," Chris smiles at Shadow. "Shadow transported us to Space Colony Ark."

"That's right," Rouge smirks at Shadow. "Shadow, wasn't that the home of your friend Maria? And your childhood home, Sophia?"

"Rouge!" Sophia hisses at her in annoyance.

"Maria!" Shadow gasps at the name. "Maria!" He holds his head as he starts to remember. Sophia and Chris run up to him.

"Shadow!"

Rouge smiles at the distraction, flying past them. "Come back here!"

"Sorry boys and princess, I have to go find those Chaos Emeralds!" She glances back at them and when she turns the corner, the guard is waiting for her. "Move it, creep!" She screw kicks it in the neck and it explodes. She comes across more guards, flying past them, but one of them grabs her in its jaws.

Shadow and Sophia arrive, destroying the fleet and then setting Rouge free. A few explosions occur, setting off the alarm. Rouge falls onto the ground as the two reveal themselves in front of her.

"Don't run off," He tells her simply.

"Since you put it that way..." She stands up.

"Rouge the Bat, I know you very well, but to pour salt on old wounds?" Sophia balls up her fists as her eyes harden. "That's low, even for you."

"Look!" Chris is standing in front of a hole. "We may have found the control room!" He runs inside, the others turning around.

"Wait up!" Shadow calls out and they follow him inside, seeing him at the computer. Rouge glances at Sophia, who has her arms crossed, but also looking disappointed. The last thing Rouge wanted to do was hurt her...but she did also want the emeralds...was she really going to risk her friendship for that?

"We're in luck," Chris murmurs as he looks at the operations. "This computer runs the security system."

Shadow and Rouge smile at each other. "That's what we came for, right?" Shadow looks up at Sophia.

"...Right," She says thinly and they start breaking things. Chris shuts down the security.

"Do you read me?" He asks into his comlink. "The computer's shut down!"

"Good work, Chris and Sophia," Sonic says while in the X Tornado. "Ready?"

Knuckles, Amy, and Cosmo nod at him. "Let's go!"

The landing gear deploys on both ships and they take off into the sky. "Good luck!" Tails calls out as he, Cream, and Sophia's parents wave.

"We know you can do it!"

Eggman comes out of his ship by Egg Mobile, following after the two ships. "Go get 'em, doctor!" Bokkun waves from inside the space ship. "Bring back those emeralds!"

 _He doesn't stand a chance..._

"We better step on it, doctor. Sonic and the others are already way ahead of us," Bocoe warns his boss.

"There's no need to be nervous. Our competitors have fast machines, but my brain moves even faster!" He replies, chuckling when he sees the ships up ahead. "I can't wait to spring my surprise on Sonic!"

They reach the base, flying inside. Sonic is smirking while Knuckles looks at the white emerald in in his hands.

 _The emerald is reacting!_

"Try going right," He suggests to Sonic.

"Roger." He turns left, with Amy and Eggman following.

Knuckles then sees an opening up ahead. "Now, through there!"

The three ships fly inside, only to be met with rough winds. "Whoa! You're going too fast! This isn't an amusement park ride, you know! Slow down!" Knuckles shouts at the high speed. "Are you crazy?!"

"This isn't fast. Hang on," Sonic grins widely and speeds up, to Knuckles' dismay. The hedgehog zips past other obstacles and Knuckles starts to get dizzy. Amy can see Sonic speeding up ahead.

"I'll keep up no matter how fast you go, Sonic!" She then starts speeding up.

"Amy please, I'm starting to feel really dizzy," Cosmo calls out.

"I'm sorry, Cosmo," She glances behind her, slowing down a bit. "Do you see Eggman?"

Cosmo glances behind her to see the Egg Mobile. "He's still behind us."

"Okay, keep an eye on him just in case!"

Eggman chuckles as he's holding a remote that allows him to track the ships...

"How much father do we have to go?" To Sonic, this pathway seems endless. Knuckles looks at the glowing emerald.

"Almost there!"

"Alright," He finally makes it out of there as he enters through another door, which beeps as soon as he gets inside.

"Don't worry, I'll catch up!" Amy narrows her eyes in determination. Eggman continues flying when he grits his teeth.

"It's show time!" He pulls one of the levers from his remote, the tracker from Amy's ship activating. She suddenly loses control and she frowns a bit.

"What's the matter?" Cosmo asks from the back.

"I don't know! I've lost control of my plane!" The controls are going crazy as she swerves back and forth, the X Tornado getting ahead. She starts slamming on them with her hammer in frustration. "Maybe this will fix it!" She pants slowly as the Egg Mobile approaches. Decoe knocks on the glass and she looks up to see the trio. Decoe knocks again and she opens the door.

"What do you want?"

"Grab it!"

Decoe snatches the green emerald Cosmo has to their shock. "Buh bye girls!" He flies past the shocked duo, barely getting through the door in time.

"We have to get that emerald back, Amy," Cosmo tells the female hedgehog.

"The controls aren't working!" She exclaims and they can only watch as the doors close. "We've been shut out!"

Sonic and Knuckles arrive in a large room, the echidna glancing behind him. "It looks like we lost Amy..."

"We'll get 'em on the way back. Tell me how the Chaos Emerald's reacting."

Knuckles takes a look. "You should go up."

He does so, but another plane comes in. "We've got company!"

"No problem." He spins the plane around, destroying the plane as he knocks it against the wall. The planes fall towards the ground past Eggman.

"It sure is a long way down," Bocoe and Decoe look to where they fell.

"At this rate, it probably will take quite a tumble."

Shadow skates up to a Metarex, spin dashing into it and causing an explosion. He runs past the smoke with the others.

Knuckles punches a Metarex while standing from his seat, and a few more are destroyed. "Take that!" He punches another and Eggman suddenly appears, pointing upwards.

"The Chaos Emeralds must be up there!" He points up to a light in the ceiling.

"You're right, Eggman. Now let's see which one of us can get to 'em first!" Sonic flies upwards, surprising Knuckles as he's holding onto the door.

"Sonic! Haven't you ever heard of passenger safety?!"

The evil trio watch them and Eggman grins to himself. "Sonic, you tried your best, but you're out of control." He presses a button and Sonic goes slower.

"Why are you slowing down, Sonic?!"

"It's not me! The controls aren't working!" The plane suddenly goes in the opposite direction.

"Now we're heading the wrong way! What do you think you're doing?!"

"It's not my fault, I swear!" Sonic sweats nervously at Knuckles' ire. Eggman approaches with an evil smile and Sonic notices the remote in his hands.

"Now stop. Isn't this an interesting twist?" He makes the plane jerk back and forth.

"Eggman's using a controller! Quit goofing around!"

Knuckles lands next to him. "That's cheating!"

Eggman just laughs at their angry looks. "I prefer to think of it as bending the rules until they break!"

Bocoe and Decoe throw ropes, snatching their emeralds in the process. "Come back!" Knuckles yells at them and they fly away.

"Later, losers!" Eggman makes their plane jerk back and they both scream as they fall towards the ground. "Soon all the Chaos Emeralds will belong to yours truly. Ha! Ha ha!" He flies up to the ceiling.

"Sonic, wanna go for a spin?" Knuckles asks Sonic.

"Okay!" He holds out his arm and Knuckles takes it. He spins Sonic around, throwing him towards Eggman, who's about to escape.

"Victory!" He holds up the emeralds, only to have them snatched. "Hey, where did they go?"

Sonic hits a wall before landing in front of Eggman, smirking. "Looks like my side won two to nothing!"

They all sweat nervously at him before they start falling. A mechanical hand from the Egg Mobile stops them from falling further as they dangle above what seems like an endless fall.

"Don't move. We're hanging by a thread here!" He sees how far the drop is, while also noticing the X Tornado back to normal. Knuckles smirks, punching his hands together.

"I'd be happy to help you down, Eggman."

They sweat more than earlier at his threat. "Thanks anyway! We're fine!"

Sonic lands on solid ground and suddenly there's another explosion near him. "What was that?" He turns around to see Amy's plane also back to normal. She lands in front of Sonic, running up to him.

"Oh, Sonic!" She jumps to him and wrestles him for a hug.

"I can't wrestle now!"

She wins, giving him a big hug. "I just realized there is an upside to getting separated from you," She looks starry eyed while he's struggling for air. "Cause it's so great when we're reunited!"

He groans to himself, sweating. Cosmo walks up to the yellow Chaos Emerald, beaming at it. "So we finally tracked down all the Chaos Emeralds..." Sonic walks up to her.

"Isn't it wonderful?"

Amy suddenly notices something. "Uh, what's that thing, Sonic?" She jerks a thumb up to a certain mineral and another item.

"It looks like...a planet egg and Xeniaium!" Cosmo gasps at it. "But the egg's growing out of control!"

"I've never seen a planet egg that big before," Cream, Valentina, and Elliot stare at it.

"Xeniaium...just like our daughter told us..." Elliot murmurs to himself.

"It seems to be unpowered..." Valentina notices the state of the mineral.

"The Metarex have been gathering planet eggs from around the galaxy. It looks like they're using the power of the Chaos Emeralds to force the eggs into evolving."

"Really?" Sonic asks into Amy's comlink. "But why, Tails?"

"That is our secret."

The two hedgehogs gasp, turning around to see Dark Oak himself. He simply stares at them. "So, we face each other again, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"No way!" Sonic recognizes him...because he's the same Metarex that he and Sophia battled. "You're the guy who tried to take the Chaos Emeralds from me and Sophia. We'll never forget that fight. Because of you, we had to throw the emeralds away."

"You and Sophia know him?" Amy points to Dark Oak as Sonic is gritting his teeth.

"Unfortunately, we do."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dark Oak, secondary ruler of the Metarex. I believe you are familiar with the first...Valtor of the Xenians." Sonic gasps at the name, remembering that he's Sophia's evil uncle. "And now, Sonic, you and I are going to have a rematch."

Shadow and Sophia run down the hall, followed by Chris and Rouge. Sophia passes by a room and glances inside. She gasps and skids to a stop, panting.

 _What...what kind of sick joke is this?_

"Sophia?" Chris comes to a stop and joins her. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something." He turns to her direction and gasps in horror. Shadow and Rouge join them.

"Is that...a person in that chamber?" Shadow blinks slowly as they stare at Valtor himself...

The two stand a few feet away from each other, as they plan to face each other once more...


	64. A Metarex Melee

Crazycartoon5488: Oh no Sophia's evil uncle is still alive and the king and queen will be shocked about this.

 **Angel: No kidding.**

Katelyn Ruppel: Just a simple question. Who does Sophia have a crush on? Shadow or Knuckles? Or Chris?

 **Sophia: *drags hand down face* No one...**

 **Angel: I'd like to believe that people don't care if she has a crush on anyone...which she doesn't. Why should people care, anyway? It's not like she needs a guy. Besides, isn't Rouge already heavily shipped with Knuckles and Shadow? And, I should mention** _ **one more time**_ **, that she is a royal princess. Okay, so she's not a princess by blood, but she's still one regardless. Emphasis on royal. She has to marry royalty. And no matter how old she is, she still looks 12, so either way that'd just be weird if she had to have a crush on someone while fighting dangerous enemies...besides, these are her friends, she wouldn't see them in a romantic way.**

 **Sophia: I really don't see Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Chris, or Tails and any other friends who are male as more than friends. I see them with other people rather than myself couple wise.**

Bajy: Great job here. I know that the next chapter is gonna be crazy, epic, and scary. Looking forward to reading more soon as usual!

 **Angel: Thanks! I had to update late because I had errands...oh, and I had to start packing for my trip. 2 more weeks!**

Challishanlon99: Thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more but I have a question Amy aren't you a hedgehog to so not to be rude why aren't you as fast as Sonic? And are the rings on Sophia and Shadow's wrists really as powerful as the Chaos Emeralds and if so why doesn't Egghead steal them if they're that powerful? Please be careful you guys and I hope that you stay safe although I have a feeling that staying safe doesn't really help with Sonic no offense Sonic danger seems to find you no matter what you do Sonic I just wish that danger would give you a break all of you break you all deserve it.

 **Amy: I'm not as fast as Sonic, but all those days chasing after him are actually practice so that one day I can catch him!**

 **Sophia: Well...no. The rings limit the amount of Chaos energy that we use during fighting. If Shadow takes them off, he can use his full strength, which is a drastic boost in power...but he can exhaust himself in the process, so that's why Eggman hasn't stolen them. I wouldn't say they're as powerful as the Chaos emeralds since they don't lose power as easily as Shadow would with his rings off.**

 **Sonic: Danger giving me a break? If I don't have danger in my life, that would be boring! I live for excitement!**

 **Sophia: He has a point...without anything threatening the world, Sonic would just be running around all the time.**

 **Angel: Sheesh, not even in Sonic Underground did he ever have a break...they tried to, though XD Probably a bad example, but I think I got the point across.**

GreenD109: You know even though Sophia had finally found Shadow, she probably doesn't know that the Shadow she had known and the one currently fighting along her aren't the same one considering that he doesn't recollect any memories of both his past and of what went down during the Space Colony ARK incident. And it seems like the second battle between Sonic and Dark Oak will begin at the next chapter. Still, how will Sophia proceed next now that she finally sees her villainous uncle. I hope her emotions will be in check through all of this.

 **Angel: If this Shadow can remember Maria, then it shouldn't matter that they're not the same. In fact, he's gotten flashbacks of her AND Chris while in space, so saying that is kinda making no sense. Don't you remember when she told him his past the last episode? Sophia said so herself she didn't care if it was the same Shadow. It's not that he CAN'T remember, it's just that he had lost his memories.**

Natalie Jarrett: Not far off from seeing Dark Sonic is Sophia gonna have that ability as well?

 **Angel: Wait and see.**

Johanvanguard: The heroes teaming up with Eggman was to get the two Chaos Emeralds from the Metarex was definitely a sound option, but risky. At least Shadow, Rouge, Sophia, and Chris were on a team to disable the security. Good thing that Rouge's failed betrayal helped the team to the security room and disable it so the others can get in. Eggman's betrayal is not surprising, and it's great that Sonic and the others got back the emeralds that Eggman took from them. Now things are going to get serious with Sonic facing Dark Oak, and with Sophia facing Valtor. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sonic and Sophia will do against their enemies, and which group will get the last emeralds.

 **Angel: Eggman's a jerk and he'll never change T^T**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Eggman discovered two more Chaos Emeralds hidden aboard a high-security Metarex fortress. When the doctor suggested that Sonic, Sophia, and the gang team up with him to see who can snatch the Emeralds first, Sonic jumped at the chance. Soon with the help of Rouge and Shadow, Chris and Sophia break into the Metarex complex. And after a bit of digital detective work, shut down the security system, but when Sonic and the others burst in for a little emerald espionage, they're greeted by a mob of Metarex with one thing on their minds: Total destruction! And Sophia gets a shocking sight on their way._

 _Find out what happens next on this week's Sophia X!_

Sonic and Dark Oak stand a few feet apart, about to battle. The hedgehog glares at the enemy who caused him and Sophia to scatter the emeralds. "Think you can beat me?"

"Make no mistake, my friend," Dark Oak is surrounded by Metarex. "And do not think I can beat you. I know I will. Metarex, prepare for battle! As you can see, you are dangerously outnumbered, Sonic, and I warn you for every one of us that falls in battle there will hundreds more that will take his place!"

"Please don't hurt Sonic, I beg you!" Cosmo steps forward behind Sonic. "We'll do anything you want, Metarex sir. We'll give back the Chaos Emeralds and the planet egg, but please don't hurt my friend!" She didn't want to give them away, but she'd do anything to make sure her friends don't get injured.

Her pleads do nothing as Dark Oak points at the hedgehog. "Get him!"

The Metarex fly into the air, to their shock. They surround Sonic, tackling him.

"Sonic!" The girls shout in unison. A few seconds later, a burst of blue light comes from the pile and Sonic fends each and every single Metarex that was on him. Dark Oak simply watches as Sonic gets back up, turning around with his eyes narrowed.

"So, you wanna play games, huh?" He spin dashes towards Dark Oak, who just laughs at him. Sonic then phases through Dark Oak as if he was never there.

"He vanished!" Amy exclaims in shock.

"It's a hologram," Sonic corrects, but the Metarex army are real as they start getting up. Sonic grits his teeth at this. Of course Dark Oak was too much of a coward to face him in person...instead he has to rely on his army to do his dirty work.

"Be careful, Sonic," Cosmo warns him. He glances at her and then looks back when the Metarex start jumping towards him. They're suddenly surrounded by Metarex, who laugh at them.

* * *

Sophia pants slowly in fear, clutching her heart with her hands as she stares at the man who destroyed Xenia and sided with the Metarex...

Valtor.

He is revealed to be a very pale and tall man who looks to be physically around his thirties or even early forties. He has long black hair that flows down to his waist, thin purple eyes, and notably high cheekbones. His attire consists of a long red jacket with a lavender inner layer and gold pins over the folded cuffs. Under it, he wears a white vest over a white ruffled shirt, black dress pants and red knee-high boots. He also wears red gloves as well.

"Whoa...that's..."

"Yes...it's him," Sophia glares at the man who caused so much pain to innocent people of his own planet.

"Him who?" Shadow looks up at her.

"My uncle Valtor, my mother's sibling. He destroyed their planet before my parents found me...he was leading the Metarex with him."

Rouge and Shadow both gasp, whipping back to Valtor who has a sinister grin on his face. "Ah...guests," He says, intrigued by them for some reason. "And with items of interest, no doubt." He glances at Sophia and Shadow's rings. The two cover them with their hands, staring at him. The man walks up to his pod, hands behind his back.

"What should I address first? Your break-in...or my niece?" He looks back at Sophia with an evil smile. Sophia backs away slightly, narrowing her eyes at him.

"How are you alive? My parents said that your body was destroyed when you were ordering the Metarex to destroy Xenia! And you yourself ordered the Metarex try and kidnap me! Which obviously didn't succeed, you vile jerk!" Sophia grits her teeth at him.

"I only did what needed to be done," He speaks up as he pulls out something from his pocket.

Xeniaium.

"Where'd he get that...?" Chris murmurs in confusion.

"As if this stupid mineral wasn't already a handful. Ignoring the fact that you stumbled upon me..." He throws the rock into the air, catching it into his hand. The others just stare. "I suppose you have the right to learn of my origins. When I was young, Mother and Father gave the throne to my dear sister, which would come to her once she became of age. For years, I planned my revenge. And then I stumbled upon this," He holds out the mineral.

"The Xeniaium," Sophia whispers quietly.

"Yes," He nods at her with a confident grin. "And I used it to turn fellow allies into what you have seen from the Metarex. I...persuaded them to allow me to lead them to terminate the planet that had betrayed me so."

"Fellow allies?" Sophia murmurs in confusion. What did he mean by that?

"But those were innocent people! They didn't deserve to perish for your parents' choices!" Chris tries to plead with him.

"Innocent? They ridiculed me by not making me their king! They deserved it: each and every one of them."

Shadow and Rouge glare at him angrily. Sophia's uncle was definitely heartless.

"But how did your body survive such an explosion? There was nothing left from that planet!" Sophia demands as she stares at him. He shouldn't even be standing here...

"Oh, that? Looks are deceiving, aren't they? Your mother and I were trying to one-up each other since we were children...and I lost. But now, I have the advantage," He holds up the mineral.

"What...?" Sophia murmurs in horror. Was it really true? Why didn't her mother say anything?

"Don't listen to him," Shadow suddenly exclaims. "He's just trying to cloud your mind. I think he means that he's not really your uncle!"

"Smarter than you look..." Valtor reaches out towards half his face...and pulls it out to reveal a robot face.

"What?!" They all shout at him.

"How?" Chris asks in disbelief.

"Unlike certain aliens you know, I had to work hard to recover my body. Which meant leaving my mind behind."

"Huh? You have a brain. You used it to create the Metarex, didn't you?" Sophia tilts her head in confusion. She had no idea what any of that meant. He just chuckles at her absentmindedness.

"My consciousness left my body in order for my shell to survive. I needed it to remind myself of the great plans I have in store. My mind stayed with the Metarex, and they collected my body, waiting out the years until you and that...animal came along. My mind possessed me, but my body was still feeling the damages it did during my fight with your planet. For my body, I had a little...help from your emeralds and with the Xeniaium.

"Wait...the reason why they made the fake emeralds...was to resurrect you?!" Sophia squeaks in surprise. "And it actually...worked?"

"Yes. Combined with the power of the counterfeit emeralds and with the mineral, I was reborn. And my likeliness was rebuilt due to the rest of me being missing. It was all part of my plan to bring people in this galaxy to their knees—enough of them to steal their planet eggs. Soon, my soldiers will take over the galaxy, and I will rule it!" He laughs evilly and Sophia runs towards him, but he simply turns around. "I think I shall return to my chambers now..."

When she touches him, he disappears. "Where'd he go?!" Chris exclaims in shock.

"It was a hologram," Sophia glares, turning around to the others. How was she going to explain this to the others...?

* * *

Meanwhile, Knuckles has gotten out of the X Tornado in favor of being furious with Eggman, whose Egg Mobile is still hanging above the ground.

"I oughta knock that egghead of yours clear off!" He threatens with anger.

"Now, now, Knuckles, let's just keep calm. We all know violence never solves anything," Eggman tries to reason with the echidna.

"Stay still, why don't you?"

"Any unnecessary movements will send us plummeting," Bocoe looks over the edge. "And by the looks of things, that would be most inconvenient!"

There's suddenly shaking from the room above, causing the evil trio to hug each other in fear.

"What was that?" Knuckles asks in confusion while hanging onto the Egg Mobile. He hears beeping and he turns on his comlink to see Tails.

"Blue Typhoon here. Knuckles, do you read me?"

"Tails, what's going on?" Knuckles demands an explanation.

"There's a nasty looking battalion of ships headed straight for us! I've got a bad feeling those Metarex aren't too happy about us crashing their fortress."

"Tails, I'm afraid they're coming from behind too. They're all around us, what are we gonna do? There's no way we can beat that many, not without Sonic and Sophia!" Cream exclaims in worry.

Rouge, Shadow, Chris, and Sophia see the fleet too as they look out the window. "Uh oh, we're in trouble."

"You said it, kid," Rouge agrees with him. Shadow's walkie talkie goes off and he answers it.

"Listen up, Shadow! In the interest of self-preservation, I'm calling off this clam bake!" Eggman says quickly.

"I don't understand, I thought I was to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds." He wasn't really going to give them to Eggman, though. He has to have Eggman keep believing that he's on his side so that he doesn't bat an eye on why Shadow is still angry with him.

"Oh, blast the emeralds!" Sophia looks at the device in surprise. She's never heard Eggman actually give up on the Chaos Emeralds before. "These Metarex monstrosities are about to make a meal out of us!" Shadow glances outside.

"Attention intruders." A deep voice says from outside. It belongs to a Metarex with a stocky build, his body being composed of mostly crimson armor, with several horns on his head, as well as an orange eye, and two other similarly colored orbs on the top of his head and chest. His cape, which shows his position as general, is a brighter shade of red than the rest of his body. "Make no effort to escape. I am Red Pine. I, Dark Oak, and my three commanders serve the all-powerful Valtor."

"Great, there's three more of them?" Tails asks bitterly before he blinks in surprise at the name. "Wait...Valtor as in Sophia's uncle that destroyed a planet, Valtor? He's alive?!"

"My brother...lives?"

Tails whips his head around to Valentina and Elliot, who have just entered the room.

"Uh..." He stammers, not knowing what to say. He didn't think that they were right there...!

"Your foolish effort to undermine our mission you obtained directly into our need as hands!" Knuckles and the others can hear his laughter. "The fact he wishes to express his gratitude for bringing the Chaos Emeralds...thank you all, we won't have to blindly scour the galaxy. We don't know how to thank you. Perhaps we'll just destroy you."

A vein appears on the side of Rouge's head. "Try it, you overgrown junkyard!"

"Rouge!" Sophia hisses at her.

"What are you waiting for, Shadow? Move it or lose it! A genius like me can't afford to dawdle with danger!" Eggman presses two buttons from the Egg Mobile. "Start ignition and begin egg ascension on the double!"

"Yes sir!" Bokkun gets to work from the Crimson Egg. "Right away!"

"Wait just a minute!" Knuckles stands in front of Eggman, hands on his hips.

"You wait! I'm not about to let those metallic mutants maim me! See ya!" Eggman retorts back. He pulls the levers and Knuckles jumps off, landing on the plane as he looks up at Eggman.

"Hey, come back!"

Eggman flies towards the top and Knuckles glares up at his cowardice. "Now what? I don't even know how to fly this stupid thing!" He sweatdrops at his lack of expertise with planes.

"I have to get back to the doctor," Shadow starts to leave.

"No way, I'm not leaving here empty-handed!" Rouge calls out after him.

"Shadow!" Chris runs after him, followed by Sophia. Their comlinks start beeping and they come to a stop.

"Chris, Sophia, do you two read me?" Amy says to them.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Chris asks as Sophia notices the hedgehog's frown.

"Please help! They're gonna hurt Sonic!" She pleads and she shows them the army.

"The Metarex!" Chris exclaims, Shadow glancing back at the two humans.

* * *

Sonic punches through the robots, but more show up anyway, just like Dark Oak said. He pants heavily, wondering just how many were there.

"Don't worry, Sonic! I got your back!" Amy fires lasers from her ship. "Eat this, Meta-creep!" She blasts at them until some start crawling onto her ship. "Hey, what do you creepos think you're doing?!" She shouts as they claw at the door. "Get off my ship!"

Cosmo turns around from the blue Chaos Emerald. "Oh no, Amy!" She sees the two hedgehogs fighting with all their might, turning back to the emerald. "Maybe the code I deciphered..."

She turns to a control panel and works on it. She glances back to the two emeralds as the glass opens up. Cosmo reaches out to the blue one and suddenly there's a ringing in the air. Sonic turns around to see a large rock being enclosed in metal. Something drops from the ceiling and Cosmo looks down, holding the emeralds in her hands.

"Where's the start button?" Knuckles sweats nervously as he sits in Sonic's seat. "Maybe...that's not it. Ah, where's that geek Tails when you need him?"

He looks up at the ceiling as a large ball falls past him.

"Attention all Metarex. The planet egg has been ejected."

"Without the planet egg, this fortress is of no use," Red Pine says as someone approaches him. "We must destroy the stronghold and all who dwell within it."

Valtor clears his throat and he sweats nervously. "I-I mean...that should be your order, all powerful Valtor! W-What should we do?"

"...Metarex, kill them all."

"But...your niece is in there," Red Pine reminds him.

"If she's as powerful as they say she is...she'll survive," Valtor waves it off, walking away with a sinister smile. "Hopefully not."

The Metarex fires lasers at the Blue Typhoon. "Laser shield Cream, hurry!" Tails urges the rabbit.

"Laser shield activated!" The lasers hit the shield, Cream looking up at Tails. "How long do you think we can hold them back?"

"I don't know, even with the shield up, the Typhoon can't withstand this kind of attack for long!" He tells her, the king and queen looking at the battle in worry.

* * *

Shadow, Chris, Rouge, and Sophia run down the hall. "Shadow, wait! Why can't we find a way out of here together?" Chris asks curiously.

"He's only interested in doing what the boss man tells him," Rouge narrows her eyes at him. She was only assuming that, since she doesn't know that Shadow was only doing it so that he could surprise him when he leaves.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" He tells her and Chris frowns.

"Eggman doesn't care about you! He only wants to use you to get what he wants! Don't you see that?!"

"I know that already!" He shouts, causing all of them to stop in surprise. Rouge lands in front of him.

"What are you talking about? You know that he's hanging you around?" She asks curiously.

"He says he wants to help me, but he's lying!" Shadow grits his teeth.

"So you thought he was going to help you get your memory back? You realized that old Egghead used his promise to you so that you could do his dirty work? How?" Rouge wonders, blinking slowly. Shadow glances at Sophia, who rubs her neck sheepishly.

"Shadow knew that I was the only one who could tell him the truth about what happened...since I was the only person who knew the full story of his past. I told him and he said he'd get back to me on whether or not he'd stay with Eggman, but I guess he made his decision already...but wait, if you did make that decision, why are you still doing what he says?"

"Eggman can't be trusted," Shadow narrows his eyes.

"That's right," Chris nods at him.

"I'm only doing it so that my intentions aren't suspicious."

"Ah," Sophia nods in understanding.

"You helped us before. Can you help us again?" Chris asks Shadow, who glances at Sophia. "Shadow...?"

"I'll help you, but just this one time," He tells Chris. "After that, I'm on my own."

"Watch it, bub," Rouge warns as he holds up a red Chaos emerald, grabbing onto Rouge's arm.

"That's right, I'm keeping my eye on you."

"Talk about insulting!" She shouts and he holds up his other arm.

"Chaos Control!"

Chris jumps in just in time and Sophia teleports after them.

Eggman turns around to see a red glow above him. Rouge and Shadow appear. "Well, it certainly took you long enough!" He's confused to see Chris land on his butt and Sophia landing next to him. She glares up at the doctor. "Well, if it isn't Chris and Princess Sophia. Long time no see."

He stays silent at the sight of him.

"Nice of you to drop in!" Eggman laughs evilly and Sophia stands in front of Chris, who gets onto his feet. "I see Shadow decided to play nice and rescue you from those Metarex meanies. He really is an agreeable little fellow, isn't he? After all, a little squirt like you both would have been no match for those guys!"

Shadow growls underneath his breath, clenching a fist at the insult towards his friend. "I thought you said we were all on the same team!" Chris finally speaks up. "I should've known you'd run when the going got tough."

"Well...better safe than sorry, I say. We don't wanna get hurt, do we, kid?"

"You just want to stay alive than face the consequences," Sophia spits out, Chris giving him a small frown.

"I'm not a kid, okay?!" He calls out in defense.

"Whatever you say, kid," Shadow places the emerald next to the purple one they have. He nods at Sophia secretly and she gives him a thumbs up. "Ah yes. Another day, another conquest. Let's not waste anymore time. It's been nice knowing you, kid."

"Quit talking down to me like I'm some kind of baby, will you? I happen to be 18 years old, not that you can tell!" Chris looks towards the ground, Sophia patting his shoulder. She could tell that he hated being talked down like he has to stay out of the way.

"But how?" Eggman rubs his chin as he stares at the boy. "You're still only bite-sized."

"Oh, yeah? Well I'm tired of you and those Metarex doing everything you can to hurt my friends, so I'm taking matters into my own hands!"

"Really?" Eggman sees him pull something out of his pocket.

"Really!" He throws it onto the ground, blinding the others momentarily. Chris snatches the two emeralds and grabs Sophia's arm, running off with her. Eggman sees the two emeralds gone.

"That little thief!"

They arrive in the hangar and Chris puts the emeralds into his pockets, jumping onto a ship. Sophia lands behind him.

"Thank goodness Shadow is on our side or else we wouldn't have gotten the emeralds," She grins at the advantage they have.

"Activate ignition," He flies the ship out of there as the lasers are still firing. "Here we come, Sonic! Sophia, can you track him?"

"If there's an emerald nearby, I can try," Sophia closes her eyes and points to an entrance at the back of the ship. "That way." He flies the plane through the same pathway that Sonic took. Chris flies as best as he can through the pathway.

* * *

A Metarex blasts at Cosmo's feet, causing her to fall and drops the two emeralds. Sonic gasps, turning around to her.

"COSMO!"

He gets tackled from behind and he looks up at her. "We're too outnumbered, Sonic!" She watches as a Metarex snatches two emeralds. Amy suddenly comes in, skidding past Metarex.

"Not so fast, freak!" Suddenly, there's a giant crash, knocking all of them to the ground.

"What was that...crash?" Amy looks around in worry. Sonic stands up, realizing what's happening.

"They're trying to destroy this place!"

Cosmo stands up, looking towards the purple lights coming from the lasers. "Why would they want to destroy their own fortress?"

"Especially with so many Metarex inside? It doesn't make sense!"

"For the great and noble mission!" They turn back towards the Metarex that's holding the emeralds. "All will be sacrificed," His eyes glow red.

The ship Chris stole is being followed by Shadow.

" _Stop this, Shadow, please!"_

He suddenly gets memories of what happened to him, but all he does is smirk at them. Suddenly, their ship breaks down and they slide to a stop. Shadow walks up to them and Rouge snatches them, flying down below.

"Shadow...you guys are helping us!" Chris smiles in realization.

"If you let me have those emeralds, kid, I'll get you out of here," Rouge smiles hopefully at them.

"You know I can't do that," He gives her a frown of disapproval.

"Well, your loss. Later," She releases him and Sophia opens her mouth in shock.

"Rouge!"

"What? I was gonna let you help him," She replies innocently, releasing Sophia too. She catches his hand and Sophia sighs in relief.

"Guys!"

They turn around to see Knuckles standing on the X Tornado. "Knuckles!"

* * *

The onslaught continues outsides as the purple lasers are still firing. Tails, Cream, Valentina, and Elliot can only watch as their shields deplete further.

"I'm scared, Tails! The shields aren't working! What if they break through?" Cream says in worry.

"Don't worry, Cream, I just fired anti laser torpedoes from cannons two and three. That'll hold 'em a while."

"We shall be safe, young one," Valentina bends down and hugs Cream, who returns it.

"We're in a jam, big time!" Decoe exclaims as they're watching the lasers too.

"Without those emeralds to protect us, we'll be laser lunch!" Bocoe says in terror.

"That's right!" Bokkun for once actually agrees with him. "It's that Chris kid's fault!"

"What is this?" Eggman narrows his eyes at something. "I'm getting a reading. There's a gravity field out there! My, my, those Metarex are just full of surprises!"

Chris flies the X Tornado up towards the ceiling, Sophia standing on one of the wings. As they get closer, they pass right by Shadow. He and Sophia stare at each other in the eyes for a few moments before Chris bursts into the room where their friends are. The door opens and he holds up the red emerald. "Sonic, catch!" He throws the two emeralds and Sonic bumps into a Metarex before running for it. Shadow appears and leaps into the air.

"Shadow, what are you doing?" Sophia calls out in confusion and when all the emeralds are in close proximity of each other, they start glowing. There's a bright light in the air, making everyone gasp. It's so bright that it engulfs the base. Tails, Cream, Cheese, Rose, Valentina, and Elliot stare in shock at the sight, as do Eggman and his robots.

"What is happening?" Red Pine asks as he sees it too. Valtor arrives back inside and sees it. "They are gaining power from the emeralds!"

"It's as if I said before," Valtor chuckles to himself. "It seems I've underestimated my own bloodline...She seems to be quite the adversary..."

Super Shadow, Super Sonic, and Super Sophia stare at each other, the others looking in awe of what's happening. Sonic holds out his hand behind them and with a single burst of chaos energy, the Metarex behind him are defeated. The three then fly outside, where Shadow smirks at the hedgehog.

"Well, Sonic...I see you and I have a lot more in common than I thought we did."

Sonic just stares at him, saying nothing. "Are you going to give me those emeralds? Or am I gonna take them from you by force?!"

"You haven't got any use for those emeralds and you know it!" Sonic retorts back, causing Shadow to fall silent. "We all know you're just collecting them for Dr. Eggman. He's really got you fooled, doesn't he, pal?"

Shadow hesitates with his fist, growling at Sonic. "You don't know anything about me!" He glances at Sophia briefly.

"Shadow...why are you trying to collect the emeralds?" Sophia asks in confusion and he doesn't answer, tackling Super Sonic into a wall. "HEY!" She calls out, flying after them. They crash through the security control room, the girls seeing the flickering lights.

"What are they doing, Amy?" Cosmo asks curiously. "Why are they glowing like that?"

"It's happening," Chris murmurs in realization. "Chaos Control."

More Metarex have arrived, firing at the super-powered trio. Shadow flings Chaos Spears at Sonic, who narrowly dodges them. Sonic stumbles upon him and throws Chaos Spears of his own. They arrive in the same room where Eggman hijacked the planes. The walls start to break and Sophia flies inside, staring at the walls in shock.

"What now?!" Eggman asks in annoyance.

The three fly back outside, where the base starts to separate in black. The two hedgehogs and the girl stare at each other, turning their attention to the base. The wind gets stronger as some asteroids are sucked in. They struggle to not move.

"I don't think I've ever experienced gravity this strong!" Tails exclaims as Amy and Cosmo run into the room.

"Do something, Tails! We're getting sucked in there!"

"And so will Sophia and the others..." Elliot murmurs in fear. Valentina looks outside in worry.

The Metarex ships start to get sucked in as well, some of them getting destroyed. "The gravitational pull is going to destroy the ship! We must go faster! Accelerate to full power?"

"Do it, now," Red Pine orders him, but it's not enough. "Nooooo!"

"Good luck surviving," He turns to Valtor, who holds up one of the fake emeralds. "We're done here."

"You swine! You're abandoning us?!"

"Well, I am the leader," Valtor rubs his chin. "And the most powerful of the galaxy needs to survive...so yes, I shall leave you here. Chaos Control!"

Before Red Pine can yell at him, Valtor disappears from his ship. The red ship slowly gets sucked into the vortex, the Crimson Egg slowly approaching it.

"Don't just sit there, you good-for-nothing gadget brains! Do something!" Eggman shouts at Decoe and Bocoe.

"We're doomed! We're all doomed!" Bokkun starts to panic.

Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and Super Sophia hang onto what's left of the base. The Crimson Egg passes right by them.

"That's Eggman!"

Super Shadow narrows his eyes, jumping off and falling towards the ship. He lands safely on it, standing and pushing the Crimson Egg right into the vortex. When they're safe, he turns back into Shadow.

The Chaos Emeralds also get lost in the vortex, and Sophia tries to move, to no avail.

"Sonic! Sophia!"

They turn around to see the Blue Typhoon. "I thought you'd never get here!"

"Oh thank goodness," Sophia sighs in relief and they close their eyes.

Knuckles is back in the engine room, standing in front of the Master Emerald. "Come, Master Emerald, we're begging you, lend us your mighty power!"

The emerald glows brightly.

"Our engine power's increasing. Bring it up to full speed, Tails," Chris says from his spot.

"You got it, Chris! Full speed ahead!" The ship gets further away from the vortex until the wind is low enough.

"It appears we have greatly underestimated the power of these tiny warriors, Dark Lord." Dark Oak and Valtor are watching nearby from their ship. "Their resourcefulness is to be commended."

"Yes...but I had to test out a few things. She is my niece indeed. We shall see how clever they are in the future..."

"Sophia!" When she returns to the ship, her parents engulf her into a hug. She returns it numbly. "What happened?"

"Mom...Dad..." She murmurs, looking around the room. "Valtor...he's alive."

Everyone except Chris gasps in shock. And now...he's free to terrorize the galaxy...


	65. Mission Match-up

**Angel: This is the second to last update for this month. Next week I'm leaving on Thursday, so I have to update the last one on a Wednesday. Which does mean that I have to take an extra day to write for Sophia X. I only normally write for this story on Tuesdays and Thursdays but hey...I can't change dates XD Also, sorry for yet another late update. This one took a while to finish because I've been busy ^^' I'm excited for my trip! I can't help it!**

 **Also, thanks for over 500 reviews!**

Bajy: Looking forward to reading more soon and excellent job

 **Angel: Thanks! Only 13 more episodes!**

GreenD109: You know, I get the feeling Valtor's the type of villain that abandons his soldiers the moment they outlived their usefulness and either kill them or leave them for dead at the hands of the enemy like he did with Red Pine and his platoon. I'm a little baffled that he's mainly doing all this just to one-up his sister, Valentina, and trying to prove that he's the superior sibling. Either way, with Dark Oak, Lord Valtor and the remaining three generals still out there, who knows what plans they have in store for our heroes and the rest of the planets that still revolts against the Metarex's reign.

 **Angel: He destroyed a planet, his own planet at that, just to one-up her. This is a surprise? In his own eyes, if he can't rule over his homeworld, then he can take over the galaxy, which is higher up. He doesn't care who he has to abandon to achieve his goals, because his home disappointed him by not making him king.**

Guest: If Sonic will turn Dark Sonic later what will happen if Sophia becomes her alien form, will she become dark and evil too?

 **Angel: Nah, she won't become evil. Just because Valtor became evil doesn't mean Sophia will, even though he wants her to. *waves it off* Think of it as a Lion King thing, even though I hate that movie, so bad example XD**

Trent Gaines: Hey, what would Sophia's voice actor be?

 **Angel: Who, not what, and actress, not actor XD And gosh, I really don't know. This is the first time I've been asked this. Maybe Lani Minella? Alycia Delmore? They're both from Nancy Drew games (honestly one of my favorite mystery games). Or maybe just any actress who would do a Sonic anime back in 2003 XD Wait, I got it! Lisa Ortiz. I know she's Amy's voice actress in this anime, but she also voiced Jhanna in the 2003 TMNT show, who Sophia would sound similar too, so I would go with her. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time a voice actress voiced two characters. Heck, Cream and her mother share the same voice actress here. And Yellow Zelkova shares a voice actor...*stifles a laugh* With Chris' father...**

Challishanlon99: Thank you for this chapter I have a question for Knuckles how did you get so strong did you do exercises did the Chaos Emeralds make you strong or were you just born strong and please be careful everyone

 **Knuckles: *flexes his muscles* I'm naturally strong, but I don't use the emeralds like Shadow, Sophia, and Sonic can.**

 **Sophia and Angel: *roll their eyes***

 **Angel: Pretty sure he turned super or hyper once in a video game and never again...he was pink XD Ha ha.**

Johanvanguard: Too bad that Sonic and Sophia didn't fight Dark Oak and Valtor because the villains were holograms. It was interesting what Valtor said about himself and the Metarex. I'm glad that Shadow is on Sophia's side, but has to keep up the act of being on Eggman's side. When the heroes got the emeralds and released the Planet Egg, the Metarex really wanted to get rid of their enemies by blowing up the base. With Sonic, Sophia, and Shadow transforming into their super forms, the heroes and Eggman got of the base alive, and the Metarex lost some of their robots. It was a shocker for the rest of the heroes and Sophia's parents to learn that Valtor is still alive. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia might react to Vector's plan for Tails and Cosmo.

 **Angel: Never thought I'd see the Metarex destroy their own base...**

Gwen: In the next chapter I seriously don't like what Vector does because that is not how love or relationships work.

 **Angel: *snorts* It's a wonder that they can even still get jobs from other people.**

"So my brother lives..." Valentina murmurs as Sophia is sitting across her in the kitchen. Sophia closes her eyes with a sigh. Just the memory of seeing him brought chills to the bone.

"Yes...he said that you and him have been trying to upstage each other for years...and him not being kind is why Xenia was destroyed," Sophia murmurs, Valentina looking at her in horror.

"No! I loved my brother. I would never compete against him for the throne. I played with him, I taught him violin, I helped him bathe. I..." Valentina puts a hand against her open mouth. "He...he had gone through a rebellious streak in his teenager years. It festered further once it was decided that I would be the heir, and..."

She tries not to cry as she realizes that it was all a ruse to plan his revenge...Sophia places a hand on her shoulder in comfort. Valentina lets out a sob and Elliot engulfs her into a gentle hug.

* * *

Cosmo is alone in the main room of the Blue Typhoon, starring out into space. Sonic suddenly speeds into the room, carrying some boxes.

"Oh, this isn't the cargo hold," He looks around and Cosmo turns to him upon hearing his voice.

"Oh, hi Sonic."

"How's it going, Cosmo?" He winks before spin dashing out of there. She sees something growing and looks outside to see the palm trees emerging. Tails stands up, looking at the tree.

"Last one."

"I've been meaning to ask you. What's the point of having these artificial palm trees?" Chris asks him curiously. "It's not exactly tropical out here in space."

"Yeah, I know, but it's all because of your grandfather. Chuck once told me that it's important to make a ship like home to keep up the crew's morale," Tails explains, Chris smiling sheepishly.

"Really? His ideas sure are original."

Amy is pounding on the engine when Sonic stops near her. "Hi Amy. Watch this stuff for me, will ya?" He places the boxes down and leaves.

"Wait Sonic!" She calls out and he stops near the exit, looking back towards her "Uh...do you think Shadow is okay?"

 _Super Shadow jumped towards the Crimson Egg._

Sonic gives her a thumbs up. "Don't worry, he's always making a comeback," And with that he leaves.

"Hey! What should I do with this stuff...?" She pouts when she gets no answer.

While running down the hall, Sonic has a thoughtful look on his face. He knew Shadow would be back, whether or not to start a fight with him being predictable.

* * *

Knuckles is tightening a bolt and Cream looks up at him. "It's lucky for us you can control the Master Emerald. It's saved for the ship!" As she's sifting through the box, she has a small frown on her face. "Do you think that Rouge is going to be okay?"

"Huh?" He's surprised by the question as the last time they all remembered, the ship went along with Rouge. "Who cares about that bat?! It serves her right for fluttering around where she doesn't belong!"

"How can you say that? She's Sophia's friend," Cream gives him a look to not be rude about it.

"How she's friends with a thief, I'll never understand," Knuckles grumbles underneath his breath. Deep down, he wished that she would at least be okay.

* * *

Tails inserts a final part and the system turns on. They were still checking over the ship after what happened with Red Pine and Valtor. "I'm almost done..." Chris suddenly holds his knee, Tails turning around to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Just a little sore," He murmurs and Tails stands up.

"That was a tough fight."

"The Metarex are totally relentless. They keep collecting planet eggs. I know they're transforming them somehow, but I can't figure out why."

"Planet eggs and Chaos Emeralds all have huge amounts of power. I bet the Metarex wanna use that energy to take over the galaxy. They revived Valtor with that kind of power, after all!" Tails crosses his arms with a pout.

"Yeah...how are we ever gonna defeat them? Red Pine said there were three other generals out there with armies of Metarex ready to fight!" Chris expresses his worries.

"I don't know if we can win, but if we give up, the galaxy is doomed."

"...Do you think Valtor survived?"

"If he could be brought back to life, then it's not entirely impossible that he could," Tails frowns as there wasn't any evidence to suggest that Valtor was defeated by a vortex...

* * *

"How could Red Pine be defeated?! He was almost as strong as me!" Yellow Zelkova, another general, gestures to himself.

"What you and Red Pine never understood is that strength must be balanced with intelligence and skill!" Pale Bayleaf scolds, "You're far too proud of your power. Your strength is your weakness."

"You're calling me weak?!" Yellow Zelkova demands.

"This bickering is pointless. We should be fighting our enemies, not each other. We will not win this conflict unless we are unified," Black Narcissus tries to get the subject back on track.

"We're not fighting," Pale Bayleaf eyes the red emerald in his hand. "Just having a difference of opinion over tactics."

"Argue if you want, but my focus will stay on our foes. Especially Sonic and the leader's niece, Princess Sophia. They are far more dangerous than you realize. The fact that they defeated Red Pine is extremely disturbing. I must learn the secret of their speed, and discover their weaknesses. I will not feel at ease until that hedgehog and princess have been eliminated."

"I'm tired of all this talking!" Yellow Zelkova exclaims after Narcissus' speech. "Why don't we go find them and fight them now?!"

"I will not be intimidated by a hedgehog and little girl. They and their fellow fighters were weakened by the recent battle," Pale Bayleaf throws the emerald in the air, catching it. "The powers at our command are more than adequate to finish off Princess Sophia and Sonic forever!"

Someone clears their throat and a third screen arrives on all of their TVs.

Valtor.

"What is this about my niece?" He narrows his eyes at them and they sweat nervously.

"O-Of course we wouldn't harm your niece," Pale Bayleaf stammers, Valtor raising a skeptic eyebrow.

"Really? Then I request that you bring her to me if you plan to attack their ship," He gives a wicked grin at how her parents would react. "My sister shall never forget what she did to me...who better to exact my vengeance on than her own bloodline?"

* * *

The Blue Typhoon gets an alert. "There's an unidentified spacecraft directly in front of us!" Chris exclaims, sweating a bit.

"Have you picked up their ID code?" Tails asks and Amy looks at her screen.

"They aren't sending any."

"Put a visual on the main monitor, maximum zoom!" Tails orders as they all stare outside.

"Roger," Chris starts to pull up the feed.

"Is it a Metarex?" Cream asks as they wait and they see an all-too familiar ship heading their way.

"It's Vector!" Sonic exclaims in realization.

"Not sure how it happened exactly," Espio explains once they meet in the hangar. "But we got lost in space."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Vector just laughs at his explanation. "And there was no place to stop and ask directions!"

"You mean you've been lost since you delivered those packages to me?" Chris asks slowly. "But that was weeks ago."

"Well, outer space is a big place. Plus our warp engine gave out and we didn't gave any jumper cables to restart it!"

"You should've sent out an SOS and we would've picked you up sooner," Sonic suggests, Sophia nodding.

"Our transmitter got broke thanks to a certain bumbling bee," And by bee, he means Charmy.

"It wasn't my fault," Charmy glares up at him.

Tails sighs a bit wearily at this. "I can probably repair your ship, but it may take some time and until I'm done, you'll have to wait on board the Blue Typhoon. While you're standing here, I don't want any trouble, okay? Captain's orders."

Sophia clears her throat, crossing her arms. Tails sweats sheepishly. "And that goes for us too..."

"No problem," Espio agrees with him.

"Huh? Forget it, I'm not gonna let you boss me around," Charmy frowns a bit.

"Fine, then I won't fix your ship," Tails gives an annoyed look. Vector places a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up.

"Don't listen to him. I give you my word we'll be on our bestest behavior! And since you're making repairs anyway, why don't you install a multifunctional auto navigational system? That way we can get home!"

Tails sighs a bit. "No problem..."

"No fighting, no kidnapping, and no shenanigans," Sophia looks between the two groups. "My family and I are going through a hard time right now, so we're not in the mood to deal with you if it comes to that."

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" All the boys salute at her and she walks away.

* * *

Tails is fixing up the ship when Cosmo arrives, pushing a tray of food. She looks up at him.

"Lunch is ready!" She looks around for anyone else, but sees just him. "Hey, where did Chris go?"

"He's finishing the repairs on the Blue Typhoon for me. I got my hands pretty full fixing Vector's ship," He calls out to her and she smiles.

"We sure keep you busy, don't we?"

"Ah, it's nothing I can't handle," He smiles back at her. "And besides, I like making repairs."

"What do you know?" Vector is watching the scene from the doorway.

"What's going on, Vector?" Espio and Charmy arrive.

"Now I see why Tails didn't want us around while he fixes that ship. That little fox sure is foxy!" Vector comments to their confusion.

"Huh?" Charmy looks up at him.

"Tails has a crush on that green girl. He got rid of us so that he could be alone with her and I'll bet he's gonna ask her for a date or invite her to take a space walk so they can gaze at the stars!" Vector guesses even though that's not the case at all...

"I think you and the others have been pushing yourselves too hard lately," Cosmo states while Tails is eating his lunch.

"At least we have time to take it easy now...though, you can't blame the royal family to push themselves, since a family member of theirs is with the Metarex..." He takes a sip of his tea. Cosmo stands in front of him with a small smile.

"Yes, and I hope to brighten their spirits. This would probably be a good time to spring my surprise on everybody."

"What kind of surprise do you have in mind, Cosmo?" He asks curiously and she turns around, her smile widening.

"I'm not going to tell you!"

He smiles softly at her.

"Look at 'em!" Vector tries not to cry. "Tails is too shy and insecure to tell that girl how much he cares about her. I know exactly what that feels like!" He bursts into tears since it's the same thing with him and Vanilla. Charmy gives him a deadpan look.

"I think you drank too much swamp water when you were a baby."

* * *

"Tails says he doesn't need help fixing up my sip, but wandering around doing nothing while he sweats away makes me feel like a freeloader," Vector voices his opinion while they're exploring around the ship. "I've been thinking that since Tails is scratching our back, maybe we oughta scratch his back."

"It's itchy?" Charmy wonders, as he didn't see Tails scratching himself.

"That's just an expression!" Vector yells at him.

"Sorry," Charmy glances away as the alligator is being a little touchy.

"We'll repay Tails for what he's doing by helping 'em win the heart of that green gal!"

"We're detectives, Vector, not matchmakers," Espio points out. "And you heard what the princess said: no fighting, no kidnapping, and no shenanigans, including this one!"

"I've come up with a scheme I call Project Dame in Distress! And the princess will be so happy that she'll be thanking me! Here, let me tell you how it'll work," He moves them over to a wall, whispering to them both.

* * *

Knuckles is watching the Master Emerald and Sophia approaches him. "Hello Knuckles."

"Huh?" He turns around and bows. "Hey your highness."

"Knuckles," She rolls her eyes in slight amusement.

"How are your parents?" Knuckles frowns, knowing that she must've told them at this point about Valtor. "How are they holding up?"

"Mom's too upset to leave their room and Dad's making her favorite food in the kitchen with Cream's help. I wish she didn't have to hear it, but I had to tell her..." Sophia frowns at what she did to her mom.

"It wasn't your fault. She deserved to know."

They suddenly hear a laugh, looking past the emerald. "Hey, who's there?!" Knuckles demands as Sophia pulls out her sword, ready to attack anyone. Charmy comes out of hiding, flying in front of them.

"It's me. I'm getting bored of waiting for my ship to get fixed. Do you wanna play tag with me?"

"Ah," Sophia puts back her sword. "Charmy, you scared me. Sorry, I can't, I gotta check up on my mom," She walks past them.

"Ugh," Knuckles groans, going back to wiping off the stand. "I've got more important things to do."

The bee blows a raspberry at him. "Knuckles can't catch me! Knuckles can't catch me! Knuckles can't catch me! Na na na na!" Charmy teases, Knuckles gritting his teeth in a chuckle.

"You're gonna be sorry you said that, buzz boy!" He runs up to Charmy, who sprays something in his eyes, knocking him unconscious. Charmy then places him down.

"He weighs a ton!"

"Good work, Charmy," Vector peeks around the corner, opening up a bag that has markers. "Now I'll take over." He takes a black marker, holding it over Knuckles' face. "When I'm through, his own mama won't recognize him."

Charmy giggles while Espio is cringing. Vector stands up when he's done. "You take it from here, Espio."

"Right." He makes himself invisible and picks up Knuckles, Charmy and Vector smiling.

* * *

"I hope everybody enjoys my surprise," Cosmo is walking down the hall when Knuckles and the invisible Espio appear in front of her.

"Cosmo."

"Ah!" She screams at his face. The unconscious Knuckles has a beard, thick eyebrows, and eyes over his face.

"I switched sides. I'm fighting for the Metarex now!"

"Ahh..." She just stares at him as he looks...odd.

"I'm going to take you prisoner!" Knuckles falls onto the ground and Espio panics, picking him up. "Resistance is useless. T-The Metarex rule!"

"Uh..." Cosmo has no idea of why he's acting like this, but it couldn't be the truth.

"Growl or something!" Vector encourages from the top of the stairs. Him and Charmy imitate growling so that Espio can get the hint.

"This is ridiculous," Espio mutters to himself before growling, flailing around Knuckles' arms. Tails arrives from the elevator.

"Alright, Tails to the rescue!" Vector cheers and Tails looks at 'Knuckles.'

"What are you doing, Knuckles? Cosmo?"

"Huh?!" Vector and Charmy are surprised that Tails didn't immediately swoop in and 'save' Cosmo.

"Don't ask me. He jumped, said some crazy things, and started dancing," She explains and Tails turns back to him, concerned.

"Knuckles, why do you have makeup all over your face?"

"Huh?" Espio throws Knuckles around as if he's attacking.

"Is that ballet?" Cosmo wonders and Tails steps up to him.

"I don't know..."

"Forget it, Espio!" Vector whispers just as Sophia arrives from one of the doors. "Run for it."

"Knuckles? What are you doing?"

"This isn't over yet, Cosmo!" Knuckles runs away, ignoring the question.

"What was that all about?" She glances at Tails.

"He's acting weird all of a sudden," He rubs the back of his neck, not knowing how to really describe...that.

"I thought Knuckles was always serious. I didn't realize that he was secretly a practical joker," Cosmo giggles in amusement.

"That's because he isn't," Sophia murmurs, staring down the hall. Charmy and Vector sweatdrop, as that did not go as planned...

"Unfortunately, I think Knuckles came out ahead in this round," The bee comments.

"Yeah, this keeps up, he's gonna give Tails some competition."

Vector and Charmy both laugh as that's not saying much.

* * *

On the Crimson Egg, repairs are being made. "That gravity field we fell into really bent me out of shape!" Decoe is fixing his head.

"What about me? Are my dents almost gone?" Bocoe's head looks like a cone.

"You never had any damage. I just enjoy striking you with this."

"Hey, look at me," Bokkun taps Decoe's shoulder and the two turn around to see a taller Bokkun. "You really better stay out of my way!"

"How did you turn into a big-shot?" Bocoe asks in surprise.

"The gravity field must've stretched him out," Decoe suggests, Bocoe standing up

"We can fix that."

"We'll pound you down to size!" They hold up their hammers, chasing after him.

"I like being tall!" Bokkun protests, "You shrimps are just jealous because I can look down at you from now on! Can't we settle this on a basketball court?!"

Eggman and Rouge are standing in front of the canister, the same one Rouge discovered Shadow in. "Well Rouge, you got more than you bargained for when you stowed away on my ship."

"That's an understatement. All I wanted was the Chaos Emeralds."

"I suspected it all along," He confirms and she stares at him curiously.

"What happened to us, anyway?"

"It would appear we were swallowed up by some kind of gravity field, and spit back out into an unknown part of the galaxy."

She blinks slowly. "You're joking, right?"

"It may take us a little while to get our bearings. With luck, we'll be able to return to our own region of space without too much difficulty."

"I hope so," She looks back to the canister. "But what'll we do about sleepyhead here?"

Shadow is inside, hands over his chest with a frown over his face. "Shadow needs some time to recover. He's still knocked out because he released all his energy before he transformed into Super Shadow, and now he's completely run down. I just hope it hasn't had any other interesting effects on him."

"Could he get his memory back?" Rouge asks cautiously, because if she told him, he'd take it away somehow, and she couldn't do that to either him or Sophia.

"Maybe."

She looks back to Shadow, who slowly opens his eyes. "What happened to me, doctor?"

"You passed out, but you're fine."

"Did everybody else make it out safely?" He murmurs, as he was really asking about Sophia.

Eggman grins widely. "You saved us all. Thanks to that ring on your wrist, you overpowered our enemies."

Shadow just stares at him, knowing that he's lying, again. "Really?" He looks back to his wrists, sighing to himself. With time, he'll recover...

And speak to Sophia again.

* * *

Tails is walking down the hall with boxes in his hands while Cosmo is rushing around the corner, also holding some boxes. They bump into each other, causing both to drop all of their items. They both gasp when they see each other.

"Sorry," Tails places a hand on his head with a small frown.

"Ah, it was my fault!" She starts picking up her things. "I should've looked where I was going!"

Tails gives her the last one, looking at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She rushes past him towards the elevator and Tails notices a tiny pink box that he missed. He picks it up and opens it to see a purple flower.

"Cosmo must've dropped this when I bumped into her..."

* * *

"Guys, my new plan's sure to do the trick," Vector says to his friends while they're walking.

"I'm afraid to ask what your plan entails," Espio comments, he was not handling anyone else like with Knuckles.

"Well, it's still a work in progress," He opens up the door to see Tails speeding past them. They look down the hall, confused. "Where's he going?"

A door opens as Tails runs by and he peeks inside to see Cosmo decorating. There's a thank you sign with lights around and next to it. Tails steps up to her as she's trying to reach something.

"Cosmo."

She turns to him in dismay. "Now it won't be a surprise."

He steps up to her with a small smile. "Why did you decide to throw a party for everybody?"

"I know fighting the Metarex can be exhausting, so I thought you all deserved to have a little bit of fun. And with what happened with Valtor...I thought the royal family would love it. You mentioned once that Valentina loves parties."

"It's not easy to put a party together by yourself. Why don't you let me give you a hand?" Tails offers.

"But you have to repair Vector's ship."

"It wasn't in bad shape. I'm already done. I'm all yours now," He winks at her. "And Sophia's mom would love a surprise party."

She laughs a bit, clasping her hands with a grateful smile. "Then I'll take you up on your offer."

"Great! What would you like me to do?"

"Let me see..." She looks around the room, the Chaotix spying on them.

"Tails is doing pretty good on his own," Vector says in surprise. He didn't think Tails had it in him.

"Then there's no need for us to get involved. Let's go." Espio really wanted to stay out of it, if the princess learns about this, who knows what she'll do to them this time?

"We can't leave yet! You're completely clueless when it comes to this stuff, Espio. This romance still needs a little push. And since I'm naturally pushy, I'm just the one to make sure Tails wins that girl. Game, set, and match!" He clears his throat, stepping into the room. "Why hello!"

"Oh, Vector," Cosmo and Tails look at him.

"We were passing by when we overheard you talking about the surprise party! If you don't mind, we'd like to help out too!"

"Oh, thanks a lot," She smiles gratefully.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," Tails crosses his arms, wondering just how the three discovered the room.

"We're repaying you for fixing our ship, foxy woxy!" Vector wraps an arm around him. "All we ask is that you and the missus remember to invite us to the wedding!"

"Huh?!" Tails wasn't sure if he heard that right as Vector glances away with a grin.

"Oh, nevermind!" _Seeing how Tails is so shy, I got a hunch he won't stand anywhere near Cosmo while he's helping her. So we're gonna stage a bogus blackout! That's when me and Espio will make our move and give love a helping hand! After Tails and that girl stand close to each other for a few seconds, I guarantee the sparks will really start flying! We'll call it Project Date in the Dark!_

Vector chuckles in a slightly sinister way, concerning Cosmo and Tails. "Okay, you can help us if you promise to back off."

Espio holds the latter for Cosmo while she's putting up streamers, Tails and Vector setting up the lighting. "It's just as I suspected!" He gives a signal to Charmy, who dims the lights. "Let's move!" He grabs a box.

"Okay." Espio grabs some streamers, but the two bump into each other, knocking themselves onto the ground. The lights turn back on and the two rush over to them.

"Are you alright?"

"Don't you guys know it's dangerous to run in the dark?" Tails asks.

"Even the best plan could blow up on ya..." Vector groans from the ground.

"Are you ready to give up now?" Espio asks while Tails and Cosmo are putting up more lights.

"I'm just starting to get warmed up, old buddy!" Vector declares, "No matter what it takes, I'm gonna make sure that true love triumphs!"

"You should let their relationship develop naturally," Espio argues back. Love wasn't something Vector could just force upon the unsuspecting two.

"My next scheme's so perfectly quantumly it can't fail! All I need is for you to disappear!"

Espio recoils back at his outburst. "But Vector-"

He stands up, giving him a look. "I'll do it."

Espio is invisible near Cosmo. "Hey Cosmo," Tails walks up to her.

"Huh?" She turns around.

"Do you have any more streamers for me to put up?"

"Go," Vector whispers and Espio knocks down a napkin. Tails picks it up, holding it out.

"You dropped your hanky, Cosmo."

"But that's not mine," Cosmo blinks in confusion.

"Well, whoever this belongs to really needs to drop it in the washing machine."

"Hey look, something is embroided there," Cosmo points at it.

"Vector," Tails spells out the gator's name and Espio faints in disbelief. "Vector, I think you better have this thing disinfected."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Vector blushes in embarrassment.

"I'm not gonna get involved in any more of your hanky-panky," Espio refuses to help anymore.

"I can't believe how Tails keeps blowing the opportunities I've given him!" Vector grumbles at all of their failed attempts.

"For a detective, you certainly are clueless," Espio deadpans at him.

"It looks great, Cosmo!" Tails looks at all the decorations when they're done.

"I never would've finished without your help, Tails," Cosmo looks at him gratefully. "I really owe you."

"You don't have to thank me, Cosmo," He smiles as he finishes up the flowers. "I like being with you?"

"Ah, really?" She blushes a bit before smiling. "Me too, Tails. It's been fun to work together. We make a pretty good team, don't you think so?"

"I agree," They smile at each other and the three look on.

"Well Vector, I'd say there's no need for you to turn up the heat, unless you wanna get burned again," Espio comments, glad that the two had a nice moment _without_ Vector's interference.

"I guess it's true being a love detective ain't exactly my specialty," Vector looks down at Charmy.

"So our matchmaking mission is finally over, Vector?" Charmy asks curiously as the alligator walks past him.

"Not yet, Charmy. Those two squares still need to learn how to have a ball!" He kicks a disco ball, which ricochets around and goes straight for Cosmo!

"Cosmo!" Tails rushes in and he pushes her to the floor. Tails looks down at her in concern. "You weren't hurt, were you, Cosmo?"

She looks up at him, blushing at how close he is. "I'm fine, Tails, thanks to you."

He notices the proximity between them and recoils back. "Sorry..."

"Oh..." She sits up, "That's okay."

Tails glares at the Chaotix, blushing in embarrassment as the three are watching intensely. "Don't you have something better to do?!"

"No, not really," They say in unison. Cosmo picks up the disco ball, looking up at the ceiling. The ladder she has is too short to reach all the way up there...

Suddenly, Tails grabs her waist, flying her up to the ceiling. He chuckles and she glances back at him, seeing his sparkling blue eyes. "You look like you could use a lift."

He helps her plant the disco ball right in the center. "Lucky for me you know how to fly."

"I've been thinking..." He starts off nervously.

"What is it?"

"Uh," He glances away, unsure how he was gonna ask this. "Maybe...we could do this more often."

"Their relationship's taking off!" Vector places his hands on his hips proudly.

"Time to party!" Tails turns on the disco ball and it lights up the whole room. "Whoa, wait till the others see this!"

"It's amazing! Now we have to figure out how to get everybody in here," Cosmo smiles at how beautiful everything looks.

"What do we do?"

The Chaotix stand in front of them. "We'll bring all your guests to your surprise party, courtesy of the Chaotix Detective Agency!" Vector offers, all of them bowing. Really, he just wanted to leave the two alone so they could have some privacy.

* * *

"Lemme see..." Vector thinks to himself as they're walking down the hall. "How can we get the crew to the party?"

"For starters, we could promise you won't be there," Espio comments, rubbing his chin. "Perhaps Princess Sophia could be of assistance."

"Ah," Sophia just happens to arrive, crossing her arms as she turns to look at them. "Mind explaining this?" She gestures to an angry Knuckles walking past her.

"If I ever run into those clowns again...huh?" He sees them down the hall. The three sweat nervously. "You messed up my face," Knuckles pulls out his shovel claws. "And now I'm gonna return the favor!"

"Hold on, I can explain!" Vector calls out as they back away slowly in fear. "Princess?"

Sophia holds up her hands slowly, meaning for once, she's letting Knuckles get angry. The three run down the hall as Knuckles chases them.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Vector runs into the room where the party is and Knuckles slides to a stop. He opens his eyes when the door is opened.

"It's payback time!"

While trying to hit them, he destroys the party decorations. When Tails and Cosmo come back with Sonic and Sophia, they gasp.

"What have you guys been doing in here?" He demands and Cosmo gives a dejected look when Tails explains.

"Cosmo wanted to do something special for us, so she was gonna throw us a surprise party. I guess it's off now..."

"Whoops," Knuckles looks down in guilt. The Chaotix look just as guilty.

"Do you have to cancel the party, hmm?" Vector glances at the silent Cosmo.

"Of course you don't!" Cosmo looks up at Sonic in surprise. "We don't need any fancy decorations to have a good time. All that matters is we're together."

"And the thought would still be appreciated. Thank you for throwing us a surprise party, Cosmo...or at least trying to," Sophia glares at Knuckles and the Chaotix, who smile sheepishly.

"...Right, you two," Cosmo smiles in relief.

"Thanks for the party," Sonic gives her a thumbs up with a wink while Sophia gives Cosmo a small hug.

 _Great, she likes Sonic now. It's back to square one!_

"Can you four apologize for what you did?" Sophia places a hand on her hips.

"We're sorry," The four bow their heads to Cosmo.

"That's alright. It was an accident."

"Now that we got that over with...I think I owe it to Cosmo for what she did by fixing this mess, and you guys better not ruin it this time!" Sophia crosses her arms at the four, who salute to her.

Sophia speeds around the room, fixing it back to normal in a flash. Cosmo beams, clapping at how Sophia got her decorating skills from her mother.

* * *

Knuckles paints over Espio's face, Charmy giggling. They allowed themselves to be painted by Knuckles as payback for earlier.

Amy twirls around in a pink ball gown. "Well Sonic, what do you think? Do you like my party dress?"

Sonic just stares as Cream smiles at her. "You look gorgeous, Amy!"

"I wore this dress just for you," Amy spins around to face Sonic. "Now you can tell me how pretty I am."

He says nothing as she grabs his hands. "I know...you're too stunned for words."

Sophia looks at them with a giggle. She wears a baby pink flowing dress which has purple dots and little purple roses on it. Her dress hangs on her left shoulder. There is a light green ribbon with a small purple flower on it below her chest. She also wears a light green bracelet which has two purple flowers on it. Her wedges are brown with a purple flower on each shoe. Her hair is accessorized with purple flowers and thin white hairbands in a nice bun.

"So there I was, flushed down the sewer and with no hope of escape except for my superior brain power!" Vector points to his brain, talking with Knuckles, Tails, and Chris. Charmy and Espio pop up next to him, taking on karate poses. The boys just laugh and Tails looks at Cosmo, who's looking out the window. Valentina and Elliot are having fun dancing together.

Tails walks up to the plant girl, "Cosmo?"

"Uh?" She turns to him. "Hi Tails."

"It wasn't quite what we expected," He looks outside, "But the party turned out great!"

"I'm glad everybody's having a good time," She smiles, looking out at the stars again.

"Oh yeah!" He has something in his hand, holding out his fist to her. "Here."

"Huh?" She looks at the flower clip in her hands.

"You dropped this before. I polished it up for ya."

She beams at how pretty it looks. "I hope you don't mind."

"I think it's just wonderful! Thank you so much!" She smiles happily at him.

"I was hoping it would make you happy."

She looks out at the stars again, her smile bigger than it was before. _Cosmo certainly is special. I only wish I could tell her how I feel..._

"You're so beau-ahhh!" Tails stops himself from finishing that sentence, realizing that he was about to say that out loud.

"It's true the stars are beautiful," She thankfully doesn't notice the slip up. "I'm so happy right now, I feel like I could stand here staring at them forever."

"So do I..." Tails laughs sheepishly at his earlier mistake.

"It worked!" Vector cheers as he sees the two. "Setting up Tails and Cosmo was a great idea...because it was mine!"

"Excuse me?"

The Chaotix freeze up, turning around slowly to see Sophia, who taps her foot against the floor, arms crossed. "No wonder why Knuckles was acting weird earlier. That was you?"

"He did it!" Charmy points accusingly at Vector.

"I wanted nothing to do with this, it was his idea!" Espio also points at Vector. "He was trying to force Tails and Cosmo together all day!"

"Vector!" Sophia hisses at him in disbelief. "You can't just force people in a relationship! That's not how it works! You should've let them become a couple on their own! Love is supposed to develop naturally, on their own time."

"It worked, didn't it? Now Tails and that green girl are happy together!"

Sophia slaps them all across the face and they groan in pain on the floor. Everyone else in the room just blinks before going back to enjoy the party.


	66. Clash in the Cloister

XenoSlayer983: This story has been great so far. Great action sequences, comedic moments, drama, character development, everything the series has to offer. Once the story finishes, I'll probably be able to continue my Spider-Man/Sonic X crossover story that I've left untouched for two whole years since I've been focusing on other things in my life. Keep it up, and I hope you have a great vacation next week!

 **Angel: Oh wow, no one's ever said that, thanks XD And two years? Well, if it was important, then just be glad you focused on those things. And thank you again. This time, I'm not taking care of kids like I did the last two cruises, and my sister and I are getting our own room! Yay *beams widely***

Challishanlon99: Now you guys will remember not to interfere with relationships if they're happening they have to happen naturally not force and Sophia you did the right thing by slapping them I would slap them too. By the way Amy Sophia where'd you guys get the dresses I mean seriously did you just make them or did you bring them along from your closet? And Tails did you really make the Blue Typhoon by yourself I got to say if you did that's pretty cool making a spaceship by yourself or with your friends is pretty cool and one other thing Tails no matter what never give up on yourself okay? And you too Cosmo never give up on yourself.

 **Sophia: Thank you and Cosmo got them for us as a gift. We went shopping on one of the planets we visited and she secretly bought them.**

 **Tails: I built it by myself, but I had some help. And thanks. *laughs, rubbing the back of his neck* I will take that advice...**

 **Cosmo: Yes, thank you.**

Bajy: Love it! A party and hilarious antics for the Chaotix, hehehe. Great job as always, the next chapter will certainly be intense and insane, I look forward to reading more in the next chapter!

 **Angel: You're exactly right.**

Johanvanguard: It's nice that Sonic and the others helped Vector and his group in their time of need. Vector's failed attempts at getting Tails and Cosmo together was funny. Good thing that Tails and Cosmo did grow closer naturally. I'm glad that Cosmo's surprise party for the heroes did cheer up everyone. Sophia suspicious of Vector's plan and slapping him and his group for their plan were great. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will do against Zelkova.

 **Angel: Well...they couldn't just leave them there, no matter what they do. That slap tho XD**

 **My leave date got changed from Thursday to Wednesday, so I had to use the rest of my time to write this XD Sadly, you guys will have to wait until I return back to be able to see Sophia's alien form. *puts on sun hat and sunglasses* See you guys in July! *picks up suitcase and dashes out of there like Sonic***

The Blue Typhoon is quiet as the Master Emerald sits in the engine room, Knuckles finishing the updates. He wipes his forehead with a smile.

"That should do it. Alright Tails, everything's tightened up and good to go. You can take off whenever you're ready."

"Roger!"

Some rocks fly past into a gravity field and they all stare at it. "So way beyond that gravity pool, there's an even deeper part of space called the intergalactic cloister?" Amy asks curiously as Knuckles arrives.

"I'm no expert, but it sounds pretty accurate to me," Tails stares at the gravity field outside. Cosmo nods at him and Chris turns to Sonic and Sophia.

"Something bothering you?" The two have been silent for a while.

"We've been thinking..." Sonic starts off, to Chris' surprise. "Everyone back home must be worrying an awful lot about you these days. We feel like we oughta figure out a way to get you back there, don't you think?"

"They must really miss you, especially your parents. You did kinda jump the gun when you arrived here," Sophia bites her lip. If she knew anything about Nelson and Lindsay, it's that they tend to go overboard when Chris is gone...

"But how can you say that? You think I could just abandon you to battle those Metarex alone?" Chris asks in disbelief. "There's no way!"

They all stare at him and Tails frowns a bit. He glances at Sonic and Sophia. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Tails gasps at this.

"Sure I am! And besides, don't forget I'm 18 now, which means I get to be your chaperone so you won't get into too much trouble!"

"Chaperone?" Sonic frowns at that.

"That's right!"

"But Chris...I'm technically older!" Sophia points out and the three chuckle at that.

The Master Emerald starts to glow in the engine room and Knuckles smirks. They fly towards the gravity field. "Typhoon Laser Shield, activate!"

The blue shield forms around the entire ship as they slowly approach the center. All of them are nervous; they have absolutely no idea what's on the other side of it.

"8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" Cream counts down. "Here we go!"

As they're slowly getting closer, they all gasp. Amy turns to Chris in concern. "We're gonna make it...aren't we?"

He turns to her and nods, but things start spinning. "Freaky," Amy comments as her face is slightly out of proportion. So is Chris' as he blinks.

"I feel really weird," Tails comments, holding his cheeks. Even the ship itself is affected as they get closer and closer.

"I think I'm about to be sick," Sophia covers her mouth, nauseated from the dizziness.

"What's going on?" Chris murmurs as it gets worse and then...nothing.

Sonic opens his eyes to see everyone else knocked out. "Everybody okay?"

They lift their heads up at his voice, Chris glancing at the others. Cream is trying to wake up Cheese while Tails is holding his head. "Cheese, wake up!"

Amy snaps out of it, looking outside. "Where are we?" Their environment is suddenly unfamiliar as they're not outside the gravity field any longer. "It looks so stranger."

"Strange isn't the word for it!" Tails comments and Cosmo steps up.

"We're in the cloister."

"We made it!" Chris exclaims, Sonic smirking.

"Now we gotta get to the other side."

"Whatever awaits us, we must be careful. We do not know the dangers in this place," Elliot glances at all the yellow around them.

The engines go at full speed as they look around their surroundings. "This place is more twisted than I thought," Knuckles murmurs to himself.

"Twisted is right. Hat's space debris from surrounding planets left to float around in space," Tails explains, Amy giving a deadpan look.

"Looks gross if you ask me!"

They gasp again as the ship slowly comes to a stop. "What's the matter, Tails?" Cream glances at the fox, who examines the front of the ship with a scanner.

"I think we're trapped," He gives a small frown.

The engine room is wrapped around with vines from the outside. "My sister Galaxina and I used to love gardening," Cosmo explains to Cream and Sophia as everyone is helping with pulling the vines out. "It's great therapy."

"Oh, gardening is a passion of mine," Valentina reveals with a small smile. "In fact, Elliot proposed to me with a thousand roses." She sighs happily at the memory. "It was the happiest day of my life."

"Aww, that's sweet," Sophia smiles at her.

"Yeah sure, cutting through unidentified space gunk really does it for me too," Knuckles grumbles next to Amy.

"Knuckles! Show some respect," Valentina frowns at him.

"Just shut it and cut it!" Amy tells him sharply, the glares from both women making him sweat nervously. Amy and Knuckles catch Tails waving around a long stick. "What's that you've got?"

"A laser power weed whacker. I made it when I used to help Ella with her gardening. Now tackling stubborn weeds is a breeze!" He says, going back to whacking.

"Well, hand it over," Amy holds her hand out.

"Huh?" He asks in confusion. "But I..."

"We've got a better idea." Tails turns around to Chris, running next to Sonic. The hedgehog jumps into the air, the bottom of his shoes turning into weed whackers. Sonic cuts through the weeds easily, Cosmo turning around to the boy.

"He's using your power shoes to cut the vines!" She realizes, to which Chris nods.

"Here," He throws Sophia a pair and she puts them on, jumping up to cut weeds also. They watch as in no time, there's a pile of vines behind them. The two land safely, wiping off their hands.

"Well, that wasn't too hard."

"Took less than..." Sophia checks her watch. "A minute."

"They might not be so easy!" Cream points outside as large pillars grow in front of the ship. The duo look outside to see them grow so large, they're not even sure where it stops.

* * *

"...Excellent," Valtor is grinning from ear to ear from his ship, hands behind his back. "They can't escape me now. As of today, those idiots are...'coincidentally' trapped inside the cloister. How delightful." He chuckles evilly and Pale Bayleaf looks up at him.

"I implore you, Master, send me."

"No, grant me the honor, oh mighty one," Black Narcissus argues and Valtor slaps them both across the face.

"YOU ADDRESS ME AS YOUR HIGHNESS OR YOUR GREATNESS! NOTHING MORE OR NOTHING LESS!" Being called Master or mighty was beneath him. He is a king, and therefore, he expects to be called as such.

Dark Oak sweats nervously at this outburst, backing away slightly. Luckily he didn't volunteer or else he'd be facing his greatness' wrath...

Yellow Zelkova suddenly runs into the room, destroying things left and right. Valtor simply watches in interest. "This task requires strength! It is I who should go, Yellow Zelkova!"

"Zelkova, how dare you-"

"Enough!" Valtor interrupts Dark Oak sharply. "Zelkova, was it? I see your eagerness, and after seeing this display, I shall allow you to dispose of those fools, but do not harm my niece. However, I warn you, I want everyone else on that ship destroyed. My sister and brother-in-law may perish for all I care."

"I shall not betray your trust, your greatness!" Yellow Zelkova throws away the pipe, running out of the room bravely. Valtor sinks into the floor, leaving the other three generals to sit and think about what just happened.

"How could his highness choose that buffoon Zelkova?" Black Narcissus asks in disbelief.

"It is not for s to decide, Narcissus. We must wait and see," Pale Bayleaf defends, to which Dark Oak scoffs at.

"Ha! When we are given the chance, we shall be in his good graces..."

* * *

The Blue Typhoon is now stuck, as there seems to be no way to get past the roots. "They just came out of nowhere," Amy looks up at them as they're all outside.

"Another dirty Metarex trick!" Sonic glares at them.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere. Great," Chris grits his teeth.

"Chris is right, you guys, I don't see a way out of this," Tails scratches his cheek, Cosmo looking up at the vines in worry. Tails glances at her, noticing her defeated look. "Wait a minute! We can't give up that easy! We just gotta put our heads together!"

"Yeah," Cosmo beams at him.

Knuckles jumps towards the vines, punching one...but they're too hard to break as he falls onto the ground. Tails looks down dejectedly as Knuckles rubs his hand.

"Uh...that worked well."

Sophia facepalms at him and suddenly, there's a shaking noise. Knuckles looks up to see one of the pillars toppling down, and it wasn't because of Knuckles.

"Chris, something's coming!" Cream frowns a bit.

"Yeah, something big."

"Not something."

Chris, Amy, Cheese, and Cream look at Sophia in confusion as she's glaring straight forward.

"Someone."

Another pillar falls and Amy steps up bravely. "We have to be ready!"

"Yeah," Sonic takes a stance and two feet are running towards their location. Knuckles growls as they hear it getting closer. Sophia slowly pulls out her sword and Yellow Zelkova reveals himself to them, chuckling as he takes one step forward.

"What's so funny, big guy?!" Knuckles demands in annoyance.

"You will find out enough, my friend." He laughs again at their cluelessness.

"Well, let's hear it, tough guy!"

"My name is Yellow Zelkova. My ruler, Valtor of Xenia, has sent me to destroy the hedgehog! Nothing will stand in the way of my task! Sonic and all who stand with him are doomed!" He holds up one of the pillars.

"I would be more frightened if he was not such a...doofus," Elliot whispers to his family, who hide a chuckle.

"Whoa!" Knuckles exclaims at Zelkova's strength. He throws it towards the group, Tails, Chris, Cream, and Cheese running away. It lands in front of them, breaking into pieces.

"Quick, get back inside the Typhoon!" Sonic orders the others.

"Come on, guys!" Tails calls out to them, but Amy stays, holding her hammer.

"Amy, you too!" Sonic tells her, and she holds up her hammer.

"But why?"

"This isn't just Eggman we're dealing with, now get inside!" Sonic argues back, Sophia nodding in agreement.

"If he's after my family, he's after me too. I can't have anyone fighting my battles for me," She gestures to herself. "If anyone should be hurt, I won't let it be my parents."

"If you say so, guys," Amy runs towards the ship, Knuckles staying with the two.

"This oughta be fun," Sonic looks up at Zelkova.

"Looks like we're gonna need some ammunition," Knuckles runs towards a rock, trying to pick it up to no avail. Sonic and Sophia wilt at this, while Zelkova just lacks at Knuckles' low strength compared to his.

"You weakling," He picks up another pillar, Knuckles sweating.

"Whoa, he's not fooling around!"

"That's because he's determined," Sophia narrows her eyes at the robot. "He just wants what the other generals want: to destroy us and kidnap me."

He throws the large object, the trio jumping out of the way as it breaks against the Blue Typhoon's metal. The others stare up in shock, while Zelkova just laughs at their terror, spinning around pillar above him.

"Ready when you guys are," Knuckles says as they look at him.

"Then let's do this!" The two declare, jumping towards Zelkova. They narrowly miss the projectiles as Zelkova throws them at the three. He picks up another and Knuckles pulls out the shovel claws. He jumps into the air and swipes at Zelkova, but it appears to do nothing.

"Perhaps I should show you how it's done!"

"Uh oh," Knuckles murmurs and Zelkova smacks the echidna away.

"Knuckles, no!" The two exclaim and the Metarex general charges forward, weapon in hand. He pushes them into the Blue Typhoon, everyone inside gasping.

"Oh no, Sonic!"

"Sophia," Valentina murmurs in worry.

Sophia groans, holding her head as Zelkova is charging straight at the two. Knuckles glances at the duo. "There's no way we can beat him, he's too strong for us!"

"Big boy may be strong, but there's one thing he's not: speedy!" Sonic smirks at Knuckles.

"Oh. Duh," Sophia facepalms at the simple solution. Zelkova raises the pillar into the air, but when he slams it down, both Sonic and Sophia disappear.

"They have vanished! Huh?" He looks up to see Sonic standing on top of the weapon, Sophia sitting next to him.

"You gotta be quicker than that if you wanna keep up with us!" Sonic teases, hands on his hips.

"I'll show you, hedgehog and princess!" He spins the pillar around, but they play on top of it, taunting him. "You come down from there!" He tries again, but fails, both of them laughing at his frustration. The others look on in concern.

"We have to do something! That awful monster's going to smash them!" Cream frowns, Cheese and Rose agreeing with her. She would've gone outside to help her owner, but Sophia wouldn't be able to live with herself if Rose went outside.

Zelkova smacks the pillar against the metal, causing the two to fall onto the ground. He raises it again, but this time, Knuckles catches it before he could flatten the two. He holds it up and Zelkova tries to flatten him instead.

"So, you think just because I'm little, I'm no match for you, is that it?"

Zelkova just nods to his accusation. "I should think that would be obvious, my friend."

"Well, you're wrong, my friend," Knuckles growls back.

"We shall see how wrong I am, after I pulverize you and the rest of your tiny team. Give up, you cannot win."

"Okay," Knuckles grits his teeth, lifting the pillar up higher. "That about does it. Take that, Meta dope!" He throws Yellow Zelkova off, to everyone else's shock.

"Did he really just do that?" Chris murmurs in confusion.

"Oh my," Cosmo gasps at Knuckles' sudden gain in strength. When Yellow Zelkova falls onto the ground, the pillar crashes onto him. Knuckles steps closer.

"That's done."

But the pillar suddenly starts shaking, causing Knuckles to sweat nervously. The pillar breaks in half, leaving only a hole. Yellow Zelkova lifts himself out, laughing.

"Not quite, my friend."

"But...but that can't be!" Knuckles stammers in disbelief. How was he even still alive after that blow?

"We shall see who will destroy who!" Yellow Zelkova charges straight at Knuckles, knocking him into the sand. He skids against it before slowly sliding to a stop.

"Knuckles," Chris and Cosmo turn to him in worry.

"Is he okay?"

Knuckles struggles to get onto his feet as Yellow Zelkova is running towards him. "Prepare for your doom!" He laughs as the echidna is too distracted to look up. Sonic and Sophia suddenly rush in, saving him.

"Right on time."

"You're welcome," Sophia winks at him. Zelkova crashes right into a pillar, knocking down others in a domino fashion. Sonic looks over Knuckles, while also seeing the damage that Zelkova is causing. The three land on top of a cliff.

"This is gonna take some fancy footwork," Sonic whispers to Sophia and Knuckles. "Got it?"

Knuckles chuckles with a big grin. "Got it."

"This has to work...if we don't stop him, he'll really hurt our friends," Sophia stares at Zelkova. The three nod to each other.

"Where are they?" Zelkova searches for them. "How can I destroy them when they move so quickly?!"

"What's the matter, buddy? I thought you said it was big bad demolition time!" He turns around at the sound of Sonic's voice, seeing the hedgehog jump over him. Sophia follows on flight as they land on the X Tornado, then landing on the ground.

"Come and get us!" Sonic waves his foot around, Sophia blowing a raspberry.

"You asked for it." He charges again towards the two, but they jump away, dodging him. The Blue Typhoon starts to become affected as they're in close range within the attacks. "Show yourself, hedgehog and puny human!"

"Hey, over here!" Knuckles calls out and he turns around to see the echidna dancing around, teasing him.

"Are you toying with me?" Yellow Zelkova goes over to hit him, but Knuckles dodges him, the Blue Typhoon getting slightly pushed away.

"Let's do this, Knuckles!" Sonic gives him a thumbs up, nodding. Knuckles smirks and when Zelkova looks around, he sees the duo waving him over. "Hey, what are you waiting for, big fella?"

"I think he's chicken!" Knuckles teases and he looks between the two.

"Come on, chicken boy, we're ready for ya!" Sonic says.

"Show us what you got!" Sophia waves him over.

"You mock the great Zelkova?!" He growls and punches against the ship. He does it again, Amy glancing outside.

"Hey, what are those guys doing? Are they gonna battle that thing or aren't they?"

The three are smirking at Zelkova, who charges once more. "Your clever taunting has come to an end!"

"Yeah, whatever," They say in unison, jumping up from another punch. The Blue Typhoon slides, causing everyone inside to scream.

"Goodness, what danger are they putting themselves through?" Valentina places a hand on her thumping heart.

"Your foolishness grows worse in a minor minute! Will you fight me or not?!" Yellow Zelkova demands.

"Sure, we'll fight ya." He looks up to see them on the cliff again.

"Then come down here."

"I think we've kept him waiting long enough," Knuckles glances at the other two. "What do you say?"

"It's show time!"

"I've had enough of your game!" Yellow Zelkova glares up at them. "Your pathetic attempts at victory are at an end!" He laughs confidently, but they just smirk.

"Get ready, Tails!" Knuckles calls out.

"Time for Sonic/Royal Power Cannon!" Sophia and Sonic declare with determined faces. Tails nervously gets started, Yellow Zelkova confused by the weapon name.

"Sonic/Royal what?"

"Later!" Knuckles waves at them as he runs off.

"What are you doing?! You think you can fool Zelkova?!" Despite his accusation, he's sweating in fear.

"Prepare the main cannon!" Tails orders from inside the ship. "Activate energy link!"

The walls open up as the cannon lifts itself from the ship in front of the duo. Knuckles reaches the Master Emerald and pulls a lever, powering it up.

"This is gonna be fun, heh heh," He chuckles at the thought of Zelkova finally getting what's coming to him.

"Increase pressure and main detonator! Main power level set," Tails says as Sophia and Sonic run at the same pace. "Okay guys, get in position."

They leap and land at the platforms. "Here goes!"

The two spin dash inside the cannon, getting an increase in power from the cannon.

"Deactivate safety trigger. Target locked on B for bullseye!" Tails aims at Zelkova, who's scratching his head in confusion. He had no idea what was about to happen to him...

"Launch Sonic/Royal Power Cannon NOW!"

The cannon powers up and the two burst out, flying towards a shocked Zelkova. "What is happening? The lights are too bright, I cannot see! Where are you, Sonic and Princess? I thought you were brave, show yourselves! I command you!"

The two push him back and he screams as he's knocked into multiple pillars by their strength.

"Direct hit!" Tails cheers as Sophia's parents clap with a smile. "Now to break down those rocks! Knuckles, ready?"

"Yep!" Knuckles grins, "Let's charge up. Master Emerald, can you hear me?" He holds out his hands and the Master Emerald glows in response. The generator powers up. "Give us all your power!"

The pillars start falling as Zelkova is up in the ceiling. "No, the barriers! They mustn't!"

Sophia and Sonic start cutting through them, eventually stopping as Sonic finds himself falling. Sophia's wings open as she takes hold of him by the arms, landing on the cliff.

"Start the engine, Tails!" Sonic calls out as all of the pillars fall, allowing the Blue Typhoon to fly past. The ship flies past all of the pillars, Tails staring outside. He flies past Zelkova.

"You will not get by! The great master Valtor has more in store for you! Mark my words, we will destroy you yet!" He declares, to which Knuckles smirks.

"Sure, bring it on, meta loser, and we'll be waiting for you! And give Sophia's crazy uncle our regards, huh?!"

Sonic stands up, Sophia glancing in his direction to see their ship flying up to them. "SONIC!" Amy cries out in relief as she's waiting for him on top of the ship. Sonic and Sophia jump ono the front. "You're okay!" She engulfs Sonic into a hug.

"Of course, Amy. I wouldn't let my friends get hurt," Sophia smiles softly and Amy hugs her too.

"Thank you!"

They fly towards the exit, leaving Yellow Zelkova behind. "Thanks to Sonic, Knuckles, and the princess, we made it through that cloister with only a scratch!" Cream cheers, Cheese pointing to outside. They can see the portal exit just up ahead.

"Good going, gang!" Sonic congratulates, Chris staring at the bright light.

 _Yeah, we made it this far...but who knows what'll happen when we get out there?_

Cosmo looks worried too as there's a hand to her heart. The Blue Typhoon is certainly at risk...


	67. Testing Time

**Angel: Hey guys, I'm returning to upload chapters for Sophia X. I can't say for sure when I'll finish...I'll try to finish before school starts, but that's not likely. And yes, Sophia's 'Dark Form' is finally here.**

GreenD109: The fact that Valtor has Dark Oak, Black Narcissus, Pale Bayleaf, and Yellow Zelkova under the palm of his hands almost makes me feel sorry for them...Almost. Still, I can understand that Valtor is highly cunning and intelligent, but how powerful is he, and what kind of abilities makes him so fearsome and malevolent. Also I'm kinda wondering if Sophia has a Dark form that even she's not aware of. I mean everyone has a shard of darkness within them, no matter how small it may be.

 **Angel: In time, you'll know just how powerful he is. But then again, he did destroy his own planet. And yes, yes she does, but she's aware of it. She just doesn't use it...you'll see why.**

Crazycartoons5488: Those crazy evil robots are nuts.

 **Angel: Well...most of them. I don't see Yellow Zelkova as a serious threat.**

Challishanlon99: Hey I was wondering Cosmo if you're very good at speaking the planet doesn't that mean the plants can help you you know like if somebody makes you mad they could make their vines and stuff to capture the bad guys do you know what I mean right? And another thing if you walk out the chance would you guys join the Olympics the Olympics are special type of games they have running games strength games some even have dancing games and at the end you win money and golden prizes like medals and stuff I think that you guys would all get first place and please be careful everybody I really don't want anyone to get hurt and Amy Cosmo Sophia Cream Cheese and Sophia's mom I think all of you and all the other girls would be the best dancers ever I think you're very very nice just like everybody else take care of everybody and stay safe please.

 **Cosmo: I can only speak to them. I don't get angry enough to use plants like that. That would hurt them.**

 **Sophia: But they are in the Olympics!**

 **Sonic: Yeah, with Mario, Luigi, and all of our other friends.**

 **Angel: The first game came out in 2007, how do you know about that?**

 **Tails: I showed them on my computer...Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. But we're only there summer and winter.**

 **Angel: Oh. Well, there's supposed to be a new one coming out this November, from what I read. And...if you don't want anyone to get hurt, then I suggest you don't read the part where Sonic and Sophia come for their friends.**

Bajy: The next chapter, one of my favorites, will be dark, I just know it, great job here as usual, looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: It's a favorite of mine too...yeah, that got really dark ^^'**

XenoSlayer983: Alright, an early update! Only twelve more chapters left. I have a feeling things are gonna get more emotional before we get to the final chapter, and by the time it does, I'm gonna be listening to some Avengers: Endgame soundtrack to match the mood. Have a wonderful vacation!

 **Angel: Thanks! The cruise was definitely different from two years ago, but I had fun.**

Johanvanguard: Sonic, Sophia, and the others making it to the Cloister was great, but not getting trapped in it by the Metarex. Zelkova was definitely a tough opponent for Sonic, Sophia, and Knuckles to handle. Luckily the trio and their friends defeated Zelkova and get their ship out of the trap. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will do against Black Narcissus.

 **Angel: Zelkova was a bigoted jerk...but he wasn't that tough. *waves it off* He ain't all that. And for this chapter, all I can say is expect the unexpected.**

Guest: Awesome have a great vacation

 **Angel: Thank you!**

The Blue Typhoon is floating around the stars. "Hey Tails!" Sonic calls out, a sleeping Cheese on his lap. "Why don't you try steering the ship on a different course now?"

"I guess I can...but where exactly do you want me to go, Sonic?" Tails asks curiously.

"Wherever! It doesn't matter," Sonic looks out the window with a smile. "It's just we've been going in this direction since the Metarex began chasing us 12 hours ago! And I've been wondering why they haven't fired a shot at us."

"Are you suggesting that the Metarex tricked us into going this way?" Cosmo asks in worry.

"Is it a trap, Sonic?" Tails wonders, but Sonic just gives a thumbs up in response.

"Why don't we find out?"

"Okay," Tails pushes the levers with a big grin. "And while we're at it, we can test out how accurate their tracking sensors are. "Let's push our speed to the max! Chris, increase on cillary engines to maximum power!"

"Roger, increasing power now!"

"Turn to mark three point one!" Tails declares, Amy turning back to him.

"Are you sure it's a good idea? They're turning two!" She looks back to her screen.

"It's a laser blast. The Metarex are firing at us," Chris reports, Valentina and Elliot placing one hand on Sophia's shoulders. She glares outside as she's ready for anything that her uncle decides to throw at her this time.

"All shields up!" Cream activates the shield just before it could be hit with a laser.

"Guess they don't want us going this way," Knuckles grins in amusement, hands behind his back.

"Change course to mark 0.8. Maintain speed," Tails tells Amy.

"But there are three ships approaching at mark 370! And they're coming at us full speed!" Amy points out and soon enough, three Metarex ships fly towards them.

"Quick, target those ships now!"

"You got it!" Chris narrows his eyes as he gets to work.

"Amy, load six missiles and prepare to fire on my command!"

"Target set," Chris says once he's finished.

"Missiles are loaded," Amy reports from her side.

"Fire!"

The six missiles are fired from the outside as they come towards the ships, taking out all of them. "All three ships have been destroyed. Five more on the way."

"They just don't quit," Sophia murmurs in annoyance once Chris says that.

"Return to original coordinates!"

"Roger," Chris does as he's told.

"Now it's their move! Cream, keep all the shields up!"

"Roger," Cream calls out.

 _If the Metarex back off now, it's because they want us to head this way._

Five more ships approach...but they don't attack them because they head in another direction. "The Metarex turned around. They aren't chasing us anymore."

Tails turns his head to Sonic. "The Metarex are up to something!"

"They never give up. It must be something big," Sophia turns around to everyone else.

"Looks that way," Sonic nods in agreement with her.

Knuckles glances at the boy. "Chris, are there any Metarex ahead of us?" They might be trying to attack from the front.

"I've been trying to search the area with our scanners, but so far, I haven't detected anything at all," Chris explains while trying to search. "It's possible that somebody's jamming our scanners."

"Then it _is_ a trap! We should turn around," Knuckles warns them.

"No way. I'm really curious to know what the Metarex are scheming," Sonic tells him.

"You want us to stay on course?! That doesn't make any sense, Sonic! We're bound to get attacked!" Knuckles protests, Tails staring at him in shock.

"That's what I'm hoping for," Sonic grins confidently.

"I have to agree with Sonic," Everyone turns to Sophia, who opens her eyes. "It's crucial to know everything my uncle plans to do to get ahead. He may seem harmless now, but I have a feeling that he's only scratched the surface...we keep going."

Tails nods slowly in understanding. "Okay." He continues on ahead, albeit a little skeptical. But if he knew Sonic and Sophia, and he did, it's that their instincts were to be trusted. He had no idea what they were doing, but the two always had promising results in the past.

* * *

"Send a fleet of battleships to destroy Sonic and the princess now!" Pale Bayleaf and Black Narcissus are arguing about what to do about Sophia and Sonic.

"No, I want to confront them face to face. It's much more challenging, and amusing. Valtor enlisted me to have my chance."

"Do not underestimate that hedgehog and little girl, and their friends. Princess Sophia may look non-threatening now, but she is just as powerful as her uncle. Remember what happened to your fellow commander Red Pine."

"Red Pine was a weak fool. He did not have the right skills to defeat Sonic or Valtor's niece, but I do. It's all a matter of brain power. You see, it's impossible to vanquish a powerful opponent, unless you understand them," Black Narcissus gets onto his feet. "I have built two prototype robots to test their abilities. Perhaps they can defeat Sonic and Sophia. If not, I'll use the data from their attack to construct another robot that will destroy them." He laughs evilly at his plan. Either way, it was a win-win. He knew that Valtor instructed them to keep Sophia alive, but he saw no real reason to do that. She'd destroy them with any chance, it was better to get rid of her before they would get destroyed.

* * *

"The scanners picked up a planet dead ahead," Chris speaks up.

"But I thought the Metarex were jamming our sensors?" Amy asks in confusion.

"Well," Tails smiles sheepishly. "I guess they changed their mind and decided to stop jamming them for some reason, Amy..."

"Thanks for straightening that out for us," Knuckles comments sarcastically.

"They have a reason. We'll just have to figure out the hard way what it is," Sophia holds up a finger.

"I'll bring a magnified view up on the main screen," Chris pulls up the planet, which could barely been seen.

"That's magnified?' Knuckles asks in disbelief.

"We can hardly see anything!" Amy adds in.

"I can make the image bigger. I'll just have to zoom in digitally," Chris replies and he does so.

"Not exactly a prime piece of real estate, is it?" Knuckles comments as Tails is staring at it, thinking that something about that planet didn't sit right...he gasps in realization, his eyes widening.

"Hold on! Look at those readings! Computer analysis shows those craters were all made recently! The Metarex probably kept attacking this planet until it was totally lifeless..."

"Tails is right," Cosmo says in horror. She closes her eyes, looking away at how horrible it must've been.

"I thought it was a bad idea to come here, but I've changed my mind...if these Metarex wanna challenge us, then I say bring 'em on! The scanners have located their base. Let's go there and make 'em pay for what they did to this planet!" Knuckles declares as they stare at the location.

"They think they fooled us..." Amy's mouth turns into a smile. "Which will make it even sweeter when we beat those Metarex!"

"Okay. Let's go for it!" Tails smirks, as the Metarex probably wouldn't even expect it.

"Turning all shields to increase power! We're ready to go!" Cream narrows her eyes in determination as she pushes the levers. The ship goes forward and Chris notices something from his screen.

"This can't be right! The ship's sensors are detecting a bunch of Chaos Emeralds!"

"What's going on?" Cosmo stares at him.

"Didn't you adjust the sensors so that they wouldn't pick up anymore fake Emeralds?" Cream asks in concern.

"What makes you think these emeralds are fake? They could be real!" Sonic calls out to her annoyance.

"There's no way these many Chaos Emeralds exist!"

"How many of them are out there?" Sonic asks curiously. It must be serious if Cream had to deny it.

"There are about five hundred!"

"Whoa," Sonic sweats nervously with a frown. "That's a big rock collection."

"They must've had a lot of time on their hands to make that many emeralds..." Sophia rubs her chin. "There are only seven real ones, and I doubt any of them are the real deal."

"It looks like these fake Chaos Emeralds are a lot more advanced than the others we've seen," Chris looks closer at his screen.

"Those Metarex are definitely clever!" Knuckles comments, Cosmo narrowing her eyes.

"But they're also devious and dangerous!"

"Speaking of the Metarex, you guys," Amy speaks up as a message is being shown on the main screen. "It looks like they're sending us a message."

"This is the first time they've ever sent us a text message," Knuckles points as the words appear, but it's in a different language.

"I'll turn on the translator," Tails says, but Cosmo interrupts him before he can.

"You don't have to bother, I can read it. Greetings, space voyagers. It was I who sent the Metarex to attack your ship, and chase you down. You were being tested, and you have passed with honor. I admire your great courage, and I invite you to visit my base. I am Black Narcissus, a commander of the Metarex."

"So he's inviting us to his base?!" Knuckles frowns at this. "Let's send him an RSVP on a missile!"

"If we _do_ go to that base, you should stay on the ship," Amy warns him. "You're much too hot-headed for this mission."

"WHAT?!" Knuckles shouts, which only proves her point. "I am NOT a hothead!"

"Oh yeah?" Amy deadpans, Chris laughing.

"She got ya!"

"Cosmo is not finished," Valentina gives the boys a look and they sweat sheepishly.

"There's more," Cosmo stares at the writing.

"Really? What else does it say, Cosmo?"

"I'm all mixed up!" She smiles sheepishly. "I meant to say there isn't anything more to the message!"

"R-Right," Valentina sweats in embarrassment, the boy staring at them. Obviously they're hiding something. Sophia's mom wouldn't ever act like that...

"Okay, let's go and say hello," Sonic grins, because if it's a trap, they'd be ready.

"I doubt the Metarex will invite us back after we wreck the place," Tails jokes, everyone laughing except Cosmo, who leaves the room. Sophia stares after her, wondering just what was on her mind...she glances up at Valentina, who keeps a stoic face. Chris looks to where Cosmo disappeared.

She's definitely hiding something...

* * *

Cosmo is descending down the elevator until she reaches the hangar. She steps up to Amy's ship and opens up a panel. She opens up the glass and gets inside. She straps herself in, closing her eyes.

 _I hope they'll forgive me for deceiving them..._

The panel closes above her, guilt rising within her each second...

* * *

A few projectiles from the base rise into the air, alerting Tails. "The Metarex just fired missiles at us!"

"That isn't a very warm welcome!" Amy calls out, Cheese agreeing with her. The pink hedgehog runs to her station.

"Sending all power to the third shield!" Cream replies from her spot.

"These Metarex are playing games with us!" Knuckles says bitterly, Sonic's mouth open. "I knew they were sneaky, but this is a new low!"

"Cosmo?" Is all Sonic says, looking around for the plant girl.

Suddenly the ship is shrouded in darkness as the missiles get closer. "They're coming in fast!"

"There's too many of them to shoot down!" Knickles looks outside and Amy gasps.

"Hey, Sonic, Sophia!" The two look up at her. "According to the sensors, those missiles are packed with potassium nitrate and aluminum! That's weird."

"I don't get it," Sonic shrugs while sweating a bit, as he had no idea what that meant.

"Well, those chemicals are used in fireworks-"

A bright flash happens in front of them, and then two more.

"I had a feeling this trip was going to blow up in our faces!" Knuckles yells while covering his eyes. While the lights are distracting them, Cosmo flies off with Amy's ship. She eventually lowers towards the base, with the hangar door opening and letting herself in. The door closes above her and she's silently thinking about her decision. She didn't regret it...but what would her friends say?

She looks up as the panel opens, flying to the ground. "You may proceed through the tunnel. I am waiting for you," Narcissus' voice says as she walks up to the hall. "So you came alone. You are braver than I thought. I rather suspected that you would lose your nerve."

"Where are you?" Cosmo speaks up confidently as she takes a look around. "Is there some reason why you're hiding from me?!"

The lights turn on and he reveals himself, the hole in the ground lifting him up. "You have nothing to fear, so far. Heh heh. Welcome to my base."

She steps up a bit, but still keeping her distance. "You promised to tell me everything. I wanna know the truth about my ancestors and the Metarex! You tell me now or I'm leaving!"

"Foolish girl! You aren't going anywhere. You're incredibly naïve. Don't you realize you've been tricked?"

Her eyes widen slowly in horror.

"The only reason I brought you here was to make you my prisoner."

"Prisoner?!" She couldn't believe it. She believed the last part of the message, and for what? She should've known that the Metarex lie...

"Yes."

She gasps as she realizes the new voice, Valtor stepping out from behind her. "This is going to be very interesting research..." He grins wickedly. There was something that he needed to confirm with the royal family...

* * *

Tails is translating the rest of the message that Cosmo failed to repeat. "Answers I have about your clan that you seek. To my base you will come in five minutes when I launch the missiles at your ship."

"That message doesn't make any sense!" Amy denies it, "Are you sure the translator is working?"

"I think so," He frowns in worry.

"Cosmo is the only one who understands the Metarex's writing. Has somebody figured out where she went?" Cosmo speaks in concern.

"Not yet, but I'm sure they'll find her soon and send her to the bridge. Wait a minute! Her highness understood that message too. Why didn't she tell us?"

"I had the intentions to follow her, believe me."

They turn to the entrance as Valentina steps into the room. "She insisted I keep it a secret, with the promise that she would return. She did not want to alarm you. I apologize, but we shall find her."

"I wouldn't count on that if I were you." Everyone looks up at Sonic's voice. "Amy's ship is missing."

"Huh?!" Tails asks in surprise. "How could she leave the Blue Typhoon without the sensors spotting her?"

"She must've had help, from a hacker," Sonic is looking at a tiny device in his fingers.

"But the only one who could hack into the system other than me is Chris!"

"He's gone too," Sonic tells him and Sophia places her hands on her hips.

"Those two little sneaks. Not only did they have inside help, but they used the missiles to make their escape without anyone detecting it."

"Are you mad at them?" Sonic looks up at her.

"No. In fact, when they get back, they're gonna get medals for their bravery."

* * *

"Listen to me," Chris speaks up next to Cosmo at the base. "There must be a way to work this out peacefully. Can't we just-"

"Silence!" Black Narcissus interrupts him. "I have no intention of negotiating with you. You are not invited here. Return to your ship at once, or you will be destroyed."

"Now, now," Valtor holds up a hand. "This boy is smart, sneaking into here without you noticing. Your idiocy is appalling."

"Y-Yes, it was my fault! I deserve a thousand punishments, your highness!" Black Narcissus kneels to him.

"I'm sorry I got you involved in this mess, Chris," Cosmo looks up at him in guilt.

"Forget it, okay? It's not like you forced me to come along, I wanted to help you. I still don't understand exactly why you wanted to come here, but I'm sure you had a good reason."

Cosmo blinks back tears at his words. "I did! Please understand, I had to come! I had to, really!"

He only chuckles at how emotional she's getting. "I'm sorry to laugh, Cosmo," He bends down so that he can look at her in the eye. "It's just you remind me of myself when I was younger."

"When you were younger?" She had no idea of what Chris was like when he was 12, but apparently, he was just like her.

"When we make it back to the Blue Typhoon, I'll try to explain," He suppresses a laugh, getting back onto his feet. "Let's get going."

They start to leave, Valtor narrowing his eyes. "Hold it," The Metarex commander speaks up. "Your friend Cosmo stays here."

"Sorry...but I don't think so," Chris throws a flash bomb in front of them. "Come on, Cosmo!" He grabs her hand and runs off.

"This is the most distal escape attempt I've ever seen. I'll give them a head start to try to have some excitement."

Valtor chuckles, hands behind his back. "They're only delaying the inevitable...but running is always so fun from the victims..."

They run to Amy's ship, only for a door to close them in. "Don't worry, I've got everything under control," Chris digs into his pocket, holding up a remote. Cosmo can only stare as he presses the button. Amy's ship fires a laser from the front, causing an explosion. Chris smirks as he shields Cosmo for safety, standing up and looking at the hole he's made.

"Now, let's go!"

A black tentacle slashes at him, breaking his helmet. He falls in front of a shocked Cosmo.

"Chris! Are you alright?"

"Your friend is not hurt," Black Narcissus reveals, Valtor standing next to him. "For now. I must say we're rather pleased he tried to flee. It's been too long since I felt the thrill of taking a boy with my own hands. I must try it more often."

* * *

The front of the Blue Typhoon opens as the cannon emerges. "Okay, this is it. Target coordinates are set. Prepare to load the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon."

"I hope Sonic and Sophia bring Chris and Cosmo back here safely, so I can pound some sense into them!"

"I can't believe Chris was so reckless. Who does he think he is, Knuckles?"

Sophia turns back to the ship in surprise at Cream's words.

"Cut the chatter and let's get on with the attack!" Knuckles says from the engine room.

"Knuckles is right. Our priorities lie elsewhere," Valentina gives the girls a fierce look, causing them to sweat sheepishly.

"Take it easy! We're ready, Knuckles," Amy comments, to which Valentina sighs slowly at.

"Then let's go. Tails, let's fire up the cannon to full power!"

"Yeah, if we can get Sonic and Sophia in there fast, we may catch Black Narcissus by surprise," Tails agrees with him, the two speeders jumping into the cannon. Sophia has her sword by her side. "All set, guys?"

They spin around, landing on two platforms. "Sure are! That Metarex won't know what hit 'im!"

"Ready when you are," Sophia bends down, touching the platform with both hands.

"Okay, then I'll get the cannon ready to fire!"

"Increase the power level to maximum energy now!" Tails shouts, power going to the cannon. "Sophia, Sonic, prepare for launch."

They jump up and start spinning around. "I'm locking on target."

The two are charged up with power. "Get ready for blasting at that base full speed! Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, fire!"

They burst out of the cannon towards the planet, destroying multiple floors and crashing into the one with the five hundred fake emeralds. The two frown at how many there are.

"The scanner was right. There are a lot of fake emeralds here." He shudders at the thought, hugging himself. "Suddenly I don't feel so great..."

"I don't either...so much misuse of the emeralds like this...it's so wrong," Sophia looks at all the emeralds.

"Sonic the Hedgehog."

"And my niece."

"How kind of you to drop in," They look up at the voice. "We've been looking forward to meeting you. Won't you join us in our command center?"

Valtor clears his throat and they pinpoint the voices from the hole in the ceiling. "I-I mean his highness' command center!"

The two jump through the hole, landing in the room. They glare at Black Narcissus and Valtor.

"You're not all what I expected. I didn't think you'd be so scrawny. It's hard to believe you're great fighters," Black Narcissus comments, staring at them.

"Now, now...they leave something to be desired," Valtor corrects him.

"Well, maybe later, we can prove to you how tough we are," Sonic starts off.

"However, we're here for something else," Sophia pulls out her sword, pointing at them. "Where are our friends? Maybe instead of just sitting there flapping your mouths, you'll hand them over to us! Present them."

"Of course we will. Your friends have not been hard. In fact, the only reason I took them prisoner was to lure you two here. You see, I've heard so many stories about your powers that I decided to bring you here for an experiment."

"And I came along to...confirm something," Valtor simply puts his hands behind his back, Sophia raising an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry pal, but I'm a hedgehog, not a guinea pig," Sonic denies, Sophia narrowing her eyes.

"We won't submit to anything."

"So where are our friends?" Sonic asks this time.

"Don't make us ask twice," Sophia flings her sword, a large slash mark being flung at Black Narcissus. He jumps out of the way, his throne being destroyed in the process. He turns back to the two.

"You will cooperate with our experiment. We will start by collecting data on your strength and speed."

Sonic holds up his hands as Sophia crosses her arms. "We already told you there's no way we're gonna help you. Now show us where our friends are!"

"Perhaps we should give them a little incentive for them to cooperate," Valtor whispers to Black Narcissus, who presses a button.

"Since you both refuse, then we will have to experiment on your friends." A glass ball rises from the ground, revealing an injured Cosmo and Chris.

"This is a trap, Sonic and Sophia!" She calls out once she sees them. They both gasp in horror at their states. Chris looks to be unconscious and Cosmo has a bruise on her face. "Sophia, Sonic!" She gets tears in her eyes, and in the meanwhile, the two villains are just laughing. "Save yourselves!"

"Your friends certainly made a pathetic error," Black Narcissus replies, the two running up to the glass.

"Chris! Cosmo!"

"Are you two okay?!"

Before Cosmo can answer, they're lowered back into the ground. "The fate of your friends rest entirely in your hands. If you choose to oppose us, then I assure they will pay a painful price. It should be quite entertaining."

The two pay no attention as they're staring at the ground. These...vile villains are trying to make them choose their fate...but they're already so scared and hurt...they didn't care what happened to them...how dare they? And for what? Their 'experiments' that they obviously want no part of?

"Well, Sonic? Your highness? What is your decision? Are you ready to proceed with the experiment?"

"We've never seen Cosmo look so scared..."

"She looked so pale..."

"Heh, she should be," Black Narcissus chuckles.

"Either you comply or they suffer," Valtor stares down at them.

Sonic's fur goes from blue to a dark blue. "Chris...was passed out...what did you do to him?!"

Sophia's eyes turn red as her neck turns taller, her teeth sharper like fangs. "Did you harm them?! DID YOU?!" She screams, Valtor glancing at the commander.

"He attempted to escape, and was taught a painful lesson." Two robots, silver and hold, appear in the room. "It is time for the experiment. These two Metarex were designed by me especially for this occasion. Gold will test your strength, and Silver your speed. I based my Metarex designed on data that was collected during previous battles against you. I'm eager to see if they're powerful enough to defeat you."

The two clench their fists, chuckling darkly. They turn to the two, Sophia grinning widely with her sharp teeth.

"Alright then. Let's test 'em out. But I think I'll wait for my friend to finish..."

"Ha! Finish what?" Black Narcissus laughs at them and Valtor steps back a bit, making him sweat. "Why are you backing away like that?"

Sophia roars as she turns into her alien form. She appears to be a skeletal spider-like creature with a noticeably cracked, seemingly porcelain face and hands made of connected sharp knives. Her hair becomes significantly sharper and wilder and her overall posture is lanky and keen. Sophia also appears to have metallic-spider like legs in her feral-looking appearance.

"Oh my!" Black Narcissus stands up in shock, Valtor smiling wickedly.

 _So...the last of the Xenians can transform into their true forms...I believed it to be a myth, but this is truly useful information..._

In a matter of seconds, Dark Sonic and Dark Sophia destroy the two Metarex. It was definitely...different from their regular style of fighting. They stand there in the smoke, Dark Sonic's eyes being white and Dark Sophia's being red.

"Looks like you'll have to go back to the drawing board."

"So many little parts...yet so pathetic..." Dark Sophia takes hold of the pieces on the ground and chews on them. "Oh well...the more I destroy, the more I can eat. So many Metarex to dine on..."

"Settle down, you two!"

Their eyes widen and they turn to see black shoes. "I don't think I've ever seen you both this worked up before. Sophia, such a shame for royalty to be so frightening," Dr. Eggman is standing there with Bocoe and Decoe.

"You two are not the only ones having a bad day, you know," Decoe points out.

"Our trip was a real space odyssey!" Bocoe adds in.

"We had some mechanical difficulties. For some reason, the Egg Drive got scrambled up! Space travel is tricky," Dr. Eggman rubs the back of his neck. "I've warped past so many planets, I'm starting to see stars." He walks in front of the two, who are eerily silent. "Listen you two. I'm really disappointed in you. From now on, be careful not to let your tempers get out of control. Or one of these days, you may find you're always angry, just like another hedgehog we know. You should get out of here, and don't worry about your crewmates. Shadow already rescued them. It took a lot to convince him because he's still mad for me keeping his past from him."

The back-to-normal duo stare at him in confusion. Did Eggman...just help them?

"Hmph. The kid will be alright," Shadow is staring up at Cosmo in Amy's ship. "I hope you learned your lesson. Next time, I may not be around to save you."

"Sophia was right," Cosmo speaks up, causing him to come to a stop. "You really are kind deep down, Shadow..."

He stands there in silence before leaving the hangar, a small smile on his face.

Rouge does a screw kick on the fake emerald generator.

"Rouge wrecked the machine that makes the fake Chaos Emeralds!" Decoe deduces, as they can see smoke coming from the hole.

"She seemed to get a real kick out of it," Bocoe comments as Rouge flies into the room, displeased. She makes a sound of disgust.

"That felt great. If there's one thing I hate, it's imitation jewelry. But making my friend grow out of control is another. You Metarex have bad taste, and the next time you cause Sophia to act like that, you'll answer to me! From now on, stick to genuine gems," She struts past the smiling trio.

"You did a great job, Rouge!"

"That was awesome!" The robots chirp in unison.

"Yes, I know, they don't call me a knockout for nothing!"

Eggman turns to Black Narcissus and Valtor, hands on his hips. "I don't like the way you attacked Chris and Cosmo. It's one thing to take them prisoner and threaten them, but when you actually hurt somebody, that's going too far, even if you are Sophia's uncle!"

"You said it, doctor!"

"Even we have some principals!"

"And I also don't like you making counterfeit Chaos Emeralds!"

"Yeah, that's phony baloney."

"And another thing-"

"Silence!" The two villains say, about to attack.

"Back off, busters!" The two robots grab onto them.

"What the-"

Bokkun flies in and kicks them across the face, knocking them back. "Are you ready for round two?!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Eggman chortles, his robots standing proudly. "My robots are tougher than they look. They could beat a whole army of Metarex with their bare hands."

"Why did you interfere, Eggman?" Black Narcissus demands, Valtor wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Because I want to send you and your meta pals a warning!"

"What warning? Are you teaming up with Sonic, Sophia, and their friends against us?"

Eggman chuckles at the thought. "Well now, that all depends. On whether you want me to be your most dangerous foe or most valuable friend. Black Narcissus and your highness, you better tell your fellow commanders not to underestimate me again." While he's talking, Chris and Cosmo have reunited with their friends. "It's clear that your battle against Sophia, Sonic, and their friends has just begun. Today I aided their defense, but that doesn't mean we're on the same side."

Sonic and Sophia are alone outside, standing at the railing. Sophia hugs herself, remembering how scary she must've seemed.

"I could still be persuaded to join your team, for the right price..."

Valentina and Elliot step up to them, Valentina placing comforting hands on Sophia's shoulders, Elliot doing the same thing with Sonic. They didn't need to ask what happened...

Judging by the looks on their faces, they didn't have to.


	68. A Revolutionary Tale

**Angel: Since we have ten more episodes to go until the end of this story, I think it's only fitting that I tell you what my plans are for future stories. Chances are, if I'm not finished with the TMNT movie I'm doing currently, I'll be continuing that since I have Batman vs TMNT and Big Hero 6 planned in my roster...but, I will also be doing a Code Lyoko story! It'll be uploaded maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays after this story is done, because I'm actually on season 3 ^^' I dunno, I guess I just couldn't help myself with the idea of it that now I'm really happy with the way future episodes turned out...does that make sense?**

 **Anyway, I won't be doing anything Sonic-related from now on because for one, the live-action movie is horrendous, and two, I'm just not that into it...I mean, Sonic is probably one of my favorite video game characters besides Mario and Pikachu, but he's had, unfortunately, a lot of blunders in the past...I'm sorry to get your hopes up guys, but I'm doing other things than this, and I just can't devote my time to Sonic stuff...**

Crazycartoons5488: Wow, that's cool Dark Sophia and Dark Sonic.

 **Angel: Glad I finally got it out of the way.**

Gwen: Woah I can't believe that happened. Sophia's transformation reminded me of the beldam from that movie Coraline I can see where you got that.

 **Angel: Yeah, I watched it for the first time while I was still out of state on vacation. My stepsister wanted to watch it, so I let her.**

Devin sands: When I read what Sophia's dark form I kinda figured it would be alien like and not like the other mother from Coraline.

 **Angel: I stated over PM with you that it was based off the other mother. I never said it was her. Besides, it's a 'dark' movie, and Sophia had a 'dark' form. Get it? Get it?**

Bajy: Great job here. The next episode after this one is also another favorite of mine. By the way, will Molly join with Sonic and the gang after she escapes from her home planet so that they can all fight the Metarex together? I do look forward to reading the next chapter.

 **Angel: I hadn't seen this episode for a long time, and I don't remember it airing on television...Actually, I think this episode was the only one I don't remember seeing until the show had ended. But as for Molly, I can't say for sure.**

Johanvanguard: It's great that the heroes got away from the Metarex, but then got caught in their trap. Cosmo and Chris were reckless to go to the Metarex to get the info from them and then they were both tricked and imprisoned. Sonic and Sophia got fierce and really went brutal against the robots when they saw Cosmo and Chris hurt and scared. Luckily Eggman showed up to calm the heroes down and Shadow rescued Cosmo and Chris. I'm glad the heroes are okay, but it seems Eggman might team up with the Metarex. For the next chapter, I wonder if Sophia will help Shadow and the others.

 **Angel: Of course the Metarex were gonna trick 'em. And...yeah, I wasn't expecting Sonic to do that when the episode first aired. I was like five, and I could just relate to his reasoning for it, because my parents had gotten divorced at the time, and it was still fresh to me...however, over the years, I realized that he's not worth it, and I don't think that way about my father anymore. And I don't think he teamed up with them yet.**

Challishanlon99: Thank you for this chapter I can't wait to read more and please be careful you guys.

 **Everyone: We will!**

Sweet: How about Sophia's adopted parents have a biological child of their own?

 **Angel: Um...I don't think they'd want to bring a child into this world right now, even if they could. And I don't think Valentina could even conceive again, since they've been alive longer than anyone else in the show's universe. Besides, right now, they're fighting against the Metarex, and they worry about Sophia enough.**

"What's going on?" Rouge demands aboard the Crimson Egg.

"Looks like a full blown space skirmish," Decoe explains as something is happening among the stars. "And we're right in the middle."

"I cannot tell yet who they are, doctor, but I have a feeling they are not exactly friendly," Bocoe adds in.

"Now, let's not get hysterical," Eggman tells them. "It's only Sonic, the princess, and their pea-brained posse." Some blinking lights can be seen up ahead, and scanning closer, he sees that they're ships coming right towards each other. They seem to be in a war.

The white ships fire at the warships, who retaliate and destroy a few. "The warships are coming at us from everywhere!" A boy reports from his ship.

"We're way outnumbered!"

"We can't turn back!"

The boy glances back to the ships behind him. "It's too late!"

A ginger-haired girl comes in and saves her comrade from the warships. She's young and tall with blue eyes, wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt underneath a light blue best and dark blue trousers. A greenish yellow bracelet is on her left hand with some white details. "I'll distract the satellite ships. You go for the fortress and give it everything you've got!"

She flies in towards the warships, who fly away as they thought she was going to crash right into them.

"Roger!"

The other ships fly towards the warships, which are revealed to be Metarex. One of them turns to Valtor and Pale Bayleaf.

"They are aimed at the mothership, your highness and sir."

"Then we must teach them a lesson," Pale Bayleaf replies.

"Yes...destroy them all," Valtor grins devilishly. The Metarex open fire on the other ships, some of them being blown up.

"Something tells me they are not Sonic and Sophia!" Bocoe calls out as the ship is shaking.

"This is someone a whole lot crankier!" Decoe comments, his eyes rolling around due to the dizziness.

"Quit quivering, you clanking clods! We'll call out our secret weapon!"

Shadow stands on a platform, looking out towards the ongoing war. "Oh Shadow? It seems we're in a bit of a pickle. See what you can do."

The hedgehog jumps into the open atmosphere, destroying ships by simply touching them. The girl notices this and flies out of the way of incoming lasers. One ship flies in front of her, about to fire. She gasps in fear, sweating nervously. If this was the way she was going to go out...at least she fought bravely. It gets destroyed and she covers her eyes with her arm, looking back in shock. In the smoke, she can see a black hedgehog...He turns around to her and she gasps at his appearance. He simply turns his head and leaves.

"Could that be Black Wind...?"

"Molly! You okay?" One of her teammates says from the intercom.

"Who was that guy? He came out of nowhere!"

"What next?"

"Let's follow him," Milly orders them, "We may not be the only resistance out here. Come on." The ships follow Shadow's direction.

"It appears our enemies are more resourceful than we thought. That's enough for now," Pale Bayleaf says.

Valtor gives him a look and the commander clears his throat. "O-Of course...perhaps you should give the order."

"They'll be back for their doom. Let us take our leave."

"Yes your highness. Retreat, immediately," The Metarex up front orders the others.

"We'll be watching, and when they least expect it, we'll strike again, but this time, we'll destroy them," Pale Bayleaf's left eye glints.

Shadow lands back onto the Crimson Egg, staring to where the fight was. Meanwhile, Molly is contacting Dr. Eggman herself.

"We're very grateful to you."

"Think nothing of it! Those Metarex can certainly be a nuisance with a capital M!" He replies, and he should know. They caused his enemies to turn into people he doesn't want them to be.

Shadow notices a barren planet approaching. "This is Cascade, our home planet," Molly explains regarding its presence. "My friends and I are the only ones living here now. They've arranged a welcome reception for you at the base. I'm sure they'd be greatly honored if you'd come. We'll see you there."

Eggman grins at the recognition, something blinking from his screen. "I'd be happy to come. Now that I know there's a Chaos Emerald lying among those wretched ruins down there. See what you can find, Shadow."

"I'll take a look around, IF...the princess comes with me."

"Huh?!" Eggman asks in surprise regarding his request. Unbeknownst to him, Shadow wanted to have a little...chat with her. "Wha-but—Fine!"

"No tricks," Shadow narrows his eyes. Eggman grunts in defeat.

"As long as you're both discreet. If Rouge and her sticky fingers find out they are Chaos Emeralds floating about, why, she's liable to-"

"Liable to what, Eggy poo?" Rouge calls out, annoying him. Bokkun is hiding behind her out of fear.

"Uh oh. Talk about busted!"

"You're afraid I just might snatch 'em up for myself," Rouge gives a sneaky smile. "How can I ever convince you I'm on the level?"

He grits his teeth in annoyance. "You're right," He speaks into the walkie talkie. "Take Rouge with you both, but you better keep an eye on her! I'll call Sophia now. Wait outside for her."

Shadow glances around the barren planet while waiting for the girls. Most of it is just rocks and water. While looking around, someone's words come to mind.

" _Eggman doesn't care about you! He only wants to use you to get what he wants! Don't you see that?!"_

" _I know that already!" Shadow interrupted sharply._

" _Of course I do. Shadow transported us to Space Colony Ark."_

" _That's right, Shadow," Rouge smirked at him. "Shadow, wasn't that the home of your friend Maria? And your childhood home, Sophia?"_

" _Rouge!" Sophia hissed at her in annoyance._

" _We all know you're just collecting them for Dr. Eggman. He's really got you fooled, doesn't he, pal?" Super Sonic retorted back._

"Shadow."

He opens his eyes, seeing Molly standing behind him. He turns around, giving no reaction to her smile. "Sorry. I just wanted to thank you. What you did...I mean, it was really incredible."

"Yeah..." He comments shortly.

"No, I mean it, Shadow. How did you do it? You destroyed those ships in seconds flat! My comrades and I were really impressed and I just-"

He walks away, to her confusion. She catches up to him. "I just wanna know more about you like where you learned to battle like that. You were amazing!"

"Drop it, okay?" He tells her dismissively, walking towards outside.

"Oh no! I didn't mean to make him angry," Molly frowns towards the exit.

"Don't worry, hon. He's _always_ grumpy," Rouge explains to her.

"Why is that?" She asks curiously.

"You got me," Rouge shrugs casually. "But just cuz he's a hero doesn't mean he's Prince Charming. That strong silent jazz drives me batty. In fact, the only exception is his friend Sophia."

Molly races after Shadow, who's about to meet Sophia outside. "Wait!" She steps in front of him, causing the hedgehog to stop. "You attacked four Metarex ships like it was nothing at all! I've never seen bravery like that before! It was like the legend of Black Wind!"

"Never heard of him," He replies, and she nods a bit in understanding, blushing in embarrassment.

"Long ago, there was a great hero named Black Wing. We called him that because he came out of the night to fight for our people and was never seen again. For a moment, when I first saw you outside my ship, I thought maybe you were him. You're a hero!"

Again, he walks off, annoyed that he's being called something he's not. "Shadow!"

"You're wrong. I'm no hero."

"That's right," Rouge appears next to Molly. "He's just out for himself, aren't you, Shadow?"

He turns around to her. No way was he gonna stand there and let her say those things when she's the same way. "Well you should talk. You'd do just about anything to get what you want."

She gasps at this and he leaves them be.

* * *

"That's right, doctor. If you hadn't come along, who knows what would've happened." A boy with purple hair and green eyes says gratefully.

"Thanks to you, the resistance lives on!"

"You're too kind. It was the least I could do for my fellow revolutionaries!" Eggman replies, his robots just standing there.

"You are a truly noble and honorable warrior, sir."

The robots nod in agreement.

"Hear hear!"

"Maybe now would be a good time to ask about that Chaos Emerald, oops!" Decoe realizes his mistake too late. Eggman clears his throat.

"Perhaps you're right, Decoe. I would be tickled to continue assisting your mission, providing we find a way to, shall we say, sweeten the deal?" He rubs his chin, planning on abandoning them once he gets it.

"You got it. After all, it's only fair. You've proven yourself to be a great ally, sir."

"That's right, you deserve it!"

"We don't often find like-minded freedom fighters such as yourself. What's ours is yours, sir. Ever since our planet was destroyed, we have no need for a Chaos Emerald. Passing it on to such a worthy and brilliant man would indeed be an honor."

"Comrade Leon speaks for us all of us, sir. A Chaos Emerald is the least we can give for your invaluable friendship. We humbly thank you."

"What's going on?" They all turn around towards Molly, Rouge, Shadow, and Sophia. She sees Eggman and gasps, covering her mouth in surprise.

"We're giving him the emerald. I need you to get it," Leon explains to her, looking down at Sophia. He couldn't help but feel that she feels familiar... "Who is this?"

"Oh, this is Princess Sophia of Xenia," Molly gestures to the girl, who bows her head. "Don't you remember our parents said that they fought alongside us? Valentina and Elliot ended up having an heir!"

He gasps in surprise, bowing to Sophia. "It's an honor, your majesty."

"You don't need to bow," Sophia holds up a hand.

"If you think it's best to give him the emerald, then I suppose we should. But we hid it so long ago, I can't remember where," Molly goes back to the subject at hand.

"Giving him the emerald is, uh, a little extreme, isn't it?" Sophia asks the two.

"He saved our lives. We owe him that much," Leon says fiercely, thinking about where they put the emerald. As he's trying to remember, Sophia glances past his shoulder as Eggman is talking to the other resistance members. While he did sort of help her and Sonic during their...phase, he also has his reasons for what he does, even if he insists otherwise. So what was his angle here by helping the Cascade Resistance? Surely it can't be related to her or her parents; they helped fight the Metarex alongside Cascade many years ago, before the current ones were even born. He couldn't have even known about that unless someone already told him.

 _I don't like where this is going._

"Let me think...okay. You'll need to fly to Cascade to Satellite City where the industrial district once was. There's a factory there with three windows at the top."

"Then what?" Rouge asks, wanting to find the emerald before Shadow or Sophia did.

"It's in a safe deposit box right there on the main level."

"Okay, we'll fly there right now," Molly glances at the three, about to leave when Leon grabs her hand. "Huh? What?"

"Molly, I need you to do something else. Something really important."

Sophia's ear twitches as she listens in. "You'll see a small locked cabinet directly above the safe deposit box. Bring me whatever files are in there," He holds up a key.

"I don't get it," She says in confusion, taking the key anyway. "Why would you need a bunch of dusty old files?"

"Simple," He glances away. "They're historical records on the Metarex invasion that just might prove useful to us."

 _How did he know they were there...? And if they have been sitting there for that long, wouldn't someone else have noticed it by now? They've been fighting against the Metarex for years. Something about Leon isn't sitting right._

"Sure, I'm on it," Molly runs up ahead of the others, but Sophia stays behind, staring at Leon. She glances at his fist to see it shaking nervously. Sophia narrows her eyes suspiciously. There's more to the Cascade Resistance than it seems...but without proof, she'd be making pointless accusations, so she runs after the others.

Leon closes his eyes while Eggman is laughing. Even he can tell that something's amiss here...

* * *

Shadow speeds down the sand, the girls taking Molly's ship. "You wouldn't know it, but this was once a beautiful place."

"You're right, honey, I wouldn't know," Rouge comments while staring down at Shadow and the barren planet. "I guess I'll have to take your word for it."

"Well, my parents might know. It was many years ago, Rouge," Sophia points out.

"There was a time when Cascade was a proud and glorious planet...but that time was so long ago, way before the Metarex came. The galaxy had never seen a greater planet. We were the mightiness of all peoples, and with our superior intelligence, and advanced technology, there was no telling how far our dominion could extend. And then in a blink of an eye, all of our hopes were destroyed. Since that first attack, we have had to fight to stay alive."

Sophia closes her eyes sadly. Her parents did what they could to help. She thought that they were okay, but now...every day they lose a chance of survival. And all because of her uncle. A look of disgust hits her face at the thought of being related to him.

"So they've been socking it to you all this time, huh? What is it those Metarex want from you, anyway?" Rouge asks curiously.

"I guess all they want is to defeat us," Molly closes her eyes, as she didn't know the real reason if there was one. "Whenever else they wanted, they've already taken. There's nothing left anymore..."

Sophia stays silent at her words, looking out the window. That's exactly how her parents felt when their home was destroyed...

"Well...why don't you guys just go somewhere else?" Rouge asks slowly. "Don't you ever get tired of fighting?"

"Sure we do," Molly gives a small smile out to the sky. "But they still haven't taken our hope away. The hope that soon, Cascade will be beautiful and alive again like it was once! And it will be, I'm sure it will! And with Shadow and Sophia's help, I just know we'll beat them."

"Uh huh," Rouge glances at Shadow outside. Shadow was definitely no hero, but she also didn't want to dwindle Molly's belief.

"...I'm really sorry for what my uncle's done, Molly," Sophia rubs a temple. "You guys are innocent and he's targeting you just for fun..."

"Don't be sorry," Molly glances at her. "You're not the one at fault, Princess. Your uncle just has a lot of problems within himself. I'm sure at one point he was a nice man."

"According to my mother, he was...but jealousy and anger changed him," Sophia pinches her nose.

* * *

They then walk down a path that'll lead them to their destination, the water rippling beside them. Sophia looks down at Shadow. She wondered why he asked her to come here...when she got his video call, she was surprised that he did that instead of using her comlink...

"Shadow, why did you insist on me traveling along with you?"

"Well...it wouldn't have been as fulfilling with you. I wished to see you again...Eggman can't be trusted. I plan to go on my own soon. But I had to see you one last time."

Sophia turns to him in shock. So...this meeting...

Was most likely a final goodbye...

Suddenly, a piranha jumps out of the water, Molly stepping in front of the three.

"I got him!" She fires a laser gun at it, knocking the thing down. More arrive from behind and Molly gasps. Rouge, Shadow, and Sophia jump into the air, fending off the piranhas.

"Come on!" Shadow grabs Molly's hand, taking the lead while Sophia and Rouge fly after him. They come to a stop when they're far enough. "You might wanna think about letting one of us walk ahead for a moment. You know, just for safety's safe."

"Plus, you're the only one who knows where this place is," Rouge adds in. "It'd be silly to put you in danger."

"My uncle's done enough, I can't risk your life as well, Molly," Sophia closes her eyes and she gives a touched look.

"It's alright. The spirit of Black Wind is with me." She releases Shadow's hand, walking up ahead. "Come on, you three. Follow me. The factory's over here." Molly runs up ahead, but the three have their doubts.

"I don't like it. My radar's telling me there was something extra fishy about those piranhas," She states, Sophia nodding in agreement.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I think you're right," Shadow comments, the girls turning to him. "That attack was an ambush if I ever saw one."

"And it's funny that this was the way we were told to go," Sophia narrows her eyes. "Why didn't anyone warn us?"

"So you're saying some boob set up a booby trap, huh? Any suspects?"

The hedgehog and princess glance to each other knowingly. "I have my suspicions."

"You feel like sharing?" She asks curiously.

"Come on, Molly's waiting for us. I don't want her alone in there," Shadow races to catch up to her instead of answering Rouge's question. She looks to Sophia, who just shrugs and follows Shadow. Rouge decides to let it drop for now and follows after them on flight. They reach the factory, where Molly opens up a box. Most of it is rocks, but one white emerald is also inside.

"Hello, come to Mama!" Rouge perks up at the Chaos Emerald.

"Rouge," Sophia deadpans and before she can take it, Shadow snatches it away.

"She's right. Don't forget we got our eye on you."

"Oh come on," Rouge sweats in embarrassment. "We're on the same team, aren't we, Shadow?"

"Sure we are," He looks to the emerald in his hand.

"How insulting!" Rouge narrows her eyes at him. Sophia just giggles at them."

"I see..." Molly sees the cabinets Leon was talking about. "Here it is." She sticks the key in and unlocks it...only to see something ticking. Shadow and Sophia turn around and the bomb explodes. Luckily, Sophia and Shadow chaos controlled with the others out of there.

"Oh," Rouge stands up, seeing the damage. "What happened?"

"Someone deliberately put that bomb in the cabinet!" Shadow exclaims in anger. "Who gave you the key, Molly?"

Sophia's eyes slowly widen as she remembers her conversation with a specific resistance member. Molly gasps in realization.

"It was Leon!" She looks towards the fire, she couldn't believe it. She trusted him. "It can't be true! He would never! It can't be...!"

"...I'm sorry Molly, but...he was the only one who knew it was there," Sophia places a hand on her shoulder. "What I can't fathom is why."

Suddenly, a Metarex ship appears behind them.

"Well, lookie here," Rouge comments as there's a whole army of them.

"Doctor," Shadow turns on his walkie talkie. "Do you read me? Doctor!"

"They must've done something to him inside," Sophia looks up to the ships. As much as she disliked Eggman, she didn't want him to suffer...no matter how annoying he can be.

"That double-crossing Leon! He and his comrades have been cooking up some nasty little deal, but they had to get Molly out of the way," Rouge realizes the plan.

"You're wrong!" Molly exclaims, but her voice betrays her. "He'd never hurt me! Not ever! We're all a team...they'd never betray me."

"Molly, the evidence points to him. Didn't you notice how strange he was acting when he gave you the key?"

"No!" Molly exclaims and Sophia sighs slowly. She never knew how her mother felt when her uncle betrayed their entire race...until today. She must've been in denial too...and then probably regret and mourning when she thought he was dead.

* * *

"I must admit," Pale Bayleaf speaks to Leon. "When you first approached me with your request, I was quite taken aback. You and your feisty friends have been battling us for so long. I thought you would never give up. But I understand, of course. Fighting such as this can become quite exhausting, especially when one is on the losing team."

"That's right." He was tired of fighting and losing against the Metarex. Their only chance of survival was join the big league... "Which is why we have all decided to join forces with you."

"And the girl? I would be quite surprised if she agrees to such an arrangement."

"She seems to be invested in fighting against me," Valtor laughs slightly. "Even if her attempts are futile..."

"She won't, but don't worry, I've sent her someplace where she won't interfere. We'll hand over Eggman as promised. Now let's get this over with already."

He hears laughter and turns around, gritting his teeth at the person. "I should think I'd have a say in this diabolical deal. You thought you were pretty clever, didn't you, my friend?" Eggman is standing behind him smugly, arms crossed. "But unfortunately, you're not clever enough."

"Don't move!" Leon points a gun at him, but Eggman is unfazed by this.

"And you there," He turns his attention to Pale Bayleaf and Valtor. "You work for his highness, I presume?"

"Ah...you were the one who interfered in our plans recently," Valtor recognizes him.

"You presume correctly. However, I am but one adversary of the great master. We are many," Pale Bayleaf explains, to which Eggman huffs at.

"Well, you and your meta pals may have fooled our crafty comrade here, but fooling the great Eggman won't be so easy."

Valtor just chuckles at this. "You? You must be a joke with little success if it took you this amount of time to catch up to Sonic, my niece, and their friends," He waves it off. "I have no business with you."

"Hey! That's enough outta you," Leon speaks up, but Eggman just grins. Suddenly there's an explosion, knocking him to the ground. When Leon looks up, there's a hole in the ceiling. Something appears above them.

"Doctor Eggman!" Decoe calls out as he and his partner are in a large robot.

"Our timing is impeccable!"

* * *

Molly jumps into her ship, strapping herself in. "Please, wait." She looks up as the three run up to her.

"Don't go. You'll only get hurt," Shadow warns her, but she grips the lever.

"Don't be foolish, Molly. Now isn't the time to go and get revenge on that Leon guy. It's way too dangerous," Rouge adds in.

"I know this is hard for you to accept, but going back...you might not make it," Sophia bites her lip nervously.

"I have to find out why," She murmurs, starting the ship and lifting herself up in the air. The three cover themselves from the dust, Rouge gasping as she leaves them behind.

"I don't know what those guys are up to...but they want Molly out of the way, and I'm gonna stop them somehow."

"We are gonna stop them," Sophia corrects him, placing her hand on the emerald. Shadow looks up at the girl, who nods slowly. He nods back and the Chaos Emerald starts to glow.

"Shadow...? Sophia...?" Rouge asks in confusion.

"I'm going. I don't know why, but I feel like I have to protect her...or something terrible will happen."

* * *

Eggman's ship lands in front of the robot, the Cascade ships taking flight. "Hurry up. If we let Eggman get away, the Metarex will destroy every one of us," Leon urges as they plan to stop the robot.

"I've had enough of this foolishness!" Eggman declares, inside the robot. "E Three Thousand, have a little fun, why don't you?"

E300 snatches a Cascade ship, Leon's, and throws it onto the ground. Others follow as the larger and stronger vessel throws all ships into the dirt.

"Ha! Bullseye!" Eggman chortles at this, "A crushing defeat!"

"You can say that again," Bocoe jokes, but a bunch of red lasers open fire on them from the sky.

"What is going on here?!"

They turn towards the source to see Metarex ships, a whole fleet of them. "It looks as if there has been a change in plans...you'll not get your word, my friend. So disappointing."

Leon appears in front of their screens. "Wait. I promised you Eggman and you'll have him, I swear! I just need more time."

"Unfortunately, patience is not my strong suit. You've dropped your end of the bargain. You lose."

"You had hours worth of capturing him. You failed," Valtor shrugs with a grin. "Pay the price."

"No, please!" Leon begs with them.

"Leon, what are they saying?"

"Will they let us join them? Will they?!"

"I..." How was he supposed to tell them that he failed. "I don't know...!"

"How could you do it, Leon?!" He looks up to see a furious Molly flying straight towards him, but her eyes show sadness and hurt. He yelps in surprise, as she was supposed to be out of the way. "You made a deal with them. You wanted to abandon everything we worked so hard for! What about our planet? What about the promise we made to our ancestors?!"

"We've had enough!" He shouts angrily, to her shock.

"We're too tired, we can't go on fighting like this forever," The blonde one says, eyes closed.

"Every day the same thing," Another one grits his teeth.

"If we surrender, the fighting will be over and we'll live forever..."

"Please understand, I can't go on like this anymore, Molly," Leon states, not wanting to look at her. "I'm tired. You wouldn't have gone along with it! I'm sorry, but it was either us or you."

Her eyes widen in horror. She couldn't believe they were saying these things...A few tears escape her eyes, just as Shadow and Sophia arrive on her wing.

"Don't cry, Molly."

"Shadow...! Sophia...!" She turns to them, tears streaming down her face.

"We'll be there anytime you need us. Just like in that story, remember?" As soon as Shadow says this, the white Chaos Emerald starts to glow again. Shadow jumps into the air, jumping straight into a Metarex ship. Sophia leaps, opening her wings and flying through another ship. Two are destroyed, and Eggman just watches.

Molly looks down at the controls. "I'll show them...I'll keep fighting...I'll be back one day..."

As she passes Shadow, he sees the small smile and tears from her face. His eyes widen as she turns around and flies straight towards the Metarex. He stands up from the ground, looking up towards the sky.

"I'll keep fighting too, Molly...maybe we'll meet again someday...but where's Sophia?" He looks around for the girl, but she's nowhere to be seen. "Sophia? Sophia!" He grits his teeth over this, releasing the rings from his arms. He jumps into the air, flying straight towards the fleet. He crashes straight into them, causing an huge explosion. Rouge sees it from her spot, and afterwords...

There's nothing and no Cascade survivors left except for Eggman's ship.

"I gotta admit...that Molly chick...she was tougher than I thought," Rouge speaks up, Shadow looking towards the sky. "Hey Shadow...you okay?"

"Sure, I'm fine," He dismisses her question.

"It's just...you seemed to like her and all."

"Well sure, I liked her, she was a good kid. I just hope she'll be okay...she's all alone out there...with Sophia! NO!" He slams down his hand on the rock, shaking. Rouge stares at him in concern, frowning. Sophia...Molly...both of them...

Gone, just like that.

"Hey, look," Rouge points up to the sky as something is glowing. Shadow turns his gaze to see two people appearing in front of them. Sophia has her arm around Molly, panting in exhaustion. She has some bruises on her, but nothing too serious. Molly appears to be unconscious.

"Molly! Sophia!" Shadow cries out in relief, clearing his throat. "What happened to you out there?"

"I realized by Molly's tears that she wanted to..." Sophia bites her lip, lowering her on the ground. "And I just couldn't let her do it. My family would've wanted Cascade to live on...and...and I know it was a risk, but..."

"You did good, Sophia," Shadow walks up to her. "Thank you."

She smiles softly, all of them looking down at Molly. Shadow tosses Rouge the white Chaos Emerald, to their surprise.

"What?"

"Give that to Eggman, will ya?" He glances at the two girls before walking off. He turns back to Molly and Sophia. "Sophia. I think your team could use someone as headstrong and optimistic as Molly...don't you think?"

Sophia puts a finger on her chin before nodding. "Yes...I think we could."

"I'll take you both to the Blue Typhoon. Carry Molly for me."

Sophia glances at Rouge, who's staring after Shadow in shock. She puts Molly on her back and walks after Shadow, both of them walking into the dust. Eggman sees this, frowning in disapproval.

"Doctor, we are getting a message from someone," Decoe calls out. "Should I connect them now?"

"Quickly!"

Pale Bayleaf appears, but he's been slightly damaged from the explosion. Valtor is holding his broken off robot arm, causing Eggman to yelp in surprise.

"Sophia's uncle is a robot?" Bocoe stares at the arm.

"Your luck is running out, doctor."


	69. The Planet of Misfortune

**Angel: *sighs slowly, pinching nose* Sorry for the late update. I wasn't even gonna write this week, because I got into a little...car accident. Don't worry though, no one was hurt, I'm not going to jail, but I have to go to court regarding it in October...meanwhile, my car was deemed undriveable, and it had to be towed. Honestly...it was a surprise, to me and to my family. I'd like to apologize to all of the fans for this shock, as it will be to all of you.**

 **For those of you wondering, I have spoken to my insurance and my car is being repaired as we speak. I have a rental, I will be fine...eventually. Moving past this isn't obviously going to be easy, but accidents are called that for a reason. Obviously, I'd never want to purposely hurt anyone. I'm scared, but I have to face responsibility for my actions, and uh...this isn't something that no one but me should blame themselves for. I just wanna go back to writing, because it eases me. So don't worry, I'll still be around, because writing isn't something I can just give up on willingly. It does help me, and please, all I ask is that this matter be touched delicately. The last thing I need is more stress. And just so you know, I wrote at least three of these responses before the...'thing' happened, so I might seem different than usual in those three. And my writing from here on out might be different as well, so if that happens, I do apologize.**

 **Oh, and it's the first of August too…hope you guys will do good in school. I'll be in my last semester since I'm in a two year college, so I'll be earning a Associate of Arts Degree…crazy huh XD if there's any seniors out there who are starting their last year in high school, have fun! I certainly did!**

Guest: I know that Sophia will see Shadow again later on.

 **Angel: Shh...spoilers. They're sensitive XD**

Crazycartoons5488: WOW SHE SAVE MOLLY AND I THINK SHE GOING TO BE THE PRINCESS LADY IN WAITING AND JOIN TEAM SONIC.

 **Angel: Wow, okay, that was loud XD I won't reveal what Molly will do in Team Sonic just yet, I mean, she's still unconscious at this point.**

Mythicalpalkia (unique name!): I will say that this is my favorite episode out of the entire Sonic X series, and the most emotional one at that. Interesting at the fact that Molly is alive, considering in the english dub she just flew away in her plane when in the japanese sub she actually died. I am interested at how she will influence the rest of the story. And poor Shadow, he must've almost had a heart attack when he realized Sophia was gone. This is a really great story, and I can't wait to see more. Keep it up dude! Also give my sympathies for the poor black hedgehog, he's been through too much!

 **Angel: Well, in the english dub, everything was gone, and they used her name in past tense, so it's pretty obvious that she died. They just cut it out because the show was airing on 4Kids at the time. I couldn't bring myself to have her dead, I just couldn't D: It was all so sad how there's nothing for her to live for on her planet now...Shadow already lost Maria, and he thought he lost Sophia, so I figured to give him a break, let him have something good for once. And thank you. And I'm a dudette XD**

Devin sands: Love this chapter but I didn't expect you to have Sophia save Molly.

 **Angel: I figured to let her live...that planet's been through enough.**

Bajy: I love this chapter, and yes! Molly is alive and she will become apart of the Sonic gang! I'm glad that both she and Sophia are okay! Poor Molly, losing all that she had left on that planet because of her own comrades...those guys were idiots! Obviously they forgot to take their logic pills throughout the war, never strike a deal with the enemy cuz you will get backstab, betrayed and/or shot down later one way or another! Anyways, I am absolutely looking forward to reading the next chapter!

 **Angel: I think last one was one of the most emotional ones in the whole series. Yeah, it's widely considered one of the most emotional episodes in the whole series, along with a certain plant girl's...death.**

Challishanlon99: I have a question Sonic if there was any way for you to see the ocean would you go to the aquarium or have you already been there and if you have what do you think of all the animals that live there is there are so many animals that live in water and what about you guys also what are you guys think of the ocean and its creatures and please be careful I really worry about you guys.

 **Sonic: No way! I'd still be surrounded by water!**

 **Angel: It's not like you have to touch it...**

 **Sonic: It's still a no.**

Johanvanguard: Shadow did great with taking down the Metarex, which helped save the resistance. Thank goodness Sophia showed up to help Shadow and the resistance, but she had some suspicions about Leon. It was terrible that the resistance betrayed Molly to join the Metarex because they were tired of fighting. Luckily, Sophia and Shadow saved their group from the explosion, and they did well against the Metarex. I'm glad that Sophia saved Molly and she might join her group, but Eggman got a Chaos Emerald. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to the planet Marmolim.

 **Angel: Of course he did, it's Shadow. And...yeah, that was pretty sad to watch and write. I was more shocked that they actually died in it (well, most of the robots from Eggman die, but they're not humans).**

Guest: Molly is going to be shocked to see the king and queen.

 **Angel: She's still unconscious as of now.**

XD-SpikeJet11: Hey Sophia, if you can have anything you wanted in the world what would it be?

 **Sophia: Well...there's quite a lot of options, given our history...but if I had to choose just one...it would be to get to know my real parents. I would've loved knowing more about them...**

Helen, Frances, and Danny are trying once again to figure out how to reach Sonic and Sophia's world. "We have to figure out how Chris' transporter works."

"Try typing in a different password," Danny suggests as they're all staring at the computer.

"I know, maybe the password Chris used was Sonic!" Frances adds in.

"Let's see..." Helen types it in.

"Please work!" Danny begs, but they're all disappointed as it does not work.

"I think we better face facts," Helen looks on in disappointment. "We'll never log into Chris' system."

"Man, Chris made it impossible for anybody to follow him to Sonic's world!" Danny holds his head in disbelief.

"He didn't want us to take the risk," Helen looks up at him.

"It'd be worth the risk to see Sonic, Sophia, and the others again," Frances frowns a bit.

"I wish Chris had talked to us before he left so we could decide for ourselves," Danny looks to something and the women follow his gaze, seeing a picture of Chris, Amy, Tails, Sonic, and Sophia.

"I'm sure Chris is having a blast in Sonic's world right now..." Helen murmurs, remembering the adventures she's had with them.

"I wonder why Chris hasn't tried to contact us yet," Danny states, as they've haven't heard from him in months.

"I bet he's having so much fun that he just forgot," Frances points out. He would do that from time to time when the offworlders were still around.

"Probably..."

"Thanks for the help, guys," Helen tells them outside.

"Try not to worry," Frances tells her.

"Bye Helen!" They two say in unison as they take their leave. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining...

But it just wasn't the same.

Helen wheels herself on the sidewalk, looking up to the sky. _Chris...we hope you're alright. I miss you._

* * *

The Blue Typhoon is taking flight at this moment, Chris doing some important work. They're trying to track a Chaos Emerald, with little success.

"It doesn't look like there's any Chaos Emeralds around here," Cosmo murmurs, Amy turning to Chris.

"Chris, are you sure the scanner is working okay?" Amy asks skeptically.

"Yeah, I am. But there's a lot of interference in this part of the galaxy," He explains to her confusion.

"Why is that?" She looks at her screen.

"It looks like this entire region of space has been warped by some kind of bizarre gravitational force," He pulls up something on the screen to show an example.

"Do you think the Metarex are responsible for this?" Cream asks curiously.

"Probably are. If the warping continues at this rate, it'll soon spread out across the whole galaxy and beyond," He gives a look of worry.

"First the Metarex go around stealing planet eggs, and now they're bending outer space all out of shape!" Amy complains, a vein on her forehead. "Those creeps!"

There's a beep and Cream points to Amy's screen. "Look, the sensors found something-"

"Those Metarex have to be stopped once and for all!" Amy declares, interrupting the rabbit. "Uh..." She finally hears the noise and looks down to see something approaching the ship. "I think we found a Chaos Emerald. Hey Tails!"

"I see it. Ready to intercept," He sweats a bit, not sure of what to expect here.

"Hey look, something's coming towards us!" Chris looks outside.

"Do you think this has something to do with our newest member?" Cosmo asks in concern.

"I hope not...she said that her whole race is gone...poor girl," Cream frowns at the story Sophia had told them. As of now, Molly was still unconscious, due to the large blast back on her planet. Sonic, Sophia, Knuckles, Valentina, and Elliot are keeping an eye on her, so that she wasn't alone when someone gets to tell her what happened...

"It's a small asteroid," Chris notices the tiny rock approaching.

"The Chaos Emerald's inside the asteroid," Amy points outside.

"I'll pull it in," Tails pulls a lever, the front opening up to reveal a claw. It ascends outside and takes hold of the rock, but there's trouble pulling it back inside.

"Weird-looking asteroid," Chris blinks at it.

"Hey, it's trying to move away!" Cream points at the asteroid, to their surprise.

"That's no asteroid, you guys. It's a spaceship!" Tails explains to them.

"Whoa..." Sonic murmurs as the others heard everything from the infirmary.

"Mm..."

The five turn around in surprise to see Molly waking up. "What...happened?"

"Molly," Sophia looks down at her past the lamp. "We were caught in an explosion in the fight with the Metarex. I teleported you back on ground, and I brought you here at Shadow's suggestion."

"Shadow...where is he?" She sits up, looking around. "Is he here?"

"He...left after he made sure you were put here safe," Sophia glances away to the others, unsure of how to tell the girl that she doesn't know when Shadow will return, if ever. "But he said to keep fighting...and that he'll see you again someday."

"..." Molly stays silent for a little bit before blinking back tears. "My team...they're gone, aren't they?"

Sophia closes her eyes with a small sigh. "Yes...I'm so sorry, Molly...there was no trace of them after the explosion."

Valentina places a gentle hand on Molly's shoulder. "Child...I am not sure if you remember me, but-"

"Your highness!" Molly gasps at her, bowing her head. "I've heard so much."

"Oh my," Valentina chuckles a bit, a hand to her chest. "Please, lift your head. We cannot bring back your friends-"

"They weren't my friends," Molly wipes her nose. "At least, I didn't recognize them anymore..."

"Mom, they wanted to side with the Metarex, remember?" Sophia whispers to her mom, who lifts up a hand.

"Forgive me. I wish for you to recover, and when you do...I would be honored if you would be my lady-in-waiting for my daughter, as well as piloting your own ship here."

"W-What?" Molly stammers in surprise. "Lady in waiting...to the princess? And I get my own ship?"

"If you would like to. I would not pressure you given your situation-"

"Yes! I would love to!" Molly interrupts, happy that she has a place now.

"Excellent," Valentina smiles at her, gesturing to Elliot. "This is my husband, Elliot. You already know my daughter."

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic grins, jerking a thumb to his chest.

"I'm Knuckles," Knuckles waves at her slightly.

"Huh?" Molly blinks at Sonic's appearance. "You look so much like Shadow."

"That's...a long story," Sophia rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. "That I'm sure we don't have time for. Anyway, if you're up for it, we were just about to meet the inhabitants of the ship we caught by accident."

Molly smiles a little. "Sure. I would love a tour."

* * *

"We were afraid that you were going to crush our ship," The aliens from the spacecraft explain to everyone.

"I'm really sorry, but we thought your ship was an asteroid," Tails explains himself.

"Our ship is a highly advanced space vehicle!" The blue and pink furred alien defends, "With ion propulsion engines and a hyperdrive!"

Her companions nod in agreement. Chris bends down to them. "So what brought you to this part of the galaxy?"

"Our world is shaken, we must find somebody who can heal. I'm Lue, the ship's captain," The orange and red furred alien speaks up.

"My name is Lylem," The tallest one of the trio speaks up.

"And I am Momo," The only female says.

"It's nice to meet all of you, including the legendary Xenian royal family," The three say in unison with a bow.

"A legend? Me?" Sophia squeaks in surprise, waving it off. "Please, you're too kind..."

"It's nice to meet you too. You didn't happen to find a Chaos Emerald during your trip, did you?" Chris asks curiously.

"Chaos Emerald?" Molly asks Sophia curiously. "That's what your friends were after, right?"

Sophia simply nods.

"What's a Chaos Emerald?" The creatures show the same confusion as Molly did.

"It's a really beautiful gem about this size and it glows sometimes," Tails describes, cupping his hands together. The three glance to each other.

"Are you talking about this?" Lue holds out a blue Chaos Emerald.

"It's the Chaos Emerald!" Cream exclaims happily.

"They did find it!" Cosmo says in relief.

"Thanks a lot," Tails reaches out towards it, but Lue takes it back. "What's the matter?"

"We didn't say that _you_ could have it!"

They all stare in shock. "We spotted this gem during our trip and we thought it looked beautiful! trip and we thought it looked beautiful!" Lylem gestures to Lue.

"So we picked it up and decided to keep it!" Momo exclaims happily, the royal family sweating sheepishly.

"Erm, but you don't understand, we-"

"That's our emerald!" Knuckles interrupts Elliot, lunging towards the aliens. "Hand it over!"

"No! You can't have it!" Lue protests as the trio run around.

"We found it! It belongs to us!"

Sophia sighs, pinching her nose at this. Not a good first impression for Molly. "Is he always like this?" Molly giggles a bit.

"Unfortunately..." Sophia sighs again.

"I want that chaos emerald now!" Knuckles screams at them.

"Whoa, Knuckles," Tails warns the echidna, him and Chris holding him back.

"You're just making it worse," Chris reminds him.

"Let's try to work it out!" Cream calls out nervously.

"Some of us are civilized around here!" Amy crosses her arms.

"Fine! Then you get the emerald!" He shouts at everyone, Sophia dragging a hand down her face.

"I wonder just how you're a knight again..."

Sonic steps up to the three calmly. "That emerald's important. We really need it to save the galaxy."

"Please," Sophia bends down to them, holding out her hand. "It's necessary that we have it."

"I'm sorry," Lue says as they give a dejected look. "But we like this gem..."

"We don't want to share it," Lylem adds in.

"Please, give it to us," Sonic holds out his hand too.

They nod to each other before turning away. "Finders keepers!"

Sonic and Sophia fall to the floor at this. "This gem is more beautiful than anything we've ever seen before," Lylem points to the emerald.

"We're going to take it home!" Momo adds in with a smile.

"We can't wait to show it to our friends!" Lue says, Sonic tapping his finger against the floor.

"What do we do now?" Chris asks the two.

* * *

The ship continues on, as they are now taking the aliens back to their planet...seeing as they had no choice and the three would be stuck otherwise with the emerald, they offered to take them back home.

"I don't see why we're taking these pipsqueaks home when they won't give us the Chaos Emerald!" Amy grumbles from her station.

"We wanna find out why their planet's sick and see if there's something we can do to help," Chris explains to her.

"Planet Marmolim is such a magical place that once you visit, you'll never wanna leave!" Momo speaks up to her. "We have fortune tellers, magic charms, and even love spells!"

"You have love spells?!" Amy's eyes shine. Molly leans in towards Sophia.

"Why does she have that look?"

"Ask him," She jerks a thumb to Sonic.

"Yes, and they're extremely powerful."

Amy perks up at this, typing in the coordinates furiously before standing up. "What are we waiting for?! Let's go full speed ahead to Planet Marmolim!"

"Uh, sure Amy," Tails sweats nervously, knowing the exact reason why she wants to go all of a sudden.

He speeds up the spaceship, mostly so Amy wouldn't scream at him, and they soon reach a red, purple, and yellow planet.

"Hey, they're back!" One of the citizens notice the ship arriving, with their fellow friends welcoming Lue, Lylem, and Momo back.

"We were afraid that we'd never see you again!"

"I'm sorry if we worried you," Lylem says to them.

"We're giving you this to thank you for the ride," Lue holds out the Chaos Emerald. Sophia opens the case, bending down to him.

"It's about time," Knuckles grumbles underneath his breath. Valentina smacks him on the head politely. "Ow!"

Lue puts the emerald in the case. "Thanks, we really appreciate it," Chris tells him, Amy speeding past them to Momo.

"So where can we find this love spell you told me about?!"

"Right this way, please," Momo gestures behind her.

"Okay!" She grabs hold of Sonic, dragging him away. "Come on, Sonic!"

The others could only stare. "Amy, wait!" Cream calls out.

"Boy, is she hopeless," Chris comments at this.

"Seeing as we will be here for a while..." Elliot looks to where the two disappeared. "I think it would be best if we explored the planet."

Everyone cheers except for Knuckles.

"Perhaps you require a love spell too, my daughter," Valentina smiles in amusement at Sophia, who sweats sheepishly.

"Nope! No thank you! I'm still young, mother!"

Her mother just laughs at her reaction and Sophia wipes her forehead in relief. Whenever she was ready for that sort of thing, she'll pursue someone on her own, but for now, she's content with her nonexistent love life at the moment. Besides, she wasn't one to go for that kind of future-telling stuff. Most of the time, it was unnecessary since she's lived thousands of years...

"I'm gonna go for a run!" Sophia waves to the others, running forward so fast, she left behind smoke.

"What speed!" Molly gasps in shock.

"That's our girl," Elliot smiles to where she left. "She is very skilled with her abilities."

"Abilities..." Molly murmurs in awe, as she's yet to see them.

"Come along, Molly. Perhaps you can show us those piloting skills Sophia speaks highly of," Valentina waves her forward to go to the hangar. Molly nods, looking up towards the sky, smiling softly.

 _Thank you, Shadow...wherever you are._

* * *

"Before we try that love spell, let's go visit a fortune teller!" Amy screams in excitement, speeding into a building. She clasps her hands next to the relaxed Sonic as he just lets her speak. "Well?! Do we have a future together?!" She blinks happily, Sonic letting out a yawn.

Marmolim is full of bustling and chatting aliens. Lylem shows Chris and Knuckles around the market. "They sell magic here?" Knuckles asks skeptically.

"Visitors, like from Xenia, used to come here from all over the galaxy to find out their fortunes or to buy magic charms till our planet started getting sick," Lylem explains to him. Chris looks up, blushing.

"Wonder what they sell at that stall?" He and Knuckles look at a stand that has bottles and charms.

"We have charms and potions that can cure anything. You can find headache amulets, pick-up remedies, and even smells that fight athlete's foot!"

"Chris, you have a problem with athlete's foot?" Knuckles asks Chris in surprise. The boy waves around his arms in embarrassment.

"No!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Lue is showing around Cream, Cheese, Tails, and Cosmo around the city. "I'm not sure about this," Tails voices his concerns.

"I've never had anybody tell me my fortune before!" Cream exclaims in excitement.

"You can ask him any questions you want about your future," Lue glances at them.

"How exciting! What do you think we should ask him about, Cheese?!"

Cheese chirps and Cosmo looks around. "Something's wrong here...their planet is sick, but they don't seem to care," She murmurs to herself, walking with the others to a pink castle. An old Marmolims hums at the newcomers.

"Greetings, Ganna," Lue bows to him. Once they're inside, they have tea in the dining room. Ganna shuffles around coins.

"The coins are clear. They predict that you will soon part with a large sum of money."

"Do they say how much?" Lue asks curiously.

"Yes, 10 Fleebos, which is exactly what you owe me for this prediction."

"But that's the same prediction as last time I came here!" Lue protests to him, the other Marmolims laughing.

"This is no time for jokes!" Cosmo stands up sharply.

"We have the power to look into the future, but we cannot change it," Ganna shuffles the coins in his hands. "Our fate is already decided. What will be, will be."

"But..." Cosmo sweats a little, because his statement made no sense to her.

"I see you are always rushing into action," He holds up a coin. "But your haste is going to cause great sorrow to those who are closest to you. These magic coins predict it." He turns around a coin to show a skull on it, to her horror.

What did it mean...?

Cosmo turns around and starts to leave. "Wait, Cosmo!" Tails calls out, jumping out of his seat to run after her.

"Will she be okay?" Cream looks to Ganna.

"Her future is too cloudy to predict with any certainty, but I do see romance in her future. Strange...plants and animals usually don't get along."

"Huh?" She blinks in confusion.

Tails walks after Cosmo. "Hey slow down, Cosmo. Don't let that fortune teller upset ya. After all, nobody can really predict what'll happen in the future."

"I've never felt so helpless in my entire life," She comes to a stop. "I know I don't want to harm you or our friends, but that fortune teller says I'm destined to..."

He blinks slowly at her. "Cosmo..." He can already sense the regret and sorrow from her.

"It can't be true!" She squeezes her eyes shut.

"It'll be okay," He tries to assure her, but she runs off. "Wait!"

She doesn't dare turn back, afraid of what'll happen. Tails stares after her sadly, now very worried.

* * *

Momo leads Sonic and Amy to a cliff, pointing up ahead. "This is called Romance Rock." She's pointing at two statues in the distance.

"Oh, I love this place!" Amy shouts, swinging back and forth happily.

"If you want the love spell to join you both forever, first you'll have to break this rock," Momo explains, making Amy giddy.

"Joined forever?! Oh Sonic!" She hugs the blue hedgehog, to his dismay. "I know we can break it, I know it!"

She pulls out her hammer, swinging it over her head. "Sonic and I will never be apart again!" She declares, "Here goes!" She smashes the rock in front of her, Sonic speeding away. "Where's he going?!"

He dashes near the city.

* * *

Knuckles looks at a crystal ball. "Well," Ganna leans in forward. "According to this crystal ball, you are about to do something very foolish."

Lylem and Chris glance at him. Given what's already happened today, and previous times before, Knuckles has already proven himself to be very rash and impatient.

"Something foolish?" Knuckles is surprised by this. "Is there anything I can do to stop myself?"

"There's only one thing. Put this magic cloth on your head and run through town clucking like a chicken," Ganna holds out a white cloth.

"I'll try it!" Knuckles snatches it, shaking his hand. "Thanks. I hate making a fool of myself."

"That sounds pretty foolish to me," Chris murmurs to himself.

"Once again, Ganna's prediction will come true," Lylem recites, the boy staring at him.

He can already tell how this was gonna turn out...

Sonic speeds past them through the market. "That was Sonic."

"Come back, Sonic!"

The four turn to their right to see Amy chasing after Sonic, though not as fast. "Where are you going?! We broke Romance Rock, but we still have to go visit the Lake of Love at Matchmaker Mountain!" She runs right past the four.

"Amy would probably have better luck if she didn't push so hard," Chris sweats a little.

"It's a pity you don't have anybody to bring to Romance Rock, or Princess Sophia."

"Uh..." He stares at Lylem nervously. Was he trying to insinuate that he and Sophia go together? "I sort of do, but she's back on my planet. A-And Sophia's traditions are waaaay different than mine!" He laughs sheepishly, hands behind his back.

"I can tell you really like her a lot. So what's her name, huh?" Lylem pokes Chris teasingly.

"Hey."

They both laugh just as Cream and Tails arrive. "Hey Chris!"

"Hey, what happened to Cosmo and the others?" He notices that at least half of the other group is missing. "I thought they went with you."

The two glance at each other before looking down dejectedly. "Well...Molly's getting a refresher lesson from Sophia's parents, and after that they're planning on seeing the sights from Amy's ship..."

"Is something wrong?" Chris asks curiously.

* * *

Cosmo is standing at Romance Rock, staring at the sight. _I want to save the galaxies from the Metarex, and help my new friends...but it seems like I'm only going to make things for everybody..._

She stands there until the sun sets, and it seems like she's so focused on the sky that she doesn't even notice.

"There you are, Cosmo. I'm glad you're okay, we were worried about you."

She glances back to see Cream and Cheese arriving. She hugs Cheese with a soft smile. "Hi Cheese." Cream smiles at her. She wouldn't pry about it, as Cosmo could tell her what it is on her own time...

"Thanks for checking up on me, Cream," Cosmo says as they stand there together. "You and Cheese are good friends."

"After you left, that fortune teller that most plant and animal species don't get along as well as we do. I wonder why they find it hard to make friends."

Cosmo smiles a bit as she looks at the stars. "I guess because we're so different from each other. In all the galaxies, it's hard to find different kinds of beings getting along together. That's why Sonic and the rest of you are so special, because you can make friends with almost anybody. Even someone as reserved as Shadow."

"If a friendship like ours is rare, that makes it extra special!" Cream exclaims happily, Cheese chirping in agreement. They all share a smile.

"I feel the same way as you both do." She might feel guilty now...but she has friends like them to help.

* * *

Sonic is running through the desert when he bumps into someone. They crash, landing on their butts. "Ow..." He hears the other voice say and opens his eyes to see Sophia rubbing her head.

"Oh, sorry princess," He stands up, offering his hand. She takes it and he pulls her up. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," She smiles down at him in amusement.

"I'm hiding from Amy..." Sonic looks around for the hedgehog, causing Sophia to giggle.

"She wants you to complete the love spell, right? By going to Lake of Love?"

"How do you know that?" He asks her curiously.

"My mother told me about it when I was younger. She and Father were considering to use it on themselves before they got married, but they decided against it. He said he didn't need a love spell to know that he loved her." She smiles softly at the memory, but it was weak. "I wonder what my real parents were like before they met..."

"Well...wherever they are, I'm sure they loved you a lot, even if for a short time," Sonic grins a little at her, giving the princess a thumbs up.

"Thanks," She smiles at him. "Good luck with Amy."

"And you with Molly. Though given her piloting skills, you probably won't need it!" He gives her a two finger salute and she returns it, running off at high speed.

* * *

"Sonic?" Amy looks around for the hedgehog. "Sonic? Sonic?!"

"Maybe this means Sonic doesn't like you so much," Momo suggests, Amy turning to her sharply.

"That isn't true! Whenever I get into trouble, Sonic always come running to save me. I'll never forget when we both got back from Chris' world. Sonic picked a flower for me! He said this is for you, Amy. Oh Sonic!" She beams up at the sky.

"Amy."

She turns in confusion to see Cosmo, Cream, and Cheese stopping in front of her. "Cosmo, aren't you curious if there's romance in your future?"

"I guess so," She murmurs.

"What are you waiting for?! Let's go! You'll love it, Cosmo!" She grabs their hands, running off. Momo trails after them. Cosmo and Cream giggle at each other from Amy's enthusiasm.

"Soon your heart will belong to another," One of them holds out two cards in front of Cosmo. Then they go see Ganna.

"You will be struck." They stare at him, baffled. "Love-struck." They giggle at this, walking through the market afterwards.

"Cosmo, what's going on with you and Tails?" Amy asks curiously. Cosmo turns to her with a blush.

"I don't know what you mean."

Amy leans in closer, crossing her arms with a smirk. "Well, it's obvious that you and Tails really like each other."

"Really, Amy," She blushes redder this time, putting a hand to her cheek. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hm," Amy turns away. "You're lying."

"That isn't true, Amy!" Cosmo shakes her head, waving her hands. "I'm sure that Tails couldn't possibly be interested in me. I have a feeling he finds me annoying."

"If Tails doesn't like you, then why are you always together?" Cream asks cluelessly.

"Forget about Tails and me, how are things going with you and Sonic?" Cosmo changes the subject, knowing that Amy would talk forever about Sonic if she could.

Amy turns away again, sweating a bit. She falls onto her knees with a whine. "What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up," Cosmo replies in guilt. Amy starts laughing, looking up with determined eyes.

"Everything will turn out okay, because Momo gave me a magical spell so I can make Sonic mine forever!"

Momo gives her a thumbs up and she stands up. "I'll catch Sonic in a trap and his heart will be burned with love!" She giggles evilly, fire behind her.

* * *

Back at the ship, some Marmolims are preparing to send them off. Chris glances behind him next to Molly as Sonic is surrounded by some rectangular packets.

"What's all that stuff, Sonic?"

"The Marmolims gave me these charms to protect me when I try to save their world."

"I guess it can't hurt," Chris smiles a bit in amusement. "There's some kind of disease growing underground where the planet egg was. You have to destroy it. The only problem is there's a lot of water in that area."

"Water?! Are you kidding?!" He digs through the charms. "Let's see. The Marmolim who gave me this charm told me it works against water." He puts on a gold bracelet with blue gems on his wrist. Chris giggles at the fact that Sonic actually believes it'll work.

"I'm not sure...but it wouldn't hurt to try," Molly giggles at him. The door opens and everyone turns to see Sophia walking inside.

"Sophia!" They all exclaim in relief and she waves with a wink.

"Tell us what we have to do."

The Sonic/Royal Power Cannon emerges from the front.

"Wrap all energy to the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon," Tails tells Chris, Molly standing by in interest. "Load the cannon and get ready to fire at my command!"

"Here we go!" Knuckles declares next to Chris.

"Proceed with takeoff!" Tails pulls a lever and the ship starts up, flying into the air. "Adjust cannon angle. Watch closely, Molly. When we finish building your ship, you'll probably be as good as me!"

"I already am, Tails," Molly looks down at him with a big smile. "I can't wait to show you!"

The cannon tilts upwards. "Guys, get set for launch!"

Sonic and Sophia start spinning around. Everyone is watching from a distance, waiting in anticipation. "Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, fire!"

Sophia and Sonic burst out of the cannon, spinning towards a rock. They speed right into the rock, going all the way down to the core. It starts shaking and everyone else hides behind the barrier the Marmolims had made. Chris watches as Sonic and Sophia are nearing their target. They reach the core and rush right into the spongey substance and it explodes.

"They did it!" Chris cheers, and water bursts from the rock, going towards Planet Marmolim.

"I think it worked!" Cosmo looks on optimistically.

"Sonic and Sophia saved the planet!" Amy exclaims, the Marmolims waving their arms happily.

"Thank you, Princess and Sonic!"

"I thought this charm was gonna keep me dry," Sonic looks at the bracelet while he and Sophia are floating. "But if you ask me, it's all wet!"

A geyser shoots them up into the air. "Whoaaa! Somebody shut off the faucet!"

"Oh boy," Sophia sweats a little, grabbing him and flying away.

* * *

The Marmolims then celebrate with the group, but not Cosmo. She's standing on the cliff, staring at everyone having fun...she'd be down there, if it weren't for that fortune...

"What's wrong, Cosmo? Why are you here by yourself?"

She turns around to see the two-tailed fox. "Hi Tails. The Marmolims are really happy their planet was saved. You must be pleased too."

"I feel lucky to be working with such terrific teammates," He walks up further so that she can see him. "Especially with you."

"Ah," She blushes bashfully, "I didn't do anything..."

"You're wrong, Cosmo."

She gasps as she looks up at him. "You found us to help you stop the Metarex. Don't ever forget that. You're not sorry you found us, are ya?"

She shakes her head rapidly. "Of course I'm sorry. How could you think that? Oh! That came out wrong! I mean I'm not sorry I met you." She had stammered because of what he said.

He just laughs at her. "Don't worry, I know what you meant. I'll see you later."

Tails turns around to leave, but she didn't want him to. "Hold on, Tails!" She trips on a rope and he turns around, catching her in his arms. A spring suddenly lifts them into the air. They could only stare at each other as the water shines blue. The two stare at each other in the eye, mesmerized by the sight of each other. They land in the lake a few seconds later.

"Are you okay?" He asks once it's over.

"I'm fine. I wonder what that was."

They turn around to look at the moon in front of them, awed by it.

"You gave Amy a matchmaking spell?!" Chris asks Momo, who shrugs.

"It's the strongest one we have. The couple dives into the Lake of Love, and afterwards looks at the full moon, and then they'll be joined together forever!"

"Ah," Sophia bends down to look at her. "Momo, I don't think Sonic is the best choice to go to a Lake of Love. He's too busy having adventures!"

"That sounds like Amy is finally going to see her dream come true," Cream clasps her hands.

"She can't fail! Amy even set up a trap so that she and Sonic would fall into the lake and see the exact moment the moon rose!"

Everyone except Sophia and Chris laugh. "So they must be together right now. Huh?" Except...

Sonic is still at the market, returning the charm he got. "Thanks pal. This should hit the spot."

"Sonic?" Chris asks, the others blinking in confusion.

"Something wrong?" Sonic questions, glancing back at them.

"Erm...I don't think it worked...so who used the trap, then?"

Cosmo and Tails look at the moon together, smiling. Amy sees them from the distance, gritting her teeth. "Every time I come up with a way to capture Sonic's heart, he makes a last minute getaway! This is totally unfair! THAT TRAP WAS SET FOR SONIC, I WANTED TO GET MY ROMANCE GROWN AND NOW I HAVE TO WATCH YOU TWO GO GAGA OVER EACH OTHER! THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! GO FIND YOUR OWN PLANET TO FALL IN LOVE ON!"

However, both of them don't seem to notice or care about her screaming...because this moment was something between them that would never be forgotten.


	70. Terror on the Typhoon

**Angel: Sorry this is so late, my sister had a nail appointment, and I was making some phone calls earlier, because I have to pick up my car early in the morning tomorrow...ugh -_- I wouldn't be doing all this if my sister didn't have another appointment tomorrow at 11 in the morning! Not to mention I have to drop off the rental...**

XD-SpIkeJet11: Way to make a first impression Knux! XD

 **Angel: He's an idiot, but he makes up for it in strength XD**

Crazycartoons5488: Dark Oak has a history with Sophia's evil uncle he's the one that attacked Cosmo's home planet and made a deal with him. Dark Oak is scared of Sophia's uncle.

 **Angel: Of course they have history, Dark Oak was his second-in-command. I don't like to believe that Dark Oak is scared of Valtor, more like the other commanders are scared of him. And rightfully so.**

Challishanlon99: Sonic even though you're afraid of water I'm very proud of you for helping the planet for those people you should be very proud of yourself and one other thing, I would have never trusted those charms sometimes charms just don't work you can't always believe everything Sonic I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything I'm just saying. Oh you guys never answered my question what's your favorite sea and water animal?

 **Sonic: Thanks! And you're not bossing me around. That's Tails' job. I don't have a favorite.**

 **Angel: Of course he doesn't XD Aren't sea and water technically the same...? But my favorite is a dolphin.**

 **Amy: Maybe seals.**

 **Tails: Oh wow, that's a hard one...mm, clownfish. They remind me of Nemo.**

 **Cream: Penguins or starfish are cute.**

 **Sophia: Sea turtles.**

Bajy: I am looking forward to reading more soon. Indeed Molly will make a great addition to the team.

 **Angel: There's only 8 episodes left, so her time will be short on the Blue Typhoon XD And no, I won't make her die or anything like that.**

Johanvanguard: It was great of Sophia, Sonic, and the others to help the aliens get back to planet Marmolim and to destroy the planet's disease. Seeing Molly as part of the group and her learning about them and the ship was nice. Tails and Cosmo growing closer was wonderful for them. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia and Molly will react to what happens with the Metarex and Eggman.

 **Angel: Hopefully people will start going back to planet Marmolim. Those little guys deserve it! And I'm kind of expanding their relationship since they're technically a thing now.**

A warp field appears in the middle of space, allowing the Blue Typhoon to pass through. As soon as they do, however, a blue ship flies into view, being chased by Metarex ships. The blue ship flies right past them, with the Metarex hot on their trail.

"More Metarex," Cream states as they're all looking outside.

"Somebody's in trouble," Sonic frowns deeply, arms crossed.

"We're getting a signal," Chris reports as they watch the battle, "There's a Chaos Emerald somewhere on board that craft."

Cosmo stands up in worry. "They're in grave danger. If what Chris says is true, then those Metarex will stop at nothing to get what they want. We must help them!" Tails looks up at her in surprise.

"She's right," Sonic gives the boy a thumbs up. "What do you say, Chris?"

"Okay," Chris nods at him.

"As Captain, I hereby veto that plan," Tails crosses his arms. "We have our safety to think about."

"Later, kids!" However, Chris and Sonic are already gone.

"Looks like you're too late, Tails," Cream comments and the two-tailed fox notices that they're already gone. He whines at this.

"Why do I even bother having a captain, anyway..."

"Tails...Chris and Sonic are right," Molly speaks up from the spot underneath him. "When the Metarex wouldn't stop fighting us...I still had hope. We can't let this ship have the same fate as my planet..."

"I agree," Sophia looks up at him. "Safety or not, that ship needs help."

"Good luck, my child," Valentina tells the girl as she watches Sophia walk away.

The X Tornado flies out of the front of the space ship. "We'll be on that mystery ship in no time!" Sonic exclaims from the wing, Sophia's feet planted against the other one.

"It's weird. I can't detect any aliens on that ship..." She looks at her comlink.

"Hope they're okay up there," Chris says in concern. The Metarex relentlessly attack the ship.

"Man, they really got that thing surrounded," Sonic comments as they see it up ahead.

"Yeah, you're right. Looks pretty bad..."

"Well, whatever the reason is, they stop now," Sophia narrows her eyes. Inside the mystery ship is a black colored robot with red eyes. He wipes his forehead.

"Phew!"

Sonic jumps in the air, Sophia following. They spin dash into the Metarex ships, destroying several before they follow the mystery ship.

"Missile launch!" Chris grits his teeth as he presses the button. A missile is fired and it hits the last Metarex ship. The speed duo give him a thumbs up.

"Good shot."

* * *

With Tails, he's looking over the Master Emerald, frowning. Cosmo approaches from the ground, holding some food.

"Hi Tails."

He turns around eagerly, his tails twitching. "Hey, how you doing, Cosmo?"

She giggles at this. "You're hungry?"

"I'm sorry, but I just don't have time," He frowns a bit. "This modification job's a real pain. I told Chris I'd modify the energy sequencer and reconnect it to the Master Emerald with a stronger magnetic field, but if I do that, the frequencies will get out of whack." She just stares in confusion. "I suppose I could bypass them by going directly through the-" He finally notices her bewildered look, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to get all geeky on you."

"Ah, don't apologize," She smiles softly. "After all, you can't help it if you're the smartest guy around."

He laughs, his tails moving again.

"Tails, come up here right away!" Chris' voice rings through the speakers. "You've gotta see this."

He immediately turns serious as he looks up. Tails flies down and starts running.

"Tails."

He turns around to Cosmo, who smiles again at him. "I actually like it when you get all geeky. It's one of your best qualities."

A blush comes to his cheeks as he waves at her, leaving the room. After what happened on Planet Marmolim, they had started to be more closer...and he couldn't be any happier.

The Blue Typhoon is warped to an area with a bunch of colors and lightning. The ship continues on through the field, Chris looking at his screen.

"Look at all that energy swirling around..."

"I don't like this. I have a feeling if we go any further, we might never come out," Tails sweats a bit.

"I'm with Tails," Cream frowns and they stare up ahead, not sure of what to expect...

"But we can't just give up on them now," Cosmo declares from her spot.

"Okay, I'm gonna chance it! We're going in," Tails pulls the levers, deciding to listen to her. As much as he didn't want to risk anyone's lives...they couldn't just leave someone in need behind. That wasn't their style.

They advance forward, Sophia looking around at all the energy. Suddenly, the ship is encased in a shield as some of the energy starts to hit the barrier, causing them to scream.

"I may be able to drag it out of there. Activate Typhoon claw and nice and slow," Tails suggests.

"Roger!" Chris presses a few buttons, a claw reaching towards the smaller blue ship. However, a clamp comes from the ship, cutting the claw off before it could get grabbed.

"That was easier than I thought!" The robot lifts his black head to reveal himself as Decoe! He laughs and he comes onto their channel. "Sorry to have to cut you off, kids."

"It's Decoe!" Chris exclaims in shock. The ship turns around and flies in the opposite direction.

"Correction, that _was_ Decoe," Amy interjects, hands on her hips.

"Maybe he doesn't want our help after all..." Cream murmurs and Sophia's eyes widen, turning around to face all of them.

"Or maybe...this whole thing was a trap!"

As soon as she says that, several ships come into the field out of nowhere. "The Metarex!" Tails exclaims in realization. "Sophia's right, it's a trap! Hang on everybody, I'm gonna do a fast 180!" He pulls forward the left lever, pulling back the right one. He turns the ship around.

"Be careful, Tails," Chris warns him. They're face to face with a ship that's blocking their path...

Eggman's ship.

"Eggman. I should've known he's joined forces with them!" Sonic says in realization.

"All hail his royal honorary Metarex, Dr. Eggman!" Bokkun announces as Eggman appears into the control room.

"Well, Black Narcissus? What have you got to say? Don't I at least get a thank you? Huh? Huh? Your highness, you think you would show some gratitude. After all, it was I who lured Team Sonic into your galactic web."

Valtor narrows his eyes silently. The only reason why he was allies with this fool was to get their enemies close. Nothing more, and nothing less.

"What you'll receive is I not taking your life right here and now. I suggest you keep that in mind the next time you speak to me like that," He spits at the doctor, who sweats nervously. Now he sees why Sophia's uncle is the leader...

"Not the most difficult of achievements," Black Narcissus comments, turning to his screen. "You'll learn, Eggman, that I am not given to displays of gratitude."

"Well, just so you know, they wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my finely honed genius for deception. And there are more tricks where that came from, just so long as I'm compensated," He gives Black Narcissus a look. Valtor just rolls her eyes at him.

Eggman may be a strong and cunning ally, but he had no idea how his niece could put up with how annoying he is.

"Don't worry, doctor. You _will_ be." Black Narcissus and Valtor glance at each other, the leader smirking evilly.

"It's past 1800 hundred hours," Eggman looks at a watch. "Let's do this, boys! Launch Operation Swarm immediately!" Eggman chuckles, Bokkun laughing along with him. Yellow Zelkova just looks on.

"Who does that grotesques wretch think he is, anyway?!" He exclaims at being ordered around by someone other than Valtor.

"Now calm down, Zelkova," Pale Bayleaf stands up in front of him. "Remember, it was thanks to Eggman and his tactical know-how that we were able to plan this operation in the first place. In addition, the master has ordered us to go along with anything the doctor says...for now."

Eggman is flying around happily. "You can't be serious!" Zelkova protests as they stare. "He's nothing but a fool!"

"Attention Metarex fighter squad," Pale Bayleaf speaks up. "The great doctor has spoken."

"You would think the doctor would show just an ounce of decorum," Bocoe murmurs as they watch from the Crimson Egg's feed.

"What do you mean?" Decoe glares at him. "He is the picture of calm!"

"How can you call that calm? Just look at him!"

"Go Eggman! Go Eggman!" The doctor and Bokkun cheer, dancing around on top of the Egg Mobile. "Go, go, go Eggman! Go Eggman!"

"I suppose you're right," Decoe agrees after watching this. "He could chill out a bit."

"Go Metarex!" Bokkun cheers and Valtor opens his eyes, walking over to them. Decoe and Bocoe look to each other in worry. Valtor's arms and legs extend as he grows a tail. He gets larger in size and his skin turns scaly and red. The next thing Eggman or Bokkun knew, they were staring at a very big dragon. They sweat sheepishly, backing away.

"Ah, yes...we were warned about that..." Eggman murmurs as he's sweating. "Forgive us, your highness."

The dragon snorts smoke from his nose before turning back into Valtor. "Watch what little manners you possess, Eggman. They are pathetic to witness."

Eggman huffs and the whole fleet is sent out to deal with the Blue Typhoon. "They're closing in, Tails," Sonic frowns at them.

"What do we do?! We can't turn around! And if we don't, we'll head straight into that black hole!" Cream asks in panic. "Either way, we're in danger!"

"Okay, I say we forge ahead and fight as hard as we can," Tails turns towards the outside. "Typhoon Tornadoes, let's move out!"

Amy turns around in annoyance. "Typhoon Tornadoes?"

"It's our new team name," Tails explains to her.

"You couldn't think of anything better than Typhoon Tornadoes? The whole tornado thing is so cliché," She comments in disapproval.

Tails gives an irritated look, gritting his teeth. "Think maybe we could argue about this later, Amy?"

"Agreed. We have a whole army to fight," Sophia shakes her head at them. "Come on, Molly, Tails is finished with your new ship!"

"Let's go get 'em!" Sonic declares while resting on the wing of the X Tornado. Molly's ship has been repainted in the colors of the Blue Typhoon, with rocket boosters, upgraded weapons, and heat-seeking missiles. Sophia is sitting in the back behind her. The four ships deployed race towards the fleet.

"Ready to launch nitro blasters!" Chris launches the blasters, which hit Sonic's feet. His sneakers turn into nitro mode.

"Are you ready, Sophia?" Molly asks as Sophia lifts up the glass.

"It wouldn't be the first time I jumped out of a plane, so yeah!" Sophia gets out of her seat and Chris fires two more blasters. Sophia flips into the air, with Molly closing the glass. The yellow glow hits her shoes, turning them into nitro mode as well. Something emits from their right feet.

"Let's kick it, princess!" They raise their right foot in unison, kicking the projectiles towards the Metarex. When it touches ships, they explode. "That's 3 three points for three ships," Sonic gives Sophia a thumbs up, with another projectile forming from the shoes.

"Well, that's inconvenient," Eggman grins widely at this. "Now onto plan b. Of course, I haven't exactly formulated a plan b."

"Have no fear, doctor," Pale Bayleaf replies from his spot next to Eggman. "You see I—we have a plan b of our own in store." His eyes glow yellow as he presses a blue button.

"As do I," Black Narcissus pushes a button of his own.

"What?!" Yellow Zelkova is the odd one out. "Well, so do I!" He punches something in frustration. All the ships fire yellow lasers at the same time. Amy narrowly dodges them. Sonic and Sophia jump out of the way as Chris and Moly swerve out of the way. One of the lasers hits an enemy ship. Cream turns to the side as a ship flies past her. It gets hit by a stray laser and destroyed. More of them are taken out as another wave is fired towards Chris.

"They're blasting their own fighter planes, guys!" Chris tells Sonic and Sophia.

Valtor watches the ordeal, Eggman cringing. "Can you believe it, doctor?" Bokkun asks in shock.

"And I thought _I_ was a meanie!"

"Looks can be deceiving," Valtor turns around with a wicked grin. "They're weak fools whether or not our mission is successful. So we happened to lose a few...more can be made."

The blast shield is up from the Blue Typhoon, but the lasers causes the plane to shake. "The shield's not working. They're too strong for us!" Cosmo says from her spot. They can see and feel all of the explosions. Knuckles comes on screen.

"They're firing at anything they can! I think we should retreat fast!"

Cream appears underneath his window. "But we can't turn back, we've come too far!"

"What do you say, Tails? Do we fight?"

Tails looks at Cosmo, and then at the king and queen, who are just looking out the window, frowning. "We'll use the power cannon. The best thing to do is aim directly to the mothership." The front opens up, Chris flying back to the spaceship, with Sonic in tow. Sophia flies towards it.

"Okay Tails."

"Ready, Cream? Let's give 'em all we got! Target locked on."

Sonic and Sophia stand on the top platforms. "Okay guys, get ready!"

They jump and start spinning in the air. Tails brings the levers closer. "Prepare for Power Cannon! Okay, fire!"

The cannon charges up, emitting the duo from it. They soar all the way across to the other side. Eggman is angry about this, before it turns into a smile.

"Let's have some fun. Star shield up!"

Two devices appear out of nowhere, creating a brief star shield around the ship. The shield flickers before finally activating. When Sophia and Sonic reach the shield, they're gone.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Chris cries out, the Master Emerald sparking out of control.

"Hang on!" Knuckles struggles to keep it together, but the panel explodes. Tails looks in horror at what just happened.

"Oh no! Sophia and Sonic got zapped out there! What have I done...?"

He could only stare outside as the star shield. A concerned Amy is holding a cloth over a bruised Sonic's head. Sophia lays down on a gurney between him and the injured Knuckles, due to the explosion from the engine room. Elliot is crying over Sophia's body, Valentina rubbing Sophia's forehead with a wet cloth.

"That blast sure did do some damage to the main engine," Chris checks over the points of impact. "But I think we'll be okay, just as long as we can keep it under a certain speed. We have to conserve whatever energy we've got until we can recharge that Master Emerald," He turns around towards Tails. "Okay, Tails?"

However, the fox has a wide-eyed look, not speaking or moving. "Tails?"

"Huh?" He blinks, looking towards the boy.

"You doing okay?"

"Uh, yeah," He rubs his neck sheepishly. "I'm okay, Chris..."

All he could think about was how his decision got his friends hurt...

All of the commanders and Eggman look outside to the star shield. "That floating playground of theirs is still chugging along. Quite impressive," Black Narcissus comments, slightly surprised.

"Perhaps...but not for long. The star shield will deactivate within five minutes," Pale Bayleaf brings his hands together. "We will then launch a full-scale attack against them!"

The ships wait patiently to attack.

"Oh no, the danger signal!" Cream looks at her flashing screen. "What do we do now?"

"I'm not so sure the Typhoon can make it through another attack, Tails," Chris voices his concerns, glaring outside. Tails just droops his head, looking towards Cosmo. He then looks back to the ground, his eyes trembling.

 _I...I'm not worthy to be captain! I'm just not!_

He runs off, causing Cosmo to stand up. "Tails, come back!" She watches him in worry.

Bokkun and Eggman appear in the main room of the Crimson Egg, having returned from the Metarex mothership. "I'm back!"

"Doctor!" The two robots cry out in relief. "Thank goodness you are okay!"

"We were beginning to worry that something had happened," Decoe starts off.

"After all, those Metarex guys are pretty tough cookies," Bocoe adds in.

"Well they may be tough, but they got nothing on the big bulk man!" Bokkun cheers.

"Oh stifle that idiotic chattering, will you?!" Eggman snaps at them, causing the three to whine. He looks outside towards space. "This is serious. Hmm..."

* * *

Cosmo runs after Tails, grabbing his hand. "Tails, please wait."

He doesn't turn towards her, looking at the ground. "...How could I do something so stupid?"

"Tails, you can't blame yourself for what happened," She stares at him sympathetically. Cosmo was just like him whenever things went wrong on her account. But seeing it in someone like Tails was...was saddening.

"It's because of me my friends are hurt," He closes his eyes. "Face it, I don't have the right to call myself captain of anything. Molly deserves it more than I do...and I also don't deserve to be called the royal mechanic."

"How can you say that, Tails?" Cosmo asks him in disbelief. "Nobody but you could be captain and you know it!"

"I'm just a big failure..."

She turns around to face him. "Not in my eyes, you're not. Just think of the hundreds of times you've helped your friends when they were in trouble. I've never known anyone as brave as you. The royal family chose you for a reason, Tails. It's because they saw your best traits over your bad ones."

"Really?" He looks up at her beaming smile.

"Just think of all the times you've saved your friends from danger! I'm proud to be under the command of such a noble captain."

Tails gives a small smile. "Hey thanks!" He pulls her in for a hug and she gasps at the feeling of his soft fur. She returns the hug anyway, with Tails softly kissing her forehead. Cosmo can't help but laugh at the gesture.

* * *

Chris is met with Eggman getting onto their channel. "Howdy kid! You and your pals getting ready for the big bad showdown?"

"We're ready for anything you and those Metarex dish out, just try us!" He yells at the evil doctor.

"Who'd have thought such big talk could come from such a small fry? Where's our friends Sonic and Sophia, by the way? Nursing and aching, I presume?" He taunts, Chris growling at him. "Well, while Nurse Amy is bandaging up those blockheads of theirs, here's a little bit of news for you! You have five minutes till that Typhoon's toast! Now if I were in your place, kid, I'd say farewell to my little friends, cuz this is gonna be a blast!" He grins widely, laughing before he signs off.

"Now what do we do?" Cream looks to Chris, who hangs his head.

"I don't know..." This was exactly the reason why he wasn't captain; because despite his true age, he's just not ready to make decisions like this...

"It's okay, gang. I got it under control." They look to see Tails, Cosmo, and Sophia stepping out. "We've got five minutes left and that's five minutes to win."

"Tails, you're back!" Chris says in relief. Cosmo is smiling behind him. "And Sophia, you're already up?"

"I'm a human with alien enhances," She speaks up with a shrug. "That star shield can't bring me down for long. Besides...I'd like to have a few words with my oh-so-dear uncle."

"Now let's take a look at this data and see how we can beat 'em!" Tails suggests, Cream smiling at him.

"That sounds great, Tails!"

Cheese agrees with her and they slowly approach the star shield. They look at the screen, looking at two portals.

"If we can somehow reverse the direction of the spin, then it's possible to create a new magnetic field! One that's a direct opposite of the first one," He explains to the other five.

"But what if we get sucked inside of there?" Cream asks as she stares at the diagram.

"It may be tough, but it's the only chance we've got," Chris narrows his eyes in determination. "We'll just have to give it every ounce of energy we possibly can."

"There's just one problem we haven't thought about," Tails speaks up. "In order to reverse the magnetic field, we'd have to use ring tunnel, but with Sonic knocked out, there's just no way."

"Who you calling knocked out?"

They turn around in surprise to see a bruised Sonic standing up, with Amy holding onto him. He smiles at them. "I'm not exactly down for the count yet, Tails! When my captain needs me, nothing's gonna stop me from giving all I got!"

"That's right!" Sophia pumps a fist to her chest. "Just tell us what you'd like us to do, Tails! We believe in you!"

Tails beams at their praise. "Then let's do it, you guys!"

The Blue Typhoon turns around, with the X Tornado being deployed. Molly's ship flies after them, with Sophia on the wing.

"Sonic and Sophia are plotting something," Decoe replies, the others looking outside suspiciously.

"I'll give them this, they sure don't give up easily," Bocoe comments, with Eggman snickering.

"Hmm..." Pale Bayleaf looks on in interest, Valtor raising a brow.

"I checked the Master Emerald, Tails!" Cream calls out from her spot. "It's stable!"

"Great! Keep your eye on it. Emerald stabilized. Chris, we're ready when you are. Go ahead and activate ring tunnel! Molly, get Sophia close!"

"Aye aye," Chris narrows his eyes, Molly nodding.

"Okay, Tails!" She swerves to the left and looks to Sophia, who eyes the X Tornado. Leaping into the air, she grabs her umbrella from behind her back. Sophia opens it and lets herself float until she lands next to Sonic.

"Ring tunnel!"

A golden spiral emits from the X Tornado. Sonic and Sophia jump into the air, landing on the spiral. Their shoes light up as they spin around in the same direction as the spiral.

"Star shield deactivating in five, four, three, two, one," Decoe counts down. The duo exit the ring tunnel, getting past the shield. Amy looks up in worry.

"Nothing's happening, Tails!"

"Now I'm scared," Cream frowns outside. Tails keeps his determined gaze on his face, closing his eyes. He knew that he wouldn't fail them again, because captains don't fail their crewmates.

 _This is gonna work. After all, I'm captain!_

Sonic and Sophia get hit by the energy of the star shield, leaving them floating in the air. "Sonic, Sophia, no!" Chris cries out. Sophia suddenly opens her eyes, bringing her hands together.

"Chaos...Control!"

Her body flashes white, with Chris and Molly covering their eyes from the light. When it disappears, Sophia is gone, confusing the Metarex.

"She disappeared!" Black Narcissus exclaims in shock.

"The girl is certainly powerful..." Valtor murmurs in interest before smirking. "Though, not very smart. Isn't that right, niece?"

He turns around and sees Sophia standing there in the shadows. Pale Bayleaf and Black Narcissus shout in shock, looking towards outside and then in her direction.

She stays silent, walking up to him slowly. "I may have acted quickly, but I can assure you...I'm your worst enemy, and you'll never rule the galaxy!"

Valtor just stares at her, chuckling. "And what makes you think I CAN'T?!" His body transforms into a dragon, causing Sophia to recoil back a bit in shock.

"Sonic, I'm here!" Chris holds out his arms to the hedgehog.

"What are you waiting for, you imbeciles? The enemy has broken through, and one of them has intruded our ship. Fire! Fire!" Pale Bayleaf orders, with someone speeding up to him from behind. Sophia kicks him towards a wall and he groans. Sophia backflips, dodging fire balls from Valtor, who doesn't seem to care that he's damaging his own ship.

The fleet fires as ordered. "The missiles are heading right towards us! Thousands of them," Cream looks towards Tails. The projectiles are coming in from all directions. "Less than 30 seconds till they hit!"

"Tails, what now?!" Amy shrieks while Cosmo, Valentina, and Elliot stand there, hoping for a miracle.

 _A good captain always believes in himself. They're counting on you, Tails. Focus, Tails. Concentrate._

He opens his eyes. The three commanders are peeking outside while Sophia has transformed into her alien form, swiping at Valtor's tail. He flings it forward, knocking her into the wall.

The remains of the star shield flicker while the X Tornado and Molly's ship return to the Blue Typhoon. "Okay, let's bring her in slow and steady, gang. Now hang on real tight!"

"Tails, Sophia is gone!" Molly calls out from his communicator.

"Huh?" He blinks slowly, looking in the distance. "...Sophia trusts me, so I have to trust her. Whatever she's doing, it's important."

Something floats in front of the Blue Typhoon as the Master Emerald starts sparking in rainbow color. "We're losing engine power, Tails!" Amy reports, turning towards Tails in worry.

"It's the Master Emerald!" He realizes, and the shield in front of the Typhoon disappears.

Sophia and Valtor clash with their hands, snarling at each other. He picks her up and throws her towards the ceiling. She lands in the corner and shoots a web towards the dragon, but he sets it on fire. Some sharp nails grow from her fingers and she throws them at him like daggers. He holds up his tail, deflecting the daggers. As she's hanging herself from the ceiling with a spider web, he snorts smoke from his nose. He cuts off the web with his hand, but she lands safely on her legs, crawling around him.

Knuckles is attempting to move against the wall, as he sensed the Master Emerald was in distress. "Gotta get to the Master Emerald!"

"Let this work, please!" Tails begs as the missiles get closer. Amy lets out a yell as something emerges from the black portal.

"Seven Chaos Emeralds..." Knuckles has managed to reach the engine room. "Are the servers...Chaos is the power! Chaos is the power in which by the hearts!"

Cosmo smiles at their returned power. Tails lets out a scream as he flies the Blue Typhoon towards what was left of the star shield.

"How could this happen?! Unacceptable!" Pale Bayleaf exclaims at this. Sophia has trapped Valtor in a web, turning back into her normal self. She looks up at her uncle and turns away, disappearing with Chaos Control.

"Let's vamoose behind the mothership! That baby's about to blow!" Eggman says to his crew. The Crimson Egg moves behind the Metarex mothership as the explosion happens a few seconds later. This knocks out some Metarex ships, with the Blue Typhoon taking some damage as they were moving. They exit out of the area into a safe section.

"We did it!" Tails cheers, holding up his hands.

"But...where's Sophia?" Elliot looks like he's about to cry. His question is answered as Sophia appears in the main room, panting in exhaustion. Elliot runs up to her, giving her a bear hug before she collapses in exhaustion. She's sustained some injuries due to her fight with her uncle. The others smile for their victory, Knuckles passed out on the floor.

"I just...wanted to tell you guys how sorry I am," Tails states to Sonic and Knuckles, who are still in the infirmary since they needed to heal. Sophia is asleep in bed.

"Sorry?" Knuckles asks in confusion. "If it weren't for you, none of us would be here. Thanks buddy."

Sonic sits up a bit, giving his friend a thumbs up. "Yeah, thanks pal. I mean captain."

"Thanks, you guys," Tails smiles at them. "You're the best! I hope Sophia will make a fast recovery..."

"Eh, she'll be fine," Sonic waves it off. "Nothing can stop her. Amy already checked her out; she just needs some rest. And there was a sign that she used her alien form."

Tails' eyes widen. "Whoa...so she must've went to the mothership to have a fight with her uncle! That explains why she suddenly disappeared near the shield..."

"The queen said they somehow managed to give the robot Valtor the ability to change into a dragon, which was his real form back on their home planet...would've been cool to see," Knuckles grunts at the fact of not being able to witness it, crossing his arms. Tails and Sonic just laugh at him.

While they did manage to escape, the fight with the Metarex is far from over...


	71. Hedgehog and Princess Hunt

XD-SpIkeJet11: My favorite sea animal is the Great White Shark. They're so badass yet misunderstood sea creatures.

 **Angel: That reminds me of Raph from TMNT a little bit.**

Crazycartoons5488: Cosmo miss her family so much.

 **Angel: ...A lot of these aliens are missing family members...dang...**

fflyboyray: This has to be one of my favorite sonic x stories I've read. I can't wait for chapter 73 because it's one of my favorite Shadow episodes. What would Sophia and Molly's reaction be when they witness Shadow and Rouge's actions against Cosmo.

 **Angel: Thanks! And I don't wanna give too much away about their reactions...**

Bajy: Love it! Epic and intense! Looking forward to reading the next chapter

 **Angel: I feel like it's gonna get more and more intense as we move on towards the ending of the series.**

Challishanlon99: Good job everyone and by the way there is a difference between sea animals and water animals the sea has more salt in it regular water doesn't have salt in it at all. And Sonic have you ever heard of a superhero called The Flash he's really fast I mean he was struck by lightning and he's so fast so who do you think would win you or the Flash? I think it would be pretty cool if you guys did a race both of you are really fast I mean you both run so fast that you guys only look like a blur of color he can even run so fast that he can stop a tornado I don't know if you can do that but that would be pretty cool if you could but I'm still wondering who would win and what do you guys think who do you think would win? And one more thing please be careful everybody I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything I'm just saying.

 **Sonic: Sure I've heard of him, but he can't beat me. I'm the fastest thing alive!**

 **Sophia: If even Chris' uncle can't beat him, I doubt the Flash would...didn't we stop the Space Colony Ark from crashing?**

 **Amy: Sonic's still the fastest!**

 **Tails: Yeah, he can't be beat!**

Johanvanguard: I forgot to say this before but it was terrible about what happened to you and your car before. Hopefully things will continue to get better. That was a tough fight the heroes had against the Metarex and Eggman working together. Though Tails' confidence was shaken, luckily the heroes escaped the trap and stopped the Metarex for now. The moment between Tails and Cosmo was nice, and the fight between Sophia and Valtor was cool. For the next chapter, I wonder how Molly will react to the Chaotix.

 **Angel: Thanks, I've since gotten my car back. All of those guys are jerks...and pretty annoying. And I'm hoping to add in a few nice moments with them before the show ends. And as for Molly, sometimes it's hard to remember what and who she knows at times, since like I said before, she does have a brief time on the Blue Typhoon...like what, not even ten episodes?**

Mr. P: Hey Angel this is Mr. P and I want 2 say that I am a big fan of most of work and really liked it how Sophia saved Molly from dying and since your taking in requests 4 tv shows 4 your work then I have a few ideas 4 ya which are: Thundercats 2012, biker mice from Mars, avatar the last Airbender, samurai pizza cats, fighting foodons, code lokyo, trans4mers prime and cyberverse, dinosuar king, cubix robots 4 every1, king Fu panda legends of awesomeness and movies, infinity trian, mew mew power, glitter 4ce series, totally spies, teen Titans, mighty ducks and movie, hero 108, amphibia, zootopia, beast wars, Sonic satam, regalia and the 7 Stars, Scooby Doo movie series, Tokyo umderground, elemental gleade, treasure planet, treasure x series, mecard series, monsters Inc and university, toriko, sushi striker: the way of sushido, wonderful 101, inuyash, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden and moves (minus blood prison), black clover, my hero academia, dragon Ball super and z Kai and z 2 pals, doremi the witch series, Yu-Gi-Oh and GX, 5d's, zexal, arc 5, and vrains 2 pals, as well as 3-below, troll hunters, ever after high series, monster high movie series, and so much dang more 2 pals. So, that's pretty much it and I hope you really find this and please let me know what you think of it and please let me know which 1's you will do next with some changes of course along with big hero 6 the series and please let me know what you think 2 pals. Sincerely yours, Mr. P.

 **Angel: Oh...wow, I was not expecting this ^^' Well...*skims over list* I'm already gonna do a Code Lyoko story...I was considering doing a Totally Spies show, but I think I scrapped it...Teen Titans always comes back to bite me XD...some of these are also movies...not doing anymore Sonic stuff after this...been meaning to watch Treasure Planet...Inuyasha is one of my favorite animes, but actually doing it is gonna take forever. I think the longest fanfic in my archives right now (with the most reviews) is TMNT 2003. But the recent TMNT show might break that record. *eyes widen slightly* Jesus, Inuyasha has more episodes than the 2003 adaptation! ...I've seen Black Clover, but I haven't caught up...hate Dragon Ball anything...I think I saw Doremi when I was younger, but I'd have to go to the Japanese show if I ever considered doing it...and I haven't decided on the Big Hero 6 series, but I am doing the movie after Batman vs TMNT!**

MathGeekT125: I love this. Any chance you could make Cosmo live in this?

 **Angel: Hmm...*taps finger against chin* Hmm, hmm, hmm...well-**

 _ **This is an automatic voice message. The fanfiction writer you have reached has been disconnected.**_

Pika39: Think you can make a scene in the story of Sophia tell Sonic that he like a brother to her and how much it means to her.

 **Angel: I can try. No promises, though.**

Devin sands: Hey since we saw Valtor and Sophia's alien form can you have Elliot and Valentina transform into their alien form in the final showdown of the Metarex?

 **Angel: They haven't ever used them, unlike Sophia and Valtor. Not even in the fiercest of battles. So I can't say for sure.**

Kd: I wonder how did Sophia and Sonic know each other 'Dark forms'? Is there a flashback to this?

 **Angel: Sonic's was a one-time thing, and as far as I know, he didn't know about it until it appeared...and as for Sophia, she's known about her own dark form ever since her parents brought her back to Xenia, when they found her. Sonic knew about Sophia's alien form for a long time, she's mentioned it before to her friends. Sophia wouldn't know about his dark form since she's never seen it in a hedgehog.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, a fleet of Metarex led by Dr. Eggman sent Sonic, Sophia, and friends into ship shock. Our heroes battled bravely, but were quickly outnumbered by their fearsome foes. Sonic and Sophia rushed to counter-attack, when Eggman activated the ultimate speed trap: an energy barrier that neither Sophia or Sonic could crack. With the end at hand, Tails came up with a perilous plan, and thanks to the power of the Master Emerald, our heroes foiled the enemy fleet and escaped. But with the rest of the Metarex closing in, can Sophia, Sonic, and friends survive another seige? Or have they only delayed their doom? Find out next on Sophia X!_

The whole Metarex fleet sits in blank space, Eggman and his team standing nearby. "We have the hedgehog and my niece on the run," Valtor stands in front of all of them, hands behind his back. "They are hiding somewhere in this area," He gestures towards a screen, where their readings from their enemies could be seen.

"They picked an excellent refugee. They are intense electromagnetic waves in that region of space," Black Narcissus comments.

"They are nothing but weak fools," Valtor narrows his eyes at him.

"The scanners will be useless. They and their crewmates have the opportunity to recover from the matter," Pale Bayleaf informs.

"We will find them, and when we do, they will be completely destroyed!" Dark Oak points towards Eggman. "With your help, Dr. Eggman." He cringes a bit at this. "Once the two have been eliminated, the victory of the Metarex will be assured. Any resistance against us will be futile!"

Valtor narrows his eyes, kicking Dark Oak into the wall, surprising everyone. "I made myself clear," Valtor walks up to Dark Oak, smiling sinisterly. "If my niece is harmed, I will make your life truly terrifying, no matter who you are."

"Y-Yes your highness," Dark Oak stammers nervously.

"We'll stomp on those rebels like they're a bunch of hacks!" Yellow Zelkova exclaims eagerly. "And then we'll fulfill the destiny of the galaxy!" The other Metarex behind him cheer. Pale Payleaf just stares at him, Black Narcissus walking away from the room. He comes to a stop as Eggman is leaning against the wall, something on his mind.

"What's the matter, doctor? Don't you like the plan?"

Eggman turns to him silently. "Speak up! You _do_ have an objection, don't you?"

"Alright, if you insist on knowing. One thing still bothers me about you Metarex. I can't figure out what you're trying to accomplish with all this destruction! I can understand trying to conquer planets, but if you keep up this rampage across the galaxy, there won't be anybody left to rule over. It doesn't make sense!" Eggman voices his opinion.

"For someone of your reputation, doctor, you have a surprising lack of vision," Black Narcissus retorts back.

"I'm beginning to suspect that you Metarex have completely lost your minds!" Eggman says sharply.

"Perhaps, doctor, but the question is what are you going to do about it? The time has come for you to choose sides. Will you join our quest to transform the galaxy, or will you fight against us with Sonic and Princess Sophia?"

Eggman grits his teeth at being challenged like this.

* * *

On another planet, the Chaotix's house rests there, with a neon sign now above their door. It reads Café Chaotix, open for business. Several aliens are inside, drinking questionably colored drinks.

"Welcome to Vector's Juice Bar!" Charmy is flying around with drinks. "We put the squeeze on your thirst!"

Espio is cleaning glasses while Vector is providing entertainment with the piano. He turns to no one in particular.

"I bet you didn't think I was such a musical maestro, did ya!" He waves a finger. "You shouldn't be surprised. I'm more than just a pretty face! Being a croc, I'm naturally swamped with talent! But you're probably wondering why I'm playing piano instead of doing detective work. It all started after the boys and me said adios to the crew of the Blue Typhoon!"

" _Okay Vector," Espio spoke up as the ship was flying away. "Hang a right just before the next star system."_

 _He did as he was told. "Space travel sure can be boring. Somebody oughta build a rest stop up in this part of the galaxy so you can get out and stretch your legs," Vector suggested, Chramy giving a happy look._

" _Oh boy! I wish we could stop and grab a bite to eat!" He rubbed his stomach. Espio looked at the map that Tails gave them._

" _There aren't any rest stops listed here..."_

" _Let's see..." Vector thought to himself, seeing a vortex up ahead. "Maybe we'll find one over there."_

" _I don't see that place on the map..." Espio murmured in confusion._

" _Let's check it out!" Charmy chirped and Vector pulled the levers forward._

" _Alrighty. After all, investigating unknown mysteries is part of a detective's job!"_

" _Go for it, Vector!" Charmy encouraged, the ship heading towards the hole._

 _Vector went through it slowly, and everything started spinning the second he did. "What the?!"_

" _It's some kind of gravity field," Espio explained, Charmy smiling._

" _Whoa, this is totally cool!" His voice echoed as their ship disappeared._

"So we ended up crash landing on this planet. Huh?!" He's confused to see a flying Charmy talking to one of the customers.

"Send me a bill and I'll pay you next month."

Vector approaches Charmy and the alien. "Something wrong?"

"This clown says he's gonna pay us later," Charmy states, to Vector's ire.

"Later?!"

"Next week maybe," The customer shrugs nervously, the croc placing an arm around his shoulder.

"Listen pal, the policy is this establishment is when you pig out, you have to pay up!"

"What are you gonna do, Vector?" Charmy asks enthusiastically.

"Let's see," Vector stares into the scared man's eyes. "I can try to squeeze the money out of 'im..."

"I know," The man looks like he's about to cry. "What if I pay you tomorrow?"

"No way! It's cash or bash if you get my drift!" Vector denies the offer and later, he offers everything he had on him.

"That's everything I owe..."

"Come back soon!" Charmy chirps at him, Espio just staring at him.

"We won't be getting rich at this rate, Vector," He remarks while cleaning.

"We just need to earn enough dough to pay for ship repairs! Then we can be on our way," Vector glances at him and the door suddenly opens.

"Hi, what can we get you?" Charmy greets to Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe. Both robots are holding rolls of paper in their arms.

"It's Eggman!" Vector recognizes him immediately.

"Is that you, Vector?" Eggman asks in shock. He thought that the Chaotix were back on their planet.

"What are you doing here?!"

"I'm looking for someone," Is all he says regarding the question.

"Oh yeah?!" Vector pulls out a stand out of nowhere, suddenly having on glasses and holding a piece of paper. This kind of stuff was right up their alley. "Now, I'll need a name or alias, and you'll have to give me a description too."

Eggman snaps his fingers and Decoe reveals the picture, showing the entire Sonic team on it. Valentina, Elliot, and Molly are in the back, waving. "Huh?" Vector asks in confusion. "How come you're looking for Sonic and her highness?"

"The Metarex would like to ask them a few questions," Eggman points to the speedy duo smiling.

"They want to have a 'friendly chat', huh?" Espio asks skeptically, Vector putting the makeshift desk away.

"Forget it, Eggman! You'd have to be a lowlife to work for the Metarex!" Vector denies, waving a finger.

"Check this out," He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a card with a big spider on it.

"You wanna play cards?" Vector asks sarcastically.

"This happens to be my new business card. I guess you haven't heard the Metarex made me one of their top four commanders. What a simpleton. Hurry and get all those posters plastered up," He waves off his robots.

"Sure thing, doctor," Bocoe calls out as he and Decoe approach a wall.

"Hmm, this looks like a good spot."

"Now hold on a second, I don't want my walls covered with wanted posters!" Vector waves his arms. "Find someplace where they ain't gonna be an eyesore!"

"If you say so," Bocoe replies as Decoe crawls underneath a table.

"With all the chewing gum under this table, I do not even need tape," He comments as he sticks the poster underneath the wood.

"I'll have an ice-cold refreshing glass of water," Eggman tells Espio, who ignores him in favor of washing dishes. "I said water!"

"Too late, Eggman, we just ran out," Espio looks away, a small amused smile on his face. Eggman was a jerk, so why bother serving him when he didn't deserve any respect whatsoever?

"I wish you would dry up," Eggman says bitterly.

"We are done putting up the posters, doctor," The two robots state in unison.

"If you _do_ see Sonic, Sophia, or their friends, contact me right away. Understand?" Eggman remarks in a tone that they would never want to do what he asked of them.

"Sorry Eggman, but I happen to be a crocodile, not a stool pigeon," Vector retorts back. Eggman looks down at Bocoe, realizing that he's not getting anywhere with this.

"Let's ditch this dump."

"Yes doctor!" Bocoe chirps and the two follow him out the door.

"Where will we go next?" Decoe asks curiously. Espio and Vector watch them leave, rightfully so, and the door shuts behind them.

"What are you gonna do, Vector?" Charmy wonders curiously as the crocodile continues to look towards the door. "Will you let Sophia and Sonic know about this?"

"You betcha!"

"Eggman's putting up wanted posters?!" Knuckles exclaims in anger. The whole team is actually on the second floor of the house, where no one can access while the juice bar is open.

"He's hunting us down like we're criminals!" Cream protests, Valentina and Elliot surrounding the sleeping Sophia on a gurney.

"This is bad news," Chris turns to the rabbit. "If the Metarex find out we're hiding on this planet, they'll send a fleet after us...we won't have a chance. Just look at what happened to Sophia," He gestures to the girl.

"At least she will recover," Elliot places a gentle hand to Sophia's head.

Cheese protests, crossing his arms. Amy opens her eyes.

"We need to fix our ship and get out of here."

"You guys can't go outside! One of the locals might turn you all in," Vector warns Sonic.

"Then I'll make sure none of 'em see me!"

 _Sonic and Sophia zipped in a zigzag line, speeding past the unsuspecting Metarex._

"We need parts," Knuckles speaks up. "Molly, Tails, and Cosmo are waiting at the ship for them, and the princess needs medical supplies that we don't have here."

* * *

At the site of the Blue Typhoon, a worried Tails, Cosmo, and Molly are standing outside. "I wonder where Sonic and the others are..." He says in concern.

"What if the Metarex found them?"

"Oh, what can we do?" Molly looks up towards the sky, her face filled with panic and worry.

* * *

"I'll just dash to the store and buy the parts we need," Sonic says confidently, Vector leaning in towards him.

"But when you pay at the register, they'll see your face!"

 _Sonic zips past a register, going back and forth. "Hey, this isn't the express lane, buddy!" The cashier could only stare._

"Okay, you're right," Sonic realizes how bad it would look for them. "I can't do any shopping."

"What are we gonna do?" Chris frowns, arms crossed. "Without those parts, we'll be stuck here."

They're all silent as they try to think of a risk-free solution. "Why don't you let me buy the parts and supplies for ya?" Vector offers to their shock.

"Would you really?!" Cream asks in surprise.

"Sure, I run errands all the time when I'm doing undercover work," He holds up a picture of him grabbing groceries, walking a dog, and raking leaves. "As you can see, I don't just collar crooks."

"Ah..." Sonic places a hand on his head. "Sorry, but we've only got enough cash for the parts. You'd have to pay for what Sophia needs on your own."

"Don't worry about my salary! I think you guys are a-okay, so I'll take an IOU. Besides, Sophia's done a lot to make us see sense...we owe it to her," Vector looks to the girl.

"Oh my," Valentina blinks in surprise at this.

"Oh bless you!" Elliot exclaims gratefully, hugging the croc. "Bless you, Vector!"

"Ah, it's nothing," He rubs the back of his neck.

"Then it's settled!" Charmy flies next to Vector.

"Alright then. Here's your shopping list for the parts," Amy holds up a pouch and a piece of paper.

"And here is the list of medical supplies that our daughter needs," Elliot holds up a tiny paper...that rolls onto the floor, Vector's eyes widening.

"She only requires minimal care, Elliot. She does not need the whole store," Valentina gives him a look.

"She needs the best and effective care," Elliot crosses his arms stubbornly. She snatches the list and looks over it before ripping it to only about a quarter of paper to his horror.

"Here you are," She gives the new list to Vector.

* * *

He heads to the store, having a shopping cart. He reads the list for the parts, looking at the shelves. He scans a shelf before sweating.

 _This is one of the parts for my ship!_

He eyes the part, which glistens, but then he looks away, squeezing his eyes shut. _I'm shopping for Sonic and the princess! I ain't no crooked croc! She needs to recover from her crazy uncle's battle!_

He takes a part from the list and grabs another while scanning the paper.

The next thing he knew, he was done shopping for parts. "One power module, one gravity stabilizer, two quantum flux capacitors, one hyper hammer."

Neither of them notice that one of the Metarex is at the store, peeking around the corner to spy on them. "Three laser fusion units, one air freshener."

"Come in, come in," The Metarex whispers into his communication device.

* * *

On Pale Bayleaf's ship, the commander rubs his chin. "So my instincts were correct. Sonic and the princess _are_ hiding on that planet." He eyes the planet that Eggman had visited. "And when they fix their ship and return to space, I'll be waiting for them!" His eye glints.

Someone clears his throat and he looks up to see one of the screens appearing. Valtor looks down at them.

"I-I mean you sir!"

* * *

Sonic peeks near a window as Eggman and his minions are walking around. The doctor eyes the juice bar. He couldn't help but think that he felt their presence inside there..

"We put up wanted posters all around town," Decoe complains, as they've been walking around for a while.

"Oh," Bocoe slumps his metal shoulders. "It was exhausting..."

"Is there something wrong, doctor?" Decoe notices Eggman's silence.

"Hm?" He jumps up at being addressed, looking towards the two robots. "It's none of your business! Let's go!"

"Roger!"

"Whatever."

He follows after them, deciding that it was just his imagination...until he looks up at the window again. He takes a deep breath and finally leaves. Sonic wipes the sweat off his brow while Sophia turns visible again on the other side.

"For a second there, I thought he saw us...huh?"

"How'd it go, Vector?" Charmy asks as Vector has returned.

"No problem."

Everyone else crawls out from underneath the table. "Alright, let's go help Vector unload the parts," Knuckles turns to the others.

"Darling, you still need rest," Elliot places his hands on Sophia's shoulders. "Come lay down."

"Father, I've rested ever since I was on the Blue Typhoon. I've rested while you moved me over here. And I've rested in the café! I'm done resting," Sophia pouts at him.

"You are not old enough to make that decision," He scrunches up his nose.

"She is," Valentina reminds him and the man gives up, letting go of Sophia.

* * *

Tails and Cosmo are still waiting, their worries increasing. "Maybe they _did_ run into trouble," Tails frowns as he sees nothing up ahead.

"It must be the Metarex..."

"We can't give up on them now," Molly places her hands on their shoulders, causing them to look up. "Our friends will prevail. I know they will. They haven't let you down in the past, right? So let's just trust that they'll do the same thing this time around."

The two smile up at her for the reassurance.

* * *

"These parts are heavy!" Knuckles exclaims as they all try to carry them.

"Look out!"

A crash is heard because they've dropped all of the parts on the floor. Chris puts one on the floor. "This is the last part."

"Let's call Tails to pick this up in the X Tornado," Amy suggests, pulling up her commlink.

"Amy," Chris holds up his hands. "They could be monitoring our communications."

"Huh?!" She asks in surprise, as she hadn't considered that. "What are you saying? You expect us to carry the parts there?"

"Not alone, no," Sophia shakes her head as Vector peeks his head in.

"I can take you guys over."

"Oh, really?" Sonic asks in surprise. Usually Vector didn't help out unless there was a scheme involved...like with Tails and Cosmo, or with Cream, not once, but twice.

"Sure, I'm a warm-hearted reptile!" He grins as he holds out the medical kit to Valentina, who takes it from him.

* * *

The juice bar is deemed closed, with everyone in the ship. "Okay, hang on, everybody!" In the back, Valentina is changing/cleaning Sophia's wounds.

"Vector, I'm in your restaurant," Eggman suddenly speaks up from the communicator. "We need to talk."

"That figures," Chris mutters under his breath. The doctor just wouldn't quit today, would he?"

"Ohhh! What's Eggman doing here?" Amy complains, pumping her fists. "I'd like to give him a piece of my mind and fists!"

"Don't worry, I'll go show Dr. Egghead the exit! Be right back," Vector gets onto his feet and Sophia turns her head to him.

"Just be careful, Vector. Eggman wouldn't come back if he didn't have a good reason."

"Sophia is right. He can be very sneaky," Valentina pats her daughter's shoulder.

Vector approaches the doctor, who's leaning against the counter. "I already told you, I'm not gonna help ya, Eggman!"

"If you're this rude to all your customers, it's no wonder this place is empty," Eggman comments, Amy's hands on her hips.

"What does he want, anyway?"

"Eggman's a pain," Chris comments, to which Sophia laughs at.

"We're closed up for the night!" Vector tells him, hoping he'd leave.

"I'm not leaving this stool," Eggman replies stubbornly.

"Oh really?" Vector leans in closer.

"I came here tonight to celebrate and that's exactly what I'm going to do, Vector!" Eggman keeps his gaze onto the counter.

"Celebrate what?"

"Before this night is over, I'm going to be rid of Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia of Xenia once and for all! The Metarex sent me to track them down, and now I figured out exactly where they're hiding!" Eggman lets out a cackle. "Sonic and Sophia don't suspect anything, so they won't stand a chance when the Metarex attack!"

"So Eggman is setting us up!" Knuckles growls, clenching his fists.

"So this is bad. What do we do, guys?" Cream turns to the two.

Sonic lets out a chuckle, to their confusion. Vector just stares at Eggman, who seems intent on staying there. Since he won't leave, he decides to prepare a drink for him. The croc pours it and places the cup in front of Eggman.

"How about some juice?"

Eggman grins at the respect he's been waiting for.

"Huh?!" Amy asks in shock once she's heard Vector's question. "No way!"

"Vector was supposed to get rid of Eggman," Knuckles places his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, what's he letting him hang around for?" Chris questions curiously, Sonic scoffing.

"Dr. Eggman doesn't get to defeat us very often, so he really deserves to enjoy it this time," Sonic grins, to their confusion. Sonic winks at Sophia, who returns the gesture.

Eggman takes a sip of the juice. "Let me tell you, those Metarex and the king aren't kidding around. They've had enough of Sonic, Sophia, and their friends and this time, they're planning to pull out all the stops to make sure they're destroyed once and for all!"

"Really?" Vector leans in with interest. "What are they gonna do?"

"It's a secret. Let's just say it will involve a whole fleet of ships attacking the Blue Typhoon," He grins widely. "I almost wish I could give them some kind of warning. I'm sure they'd much rather be beaten by me than by those miserable Metarex." He chortles at the thought.

Sophia grits her teeth, clenching her fists in annoyance. Normally she would ignore Eggman's words, but this time his boasting was getting on her last nerve. Sometimes it could be so annoying to deal with...

"Eggman's got some ego," Amy comments as everyone except Sonic is peeved.

"I wish I could go in there and tell him off!" Cream says, but Sonic keeps that smile. Eggman grins, standing up.

"I'll be shoving off now."

"I don't ever wanna see you in here again, Eggman," Vector warns him.

"That's the best news I've had all day," Eggman shrugs at him, walking off. Vector just stares at them, the others waiting for him to leave.

"Doctor, come in," Bokkun says from Eggman's walkie talkie.

"What now?" Eggman asks in annoyance.

"I thought you should know, I just spotted Bayleaf's fleet."

"Alright, keep me posted," Eggman hangs up. "Oh well, I guess Sonic and Sophia are goners! That fleet will stay in orbit around the planet, waiting for the Blue Typhoon to take off so they can destroy it! Yes, the second the Metarex spot that ship, it will be blown into a billion bits! There won't be any escape by Princess Sophia and Sonic the Hedgehog, this time!" He finally takes his leave.

"Ha! He could use an acting coach," Vector comments at his monologue.

"It's about time," Sophia huffs in annoyance, crossing her arms.

"We can't leave the planet now even if we fix the ship," Chris tells them.

"But if we just stay here, sooner or later, they'll track us down and attack us anyway," Amy points out.

Knuckles grits his teeth. _We're trapped, and we can't put up a fight! Our laser cannons aren't powerful enough to take on an entire fleet._

Sonic just looks away with a smirk. _Thanks for the tip off, Eggman._

The fleet waits outside near a planet, looking towards the current planet that their enemies are on. Pale Bayleaf and Valtor stare out the window. "I'm waiting for you, Sonic."

"Do you know how many ships the Metarex have in their fleet?" Cosmo asks curiously. The others have returned to the Blue Typhoon with the parts, and they've since informed Molly, Cosmo, and Tails on what Eggman has said.

"Afraid not," Knuckles crosses his arms with a small smirk. Amy waves her arms, looking up at Tails.

"Why don't you just use the scopes?!"

Tails looks down at her from his spot. "They're not working, I disconnected all the scopes to make repairs and it'll take hours to reconnect them."

Chris, Cream, and Amy look down in dismay. "What are the options?" Cosmo wonders, as they could be destroyed in a matter of seconds.

"If we just sit around here, we won't have any chance of getting away," Sonic speaks up, his hands behind his back.

"And if we leave anyway, we won't last long," Sophia frowns at the thought. She's still recovering, and as much as she wanted to help, her father might have a heart attack if she fought against them.

"What _should_ we do?" Cosmo asks.

"We have to repair our ship and take on that fleet," Sonic looks to them and Chris glances at the Chaotix. The hedgehog peeks behind him to look at the trio. "You wanna join us?"

They wave their hands. "No offense, Sonic, but we'd rather play it safe than be sorry."

Sophia rolls her eyes at them. "By the way, we never introduced ourselves to your new member!" Vector gestures to Molly. "I'm Vector!"

"My name is Espio," Espio bows to her.

"And I'm Charmy!" The bee waves to the girl.

"It's nice to meet you all," She smiles at the trio.

* * *

Pale Bayleaf is playing chess with Valtor as they wait. One of the robots approaches them.

"Sirs, a ship has just left the planet."

"Put it up on the viewscreen," Pale Bayleaf orders, relaxing in his seat.

"Roger."

They can see a ship leaving and the commander gasps. Zooming in, it's clear that the ship is the Blue Typhoon.

"That's the Blue Typhoon," Pale Bayleaf stands up.

"Either they were gullible to ignore Eggman, or they're idiots...probably both," Valtor stares at the screen. "Before we do anything, I need someone to fetch So-"

"Deploy cannons!" Pale Bayleaf says and the mothership prepares their weapons. "Fire!"

The weapons are fired, causing an explosion. "I've done it!" Pale Bayleaf clasps his hands together. "I defeated Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sophia! We must leave immediately to deliver the good news to the others in person!"

"You IMBECILE!"

The next thing he knew, he was being pushed against the wall by a seething Valtor. "My niece was in there! I needed her! She was my protégé, you idiot!"

"I-I-" He stammers nervously as Valtor glares at him.

"Nothing I can do about it now...however, when we return, I shall make you regret disobeying me!"

Pale Bayleaf quivers at the thought of the cruel punishments in store for him. Valtor turns around to sit in his chair, but he stops short when he gets a familiar feeling. He looks outside to where the explosion was, narrowing his eyes. He couldn't help but feel...

Sophia's presence.

* * *

Back at the juice bar, it's open for business again as Charmy flies past customers. "Coming right up!"

Espio is cleaning like usual, and Vector provides the music again. The door opens and a tall man stands in the doorway. It's Eggman again, but this time, he has his arm in a sling, along with a bandage on his forehead. Vector looks up and sees him, stopping his fingers.

"Play it again, Vector," Eggman requests, unfazed by the stares. Vector does so, holding his head up high.

"I thought I told you to never come back here."

"Believe me, I didn't wanna come back. But I didn't have any place else to go," Eggman walks up slowly, looking towards Espio. "I'll have a prune juice and a soft-boiled egg."

"Well Vector?" Espio looks up at the gator, wondering whether or not Eggman had to leave.

"Hmm..." Vector opens an eye before closing it, still playing. "Give him what he wants."

Espio glances at the man, then back to him. "Are you sure?"

He gets a bottle and a cup. "Yeah, and it's all on the house too," Vector replies, to which Espio shrugs. He pours Eggman a drink and hands him his things. Eggman is smirking at the drink, cracking the egg and placing the yolk inside. He stares at the contents.

"Here's to my best enemy." He drinks it all in one gulp.

The Blue Typhoon is sitting on a planet, damaged and it seems that there are no survivors...

But the plane starts to shake, revealing the Crimson Egg instead.

"Why did we have to protect Sonic and Sophia?" Bocoe wonders as he and Decoe are getting to work on fixing it.

"Yeah, I thought Dr. Eggman wanted to see him destroyed," Decoe says in confusion as Bokkun is flying around.

"If you ask me, the doc's starting to go soft...in the head," Bokkun comments.

The real Blue Typhoon gets away from the planet, as the Metarex fleet have already left.

"I thought there was supposed to be a Metarex fleet waiting for us!" Knuckles shouts, "But there isn't even a single ship here!"

"We should have suspected all along it was a lie," Amy shrugs at him. "I guess Eggman was just trying to psych us out!"

"I'm glad he lied," Chris smiles a bit. "If there was a fleet here, we'd be in trouble. Wouldn't we, Sonic and Sophia?" He looks to the two, who are frowning towards outside.

Eggman has no reason to lie about this. In fact, he seemed happy that it would've happened...

So that means he had something to do with it.

Eggman holds up his drink, smiling behind his mustache. Vector smiles too, the duo smiling.

 _Thanks doctor. You're not such a bad egg after all._

They get away safely, with no one else suspecting a thing.


	72. Zelkova Strikes Back

**Angel: I have four episodes left to finish, everyone! Yes, the next episode has already been finished, but I didn't upload it along with this one because I need time to work on the last four episodes. So I'll probably be finishing the story in September...I had to start classes this week, so I can't guarantee that I'll work fast enough when I have to write. Right now, I'm trying to get all of my textbooks, and one of my classes requires TWO of them.**

Mr. P: Hey angel, this is Mr. P again and I've another "short" list of shows 4 you to do which are:  
The Incredibles, sword art online series (minus the 2018 series 4 multiple reasons 2 pals), gravity falls, and the other 1s I really want are, avatar the last air Bender, mew mew power, glitter 4ce series, biker mice from Mars, and the other 1s from the previous list that you haven't read yet like Aquaman the movie and sorry about this list but also please do thunder cats 2011 please 2 pals.  
Sincerely yours Mr. P 2 pals.

 **Angel: *record scratch* What's up with the movies and anime appearing in both lists XD I literally just finished a movie, and I don't think I'll have time to do another one right now if I just started school. I'm using time right now doing stuff for online and on campus classes...well, not all of my time, anyway, or less I wouldn't be here right now. Same thing goes for anime; I've already addressed this. Most anime has over 100 episodes. And I was a fan of Avatar when I was growing up, but I don't know if I wanna mess with that show's formula (more than others already have). Pfft...Gravity Falls. I'm just thinking of Big Hero 6 since I've already finished my fanfic on it, and in that story...well, I won't spoil that for those who wanna read. Mew Mew Power? What the heck? I've seen clips of it. Glitter Force? I only saw the first season, and I know what that show is based on. That series is still going, you know! Never heard of Biker Mice and you seriously want me to do Aquaman XD I am not into superhero fanfiction like that (Marvel-wise), and even if I was, Aquaman would be my last choice out of anyone. And lastly, Thunder Cats? Thunder no! My little cousin was into that stuff, but not me.**

Crazycartoons: Wow Dark Oak is very scared of him and I think they want the planets eggs and the chaos emerald. Planet Egg is water Chaos Emerald is light.

 **Angel: If that's supposed to mean something, I'm clueless on what's the significance between the two.**

Bajy: I am looking forward to reading the next chapter. I just know the next chapter is going to be just as intense!

 **Angel: The next last episodes are guaranteed to be like that as well...**

Challishanlon99: I can't believe dr. Eggman did that but I'm glad that him and the others are right. I was wondering Sonic if you're so fast does that mean you can be able to run on water I mean if you run fast enough there's less time for you to sink just like a special type of animal it's called the basilisk lizard it's not very fast but its feet can make it fast enough to make air bubbles and the air bubbles don't pop when it's running so my question is if it's okay to ask do you think you can run on water? I have a special question for Amy and Knuckles since you're both so strong have you heard of The Hulk and if you have I wonder if you guys would beat him and who's the strongest competition. One more other thing there's this thing going on around the world that if you could have 2 was super powers to help others what would they be? I know that you guys have super powers but it's just a question I think it would be pretty cool to hear from you guys and what you guys think of it. And please be careful. Ps I'm sorry for all the questions.

 **Angel: Okay, so we're gonna keep the responses for this one short because I need my fingers XD**

 **Sonic: I probably have run on water at some point...I already run fast. I don't need extra powers!**

 **Amy: We could take him! Well, I already have strength...so maybe I'd choose speed to catch up with Sonic!**

 **Knuckles: Yeah! He's not so tough! I don't need extra powers!**

 **Sophia: I have enough powers to last me a long time...which most of the time I haven't used in space.**

Johanvanguard: Eggman not agreeing with the Metarex's plan was understandable. Sophia being slightly injured and also aware of Eggman's plan to fool the Metarex was nice. While Pale Bayleaf was fooled by Eggman's deception, too bad Valtor wasn't fooled. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will do against Zelkova.

 **Angel: Ugh T^T Zelkova is the commander I dislike the most, and that is saying a lot. He's so annoying...**

The Blue Typhoon is traveling quietly, with Metarex ships on their trail. Cream notices them from her screen.

"They're going to attack again! They're aiming straight for us!" Somehow, the Metarex had found out that they're alive, and ever since they've been tracking them down for another attack.

"We have to work fast. Chris, you, Sonic, and Sophia disperse the missiles then launch a counter-attack," Tails looks to his right.

"Roger," He looks to Cosmo. "Cosmo, take over for me."

"Sure," She nods, running around and getting into his seat. Sonic gives a thumbs up once Chris appears. Sophia is standing next to him, waving. She has since fully healed (she's part alien, or course it was gonna be quick), but she still couldn't stop thinking about what happened...she had never used her alien form like that before. The same form that she had worked so hard to hide, and it appeared not once, but twice.

But...a part of her didn't regret a single moment of the battle. She did it to make sure that no one would ever have to be ambushed like they did...

"So what's going down, pal?" Sonic asks casually while Chris is panting in excitement. This was exactly why he came to their world in the first place; to have adventures with his friends!

The X Tornado prepares to fly, with Sonic and Sophia on each wing. "Okay guys, here's the plan. Looks like the Metarex are about to launch another attack. We've gotta try to fend them off as best as we can and then give 'em a dose of their own medicine."

"Sounds good! We'll wipe out those Meta-punks in no time flat!" Sonic grins at the boy, who smiles back. Sophia glances away, unsure if she really wanted to destroy Valtor...he is still her uncle, after all. But then again, he did terrorize the galaxy...

The Metarex fire their missiles, but the Blue Typhoon deflects them with their own projectiles. Amy turns to Cosmo.

"I've got a bad feeling, Cosmo."

"Me too," Cosmo glances at her. "These Metarex attacks just seem to get more and more violent every time."

"That may be on account of my brother..." Valentina steps up between them, clasping her hands onto her skirt. "He may be family, but he grows more selfish with each attack. He wants us to know that we are weak," She narrows her eyes. "That we will not win."

"Valentina is right, it's like that, but I just can't figure out what they're planning this time..." Amy taps her finger against the station.

The X Tornado reaches outside. "Take off."

Before they can move, however, something hits their ship, causing it to shake. "HEY! What was that?!" Tails calls out.

"I don't know, there's nothing on the radar!" Amy exclaims from her spot, looking at her screen.

Yellow Zelkova is holding onto their ship, laughing as electricity comes from him. "Your time is up, my friends...the abyss is waiting for you!"

Knuckles sees him on his screen from the engine room, clenching a fist. "Oh no! Not him again!"

"Who is that?!" Molly screeches in shock at his strength. She's met Metarex, but none like this one.

"Yellow Zelkova, one of the four commanders of the Metarex," Tails calls out to her.

"Farewell..." He throws the Blue Typhoon towards a planet, with the X Tornado falling out from the front. Sonic and Sophia have to hang on as they're coming in fast.

 _Pressure's dropping by the second!_

The ship passes through a cloud, with the vessel sparking with electricity. They softly land on the planet, eventually slowing to a stop. There's a volcano nearby with actual lava, and by the looks of it, the volcano is still active.

"Well this looks like a real hot spot," Amy grits her teeth.

"I feel sick to my tummy..." Cream holds her stomach and Valentina pats her tummy.

"It is just from the fall. You shall be alright, Cream."

Elliot suddenly skids into the room, looking around the room. "Is everyone alright?"

"I think so," Cosmo tells him.

"That crash disconnected our energy servers," Tails frowns in worry as he looks at the status. "It looks like we're stranded, you guys."

Everyone in the room gasps, turning to him. Suddenly, something shakes. Zelkova had jumped, landing in front of the ship. He chuckles evilly, electricity sparking from his body.

"I see you're together again! Prepare to meet your doom! Prepare to perish! Prepare to succumb to the evil that is Yellow Zelkova! Prepare to...prepare to..."

Knuckles and Molly each give looks of confusion, though it hit Molly more than the echidna. She had heard about the four commanders, but she never met anyone as...

Zealous as Yellow Zelkova.

"Prepare to battle?" Amy suggests, looking at Cosmo.

"I don't know, battle just seems kinda weak," Tails comments, "Doesn't it?"

"I agree," Molly nods at him. "For a Metarex commander, he seems very boastful. Different from the others."

"Because he's an idiot," Amy mutters under her breath.

"Ooo, enough!" Yellow Zelkova shouts in frustration. "This is no guessing game! This is the moment of your demise!" He punches the ship, causing it to shake again. "Where is the hedgehog and princess?"

"Here we are!"

He looks up to the sky to see the X Tornado coming in. Sonic and Sophia stand on the wings, the princess glaring at him.

"It's Sonic!" Amy exclaims, the others smiling in relief.

The ship flies in close. "Almost there. Ready?"

"Ready!" The duo exclaim, Sophia clenching her fists.

"How dare you throw our ship!"

A ring glows in both of their hands and they jump into the air, spindashing towards the Metarex commander.

Yellow Zelkova shouts something, holding up his hands. They can't hit the armor as he has a shield up. They fly backwards, coming to a stop as they look at him. Landing on the X Tornado, they stare at the commander.

"Guys, what happened?" Chris asks curiously.

"I'm not sure."

"It's like he's using an outside source of power..." Sophia murmurs and something glows between his hands. He aims a beam towards the ship, which Chris narrowly dodges. Sophia fires her laser eyes towards the beam, causing a small explosion.

"That's the same thing that happened when Eggman put up his star shield!" Tails recognizes the power.

"Maybe it's made from the same stuff," Amy theorizes, Yellow Zelkova pointing at them.

"You are correct, little one! I, Yellow Zelkova, have been fortunate enough to be equipped with one of the very best of the brand new Eggman in new machine power packs!" He takes off his cape, revealing the Eggman symbol on his back. "And that's not all. As a bonus, I received this Eggman temporary tattoo!" He holds up a tattoo.

"Ah..." Molly sweatdrops a bit at the tattoo. She's been told about Eggman's true self. And with the strength of Yellow Zelkova, she believed that he would do such a thing.

"YOU GEEK!" Amy suddenly exclaims, surprising Tails. "You have an Eggman tattoo?! LOSER!"

"Don't, Amy, you'll make him angry," Cosmo warns as she and Tails try to calm her down.

"Cosmo's right, settle down," Tails tells her and she clenches her fist.

"I will NOT settle down, that big yellow hunk of junk is gonna be sorry he ever met me!"

Valentina, Elliot, and Molly look on, all of them with big sweatdrops behind their heads.

"Is she always this angry?" Molly whispers to them.

"...Not as projective in her voice, but yes," Valentina nods her head.

"Hunk of junk?! How dare you mock the great Yellow Zelkova!" Yellow Zelkova clenches his fists, a vein appearing on his metal forehead. "I'll make you pay for that!" He charges towards the ship, but Knuckles stands in front of it with a smirk.

"Well, we meet again."

"But this time, I will finish you up!" They punch each other's fists.

"I'd like to see you try!" Knuckles challenges, pushing him back a bit. The commander stares down at him in surprise. "Come on, you're tougher than that, aren't you? Aren't you gonna use your spankin' new shield on me?"

"We might be able to knock Zelkova out with a ring tunnel," Chris says from the X Tornado. "Right now, anything's worth a try." The path of rings emits from the front of the plane. "Ring Tunnel!"

"Let's go!" Sophia and Sonic declare, jumping into the tunnel. They narrow their eyes as Yellow Zelkova turns around, chuckling. Electricity comes from his body, messing up the ring tunnel. He knocks back Knuckles, Sonic, and Sophia into the air, shocking the others. Elliot bites a fingernail nervously, the echidna landing on the ground.

"Illumise shield!" Yellow Zelkova then sends another electric shock, knocking the plane backwards.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Amy cries out.

"Oh no," Cream clasps her hands, Sophia's parents with their mouths wide open. Even when Valtor was destroying their planet, they never saw anyone with that kind of power...

"Oh yeah?" Knuckles grunts as he sits up, seeing the shield around the laughing commander.

"You won't get behind this! They're weak! You will beat me with my shield power pack! I am virtually unstoppable!" He brags to the echidna.

"You big wimp!" Knuckles gets onto his feet. "Gotta rely on some stupid shield! Too afraid to fight me with your own two fists, huh?! You're nothing but a big baby!" He mostly said it so that Zelkova would drop the shield, but he meant every single word.

Served him right.

"What did you say?!" Zelkova demands in anger.

"We'll see if that shield helps you now! Get ready, pal!" He grits his teeth at him.

* * *

Rouge and Shadow are flying a ship into a forest area, with a glowing light up ahead. Rouge blinks as Shadow is standing on the wing.

"Shadow...what is this place?" She asks curiously, but instead of answering, he jumps onto a tree branch. Leaping to another, he continues to jump until he lands on a branch, taking a look around. It's mostly dark, and all he could see were trees. Rouge flies her ship up to him, staring at their environment.

"I've heard of treehouses before, but tree planets, never," She comments, Shadow dropping his hand.

"Everything's so quiet here." It almost reminded him of the Space Colony Ark...

And Sophia...

"I'd say quiet is an understatement," She murmurs, looking at all the trees and grim environment. "More like creepy...I don't like it." For a bat, that was saying a lot.

"Me neither," Shadow replies, he felt it was too dark for his tastes. "It's cold too."

Rouge can't help but shiver a little, which is really out of character for her. Shadow looks up to the trees, seeing the light at the very top.

"What could that be?" Rouge asks curiously.

"Don't know. Too bright to be a star," He says in thought. They stare at the object curiously.

* * *

Knuckles runs up to Zelkova, but he uses his electricity to knock the echidna into the dirt. He rushes up to Knuckles, who looks up at him. He raises his foot and Knuckles holds up his hands, only to be stomped on. Missiles from Cream, Amy, and Molly's ships fire at him, and they wait in anticipation to see if it worked.

However, the shield went up before they could put a scratch on him. "You foolish meddlers! Your missiles are mere play toys compared to my awesome power!" He cackles at how he can't be stopped, Cosmo, Tails, Valentina, Rose, and Elliot watching from inside.

"Oh no," Cosmo looks on in worry.

"We have to keep trying, Cosmo," Tails looks down at her from his spot. "We'll get through."

"Yeah..." She murmurs, looking outside. He types nervously, sweating a bit as he examines Yellow Zelkova.

"In order to penetrate a shield that powerful, we're going to have to harness a great deal of energy...of course, I'm not sure where we'll get the extra energy from..."

Yellow Zelkova slams his fist into Knuckles.

"Knuckles, no!" Everyone else exclaims, but Knuckles pushes the fist with all of his might, gritting his teeth. Yellow Zelkova stares at him in shock.

"You think with a fist like that, you can actually do some damage! You might wanna spend less time on illumise shields and more on the old upper body strength!" He retorts back. He mainly relied on his own strength to fight, and not outside sources unlike this chump.

"I grow weary of your mocking, you little red fool!" He holds up Knuckles and throws him away. "Take that!"

He's sent flying, soaring towards the lava! He opens his eyes, realizing where he's gonna land, punching against the rock, left dangling above the hot liquid.

A few rocks fall as he looks down. He looks up to see the top and scrambles to get to the top.

Another wave of missiles are fired at Zelkova, but when the smoke clears, he's still standing. Zelkova steps forward, chuckling as he grabs something.

"Now you will all meet your fiery end!" He pushes the Blue Typhoon forward, threatening to push it into the lava. Everyone inside lets out a scream as they get closer to the hot liquid. Knuckles reaches the top, seeing the situation.

"Not so fast, yellow belly!" He jumps into the air.

The X Tornado flies past lightning from the dark clouds, Chris holding his head with a groan. "You'll be okay," Sonic stares at him. "We gotta get down there fast!"

"Our friends need our help!" Sophia declares and he lifts up his head.

"You're right. Hang on tight. I'm gonna show 'im what happens when he tries to hurt my friends!" He then sees something on his screen. "Oh no!" Some Metarex ships are trailing after them.

"Oh yes," Sonic turns around to them.

"Another Metarex fleet!" Chris glances at them with a glare.

"Persistent, aren't they?" Sonic asks in slight annoyance. Sophia narrows her eyes as Chris flies around, with the ships firing lasers at them. "That's our cue!"

He jumps up and goes into a spin dash, with the electricity hitting the ship. They fly away from the storm clouds and the Metarex get caught up in the lightning, destroying themselves. The X Tornado flies away.

"That was some light show," Sonic looks at Chris through the glass.

"Yeah, I'll say. I can't believe how those lightning bolts had such perfect aim!"

"Hmm...that was pretty precise...and it was too convenient to be luck..." Sophia looks up at the clouds curiously.

Knuckles runs up to Yellow Zelkova, jumping and punching the forehead. "You are giving me a headache! Seize your pummeling!" The annoying commander demands. He raises a fist and goes to smack Knuckles off, but the echidna jumps away, causing him to hit his own head.

"I'm not done!" Knuckles grits his teeth, leaping again. Zelkova's forehead glows yellow, emitting electricity. Knuckles gets knocked into the dirt. Zelkova approaches him and he grabs onto his leg. Knuckles punches it repeatedly, but it does nothing to Zelkova.

"You are in for a shock, my tiny friend," His electricity hits Knuckles again.

"Some shock!" Knuckles cries out, even though he was in slight pain. "Is that all you got, pal?! He punches at the armor again, eventually breaking through it with his claws, but they break. Knuckles screams, holding his hand. Yellow Zelkova shouts at his injured leg, kneeling.

"You think you're clever, don't you?!"

Knuckles stands bravely. "What, you mean you haven't figured that out already?!"

The three ships come around, seeing the two injured fighters. "It's Knuckles! He's still fighting him!" Cream says in worry.

"Let's get out of here while he's not looking," Amy glances at Knuckles. Molly gasps at them in shock.

"You're going to leave your friend all alone down there?"

"You don't know Knuckles," Amy grins slightly at her. "He can take him!"

"And Zelkova can't see you, Molly! The Metarex still think you're dead!" Cream reminds her. Molly frowns, looking at the commander. As much as she wanted to help him...they were right. She's seen Knuckles' fierce battling, and she couldn't risk getting him hurt further.

Yellow Zelkova charges up his hands, shooting electricity at Knuckles and the three ships, knocking them back. It hits the Blue Typhoon, shocking Tails, Cosmo, Valentina, Rose, and Elliot.

"Oh my!" Valentina rushes over to Cosmo, looking over her. "Are you alright, Cosmo?"

"I think so..." Cosmo holds her head.

"I'll use Zelkova's energy against him to break through that illumise shield!" Tails says to Elliot while working out the wires.

"Genius!" Elliot comments with a grin.

"Blue Typhoon, do you read me?" Chris' voice asks.

"He's okay!" Tails looks up and they're relieved to see the X Tornado fly in.

"Alright!"

Sonic jumps onto Amy's ship, with Sophia jumping onto Molly's. "Hey Sonic!" Amy smiles at him.

"Looks like Knuckles might need some assistance. Let's you and me go lend him a hand."

"Us too!" Sophia waves over to them. The two ships turn around and Zelkova sees them.

"What now?! Will nothing deter these puny meddlers?! Wait a minute, it's that resistance girl's ship! How did she survive our attack?!"

While he's looking at them, Knuckles brings his fist over, but Zelkova blocks it with his palm. He then shocks Knuckles, knocking him back.

"Hey big guy!"

He turns around to Sonic and Sophia. "Up here!"

"You're gonna pay for what you did to them, you JERK!" Sophia screams and they jump towards him in unison.

"You still have not learned, huh, hedgehog and princess? Illumise shield!" His shield goes up, electricity hitting the two and knocking them back. Molly catches Sophia, with Cream catching the blue hedgehog.

"We gotcha!" She smiles, flying the ship around.

"Thanks Molly," Sophia nods at her. Sonic waves a rope around Yellow Zelkova, confusing him. He makes a large circle around the commander and Sophia lifts up her hands. She peeks through her fingers as if she's using a camera, smiling. "Perfect."

Tails and Chris have set up a device on top of the ship. "Okay," Chris smiles at him.

"Cosmo!" Tails calls out and she waves two things in her hands.

"Sonic! Sophia!"

"Over here!" Valentina waves her hands. They jump into the air, with Sonic landing on Amy's ship. Sophia opens her wings and looks down at Cosmo.

"Here goes!" Sonic throws the rope.

"What is this?" Yellow Zelkova asks in confusion. "What's going on here?!"

"Don't you worry your little head, Zelkova," Knuckles taunts, "You just sit tight. Heh!" He jumps away to let it play out. Sonic spin dashes into the air, flying towards the storm clouds. Sophia flies after him and the electricity hits them. This causes them to go spiraling down to the Blue Typhoon, hitting the device that Tails and Chris had just set up. The wires surround Zelkova and his illumise shield appears. He tries to stop it, but gets electrocuted due to all of the power he's being hit with. His body burns up and there's an explosion.

"Yeah!" Chris cheers, the three ships looking down at the explosion.

"We did it, guys!" Cream cheers, Sonic landing on her ship. Sophia lands back to Molly's, placing her hands on her hips proudly.

"Serves him right! I disliked him the most. He's so annoying."

The others laugh at this and Zelkova's armor starts to wither away at his arms. "What...what is happening to me?" His arms completely disappear, Knuckles looking at it. Suddenly, a giant being is revealed to have been wearing the armor. He stands up with a scream, revealing himself to be a large male alien. He lets out a scream, Knuckles gritting his teeth at him.

"What?!" Sophia, Valentina, and Elliot all say in shock at his appearance. He stares down at Knuckles, who growls at him. He jumps up towards the alien, punching him in the face. The royal family couldn't explain it, but...this alien looked familiar somehow. He falls back a bit, his foot on the platform near the lava. It breaks off and he tries getting a good grip.

"Dark Oak and Valtor will be victorious!"

Knuckles stands there in shock as he slowly slides down. "They will have revenge!"

He watches as he slowly slides down into the lava. Sophia covers her mouth in shock, sweating a bit. He had just...

"He thought he was indestructible," Chris murmurs as they stand on the Blue Typhoon.

"...Who was he really?" Molly looks to all of them, but none of them could provide a straightforward answer.

* * *

Eggman looks up from the controls, having just gathered some information. "Interesting...after having researched their data, I have discovered the Metarex plan to-"

"Ex-nay, doctor," Decoe whispers to him as Pale Bayleaf approaches them.

"Dr. Eggman. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh, not at all, my friend!" Eggman turns around, hiding something behind his back. "I was just admiring your up-to-the-minute gadgetry! I really must commend you on your technological wherewithal!"

"The doctor is taking rather copious notes," Bocoe speaks up.

"Uh, so that he can build one just like it."

Pale Bayleaf just stares before turning around. "Zelkova's been destroyed."

"What's that?!" Eggman asks in surprise.

"It seems your so-called illumise shield was of no use to him in the end," Pale Bayleaf says, stiffening as Valtor approaches.

"That was his mistake in trusting your technology," He places his hands behind his back. Eggman glares at him.

"Well, it didn't come with a warranty."

Bayleaf just chuckles and leaves while Valtor just stands there. The robots turn to Eggman in confusion before Valtor speaks up.

"Whatever you think you are doing...it won't stop me. And if I find out that you're thinking that I think you're doing...I will not hesitate to kill you."

A chill goes up their spines as Valtor walks away. He's so intimidating that even Eggman is scared of him. He narrows his eyes at the threat he was just given.

* * *

Shadow jumps up tree branches to reach the light, which looks to be a gem. Rouge flies up to it. "That looks pretty interesting."

"Let's see here..." Shadow takes it off the tree. It looks like a Chaos Emerald, but it's not, and he knows it. He smashes the object in his hand, shocking Rouge. "I knew it. It's a fake."

They watch the particles fall. "Why would there be a fake Chaos Emerald in the middle of nowhere? How weird," Rouge glances up ahead, Shadow following her direction. They suddenly hear a groan, causing them to turn to each other. As far as they knew, there was no one else here...

They get down the tree and land in front of someone they didn't think they'd see again. "What?!"

Leon is stuck in the tree, with markings on his face. His shirt is partially open. "Shadow...it's that Leon guy, from the resistance."

His markings are actually bulges on his face, as if something is growing on his cheeks. He opens his eyes and Shadow bends down to him.

"Tell us what happened."

"..." He closes his eyes. "Metarex...they fooled us all...they told us...we could be one of them...but they lied. Destroying us all...already happening..." The bulges grow stronger on his face.

"Shadow..." Rouge looks at the hedgehog in worry.

"My...pocket," Leon opens his eyes. "Look inside."

Shadow does as he's told, seeing a tiny device. "What is it?"

"You must stop them...it's...not too late." Leon closes his eyes. "Tell Molly...that I'm sorry..."

They stare down at him as he slowly succumbs to his death, the other resistance members already gone...

"Should we tell Molly about this...?" Rouge asks slowly, still staring at Leon. She looks away in horror, which is unlike her. This whole day has been...sad and unexpected.

Shadow stares down at the object he's been given. This most likely has information on their enemies...but the circumstances of how they got it would probably scar Molly emotionally to the point that she might give up fighting. He can't have that.

"...No."


	73. The Cosmo Conspiracy

Fflyboyray: Another great chapter, next up is my favorite shadow episode, what reactions will everyone get from Shadow and Rouge's actions against Cosmo? Will there be an extra scene in this episode?

 **Angel: Read and find out! *winks* There are a little things extra here and there, if that's what you mean.**

Guest: Sophia and Molly are shocked to see Shadow attack Tails and Cosmo.

 **Angel: I would tell you their reactions, but I think it's better if you just read it.**

Crazycartyoons5488: Cosmo has a crush on Tails.

 **Angel: Uh, yeah, no kidding.**

Johanvanguard: Great to see Sophia is okay, but the Metarex are still after the heroes. Too bad that their ship was attacked and stranded on a planet thanks to Zelkova. It was nice to see Molly's comments about Zelkova and the fight. Knuckles had a rough time against Zelkova because of his upgrades by Eggman. Luckily, Sonic, Sophia, and the others worked together to defeat Zelkova, and discovered he was an actual flesh alien underneath the armor. It looks like Eggman is on thin ice with the Metarex. Shadow and Rouge seemed to have received some unusual info about the Metarex from Leon. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia and Molly will react to Shadow's actions and the shocking revelation.

 **Angel: I'm glad Zelkova is gone, he's probably the most annoying out of the entire Metarex, and that's saying a lot. He was such a jerk T^T And...Leon's demise was really sad to watch again after so long. I feel so bad for him, even if he did turn against Molly.**

Bajy: Next episode is going to be explosively chaotic, each episode from here on out will be pretty crazy yes, excellent job on the chapter! Looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: Well, we do have 5 more episodes to endure...and I'm on episode 75. Next Monday is Labor Day, so I'll definitely use that extra time.**

Challishanlon99: May Leon rest in peace. Thank you for this chapter.

 **Angel: You're welcome!**

The Blue Typhoon is flying around space, as usual. Chris and Tails are alone in the main room, the boy stretching his arms with a yawn. "Hey Tails, don't you think it's time we took a break?" He calls out.

"Well..." Tails looks up at him with a small frown. "There seems to be a problem with the security system and I wanna find out why. But you can go."

"Don't you want help?" Chris offers him. He'd help out Valentina, Elliot, Molly, and Sophia, but it looked like Tails needed it more. The four are trying to figure where the king and queen remember Zelkova's true form...it was on the tip of their tongues, but so far, they couldn't remember.

"No, I can handle it myself. Hopefully we'll have plenty of time to rest up. Since there aren't any Metarex around, things should stay pretty quiet," Tails tells the boy.

"I sure hope you're right, Tails."

Tails smiles at him. "Me too."

Chris yawns as he's walking down the hall. He walks past Sophia's room, where the aforementioned four have books, maps, and papers strewn around.

"Hey guys," He greets them as he stands there in the doorway. "How's the suspect pool going?"

"Well, we can rule out all of the alien races we've met, along with Cascade," Sophia sits up with a sigh as Elliot removes his reading glasses, rubbing at his eyes.

"We still have people from our past to consider," Valentina looks at her husband.

"Well, we do know that Valtor knows this race, or else he wouldn't have used them as Metarex," Elliot holds up a finger.

"Don't you remember which one?" Molly asks curiously.

"We would, if it hadn't been years since. We can hardly remember what they looked like..." Valentina gives a small sigh. It didn't exactly help that Zelkova is now gone, meaning he can't speak for himself now...

"Good luck," Chris waves at them, not noticing a black shadow rush behind him. Sophia hears it and stands up, confused.

"Something wrong, pri-I mean, Sophia?" Molly looks up at her in concern.

"...No. Maybe it was my imagination." She takes her seat and someone steps into the light...

* * *

Someone opens the door to Cosmo's room, stepping up as he looks at her sleeping peacefully.

"Okay, that should work, now we'll restart the system." As soon as he presses a green button, a loud alarm goes off, alarming everyone. "Red alert! Red alert! We have an intruder on board the ship!"

"So that's what it was!" Sophia mutters to herself, she should've known not to let her guard down. But who could be invading their ship now all of times?

Cosmo wakes up at the alarm, eyes widening. She sits up and yells in alarm...

As Shadow is standing there.

He stares down at her, narrowing his eyes. "You traitor!" He spits at her angrily. She gives him a look of fear, confused on why he's referring to her as such. She hadn't done anything as far as she knew to anger Shadow.

"Cosmo!" When Chris reaches the room, he's shocked to see Shadow standing in the room. He fires a yellow projectile towards Chris, but someone jumps in front of him, blocking the blow. Once the smoke clears, Sonic is resting over Chris protectively. Shadow glances at them before turning his attention back to Cosmo.

"Hold it, Shadow!"

Sonic sits up with a small grin. "You mind telling me what this is all about?"

He turns around to the blue hedgehog, stepping forward. Sonic clashes with him and they wrestle each other, glaring.

"Sonic!" Tails runs into the hallway.

"What's going on?!" Sophia comes in from the opposite side, sliding to a stop. "Shadow...?"

"Hurry, grab Cosmo and run!" He shouts at Tails.

"Cosmo? What does she have to do with this?" Sophia asks in confusion, but neither hedgehog has the heart to tell her the reason. "What is going on? Answer me!"

Sonic pushes Shadow away, jumping near Tails and running up to the black hedgehog. "No!" Sophia shouts and Shadow speeds around, knocking Sonic to the ground. Sophia gasps in shock, Tails confused. Cosmo peeks from her room and he turns to her.

"Cosmo, what happened?" He asks in concern.

"I woke up...Shadow was there. He said something strange to me," Was all she could muster.

"What did he say to you?" Sophia bends down to her with a serious look on her face.

"He said you traitor."

She freezes in place at this, looking towards the smoke. "What...?"

"Please, I don't want to get in the way of your friendship with Shadow!" Cosmo cries out, noticing Sophia's confusion. "And Molly would be devastated if she found out."

"Found out what?"

They turn around to Molly, who sees the smoke and gasps. "What-what happened?"

Sophia stays silent for a second, unsure if she's still believing it or not. Why would Shadow frighten Cosmo like this? What caused him to think like that?

"...Shadow's here...but he's accusing Cosmo of treachery. I don't know what's going on with him," Sophia murmurs, slowly getting onto her feet.

"But..." Molly sweats a bit. "But Shadow wouldn't do that to a friend! Not without good reason!"

"It's true," Cosmo looks up at her. "I'm sorry, Molly."

"Maybe we could reason with him," Molly looks towards Sophia. "You've known him the longest. You know he wouldn't do something like this!"

"Molly, you see him as Black Wind. I know what Shadow's actions are telling me, but I can't give an explanation on why he's acting like this," Sophia looks at her with sad reluctant eyes.

Shadow slowly steps out of the smoke, Tails going to a control panel and pressing in a code for lockdown. "Tails, get Cosmo out of here. Molly, we'll try things your way." Sophia stands in front of them protectively.

"Okay!" He nods at her, grabbing Cosmo's hand and running down the hall. She pants in fear as the door closes behind them. Shadow stops in front of Sophia and Molly.

"Shadow..." She murmurs at the sight of him and his eyes widen, only now just registering the fact that she's standing up.

"Molly..."

Sophia narrows her eyes slightly. "Why are you doing this to Cosmo?"

"She's a traitor to your team," Shadow points at the two. "I have to take her out."

Sophia places a hand on her chest in shock at his words. "Take her o-I'm not hurting Cosmo! What proof do you even have that she's a traitor?!"

Shadow takes something out of his boot, holding up the item that he got from Leon. "From this."

The princess grits her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut. Shadow was her friend, but so was Cosmo. She didn't want to believe that she was a traitor or that Shadow wanted to hurt her, but what is she supposed to think? What would a princess do in this situation?

"Shadow, I don't know what that told you, but I know Cosmo. And I know that she wouldn't do anything to risk lives here..." Molly whispers to him.

"Then you don't know her as well as you thought. Now get out of my way."

"NO!" Sophia opens her eyes as she steps in front of Molly, taking out her sword. "I won't move! If you wanna get to Cosmo, you'll have to go through me!"

"I'm doing this for your own good!" Shadow argues back to her.

"By accusing my friend of being a traitor?! What's next, you're gonna accuse me?! Is every ally to you a traitor? Who am I to you, Shadow? Are you gonna think that I'm a traitor when I did nothing wrong too?!"

Shadow's eyes turn soft at this, looking at his sword. He didn't want to fight Sophia...she was his closest friend that he's known for a long time...he couldn't hurt her.

"No...you're not a traitor...you're my friend..."

Sophia blinks back tears as he's still looking at the door, wanting to hurt people. This...this is not the Shadow she grew up with. The one that she could trust. How could he do this to them? "Well, you're certainly not mine. A friend of mine wouldn't attack another one. The next time I see you on this ship...I won't hesitate to fight you," Her voice wavers sadly as she walks past him. If she had to choose between fighting Shadow and saving Cosmo...she'd save someone who's innocent, no matter how much she hated making that decision.

"You're...just gonna let him leave?" Molly asks her slowly as she stares after the princess.

"He won't get far without me stopping him," She murmurs as the girl glances back at Shadow. He could tell from her eyes that he'll be seeing her again on the ship...and not in a friendly way.

"Sophia..." His eyes turn sad at her decision. "Please, you have to listen to me. Cosmo is with the Metarex! It's all right here." He holds up the device.

"I don't wanna spend another second talking to you!" She screams at him, causing his eyes to widen. "You're hurting my friends and accusing them based on lies! Why would I wanna listen to anything you have to say?!"

And with that, she takes her leave.

"...Shadow?" Molly asks after a few seconds, sensing the tense silence between Sophia and Shadow. "Please don't do this..."

"...I'm sorry." He steps forward and makes a hole into the door, leaving Molly behind. She looks behind her and sees the injured duo.

"Oh no!" She cries out, running up to them. "Sonic! Chris!"

* * *

Knuckles runs down the hall as he heard the alarm from Tails earlier. He turns on his commlink. "Sonic, can you hear me?! What's going on?!"

"Sonic and Chris got hurt in a fight with Shadow! And Sophia let him go, saying that she's gonna fight him!" Cream reports to him from the infirmary. "They'll be okay, but it'll take some time for them to recover."

"Why were they fighting? And Sophia said she was gonna battle him?"

"It's really confusing," She answers as Amy and Valentina are looking over the boys. Molly is standing by with a worried look for Sophia. She seemed really upset about Shadow's actions, and if Molly was her, she wouldn't want to fight Shadow either... "For some reason, Shadow was trying to attack Cosmo!"

"So he is our enemy! I knew it! Poor Sophia, but she shouldn't have trusted him," Knuckles clenches a fist. Amy pushes Cream out of the way.

"Don't even think about going after Shadow right now! Find Tails and Cosmo and make sure they're safe! Leave Shadow to Sophia, maybe she'll calm down by then. That's an order!" She tells him.

"I know what I'm doing!" He retorts back to her. "Nobody will be safe on this ship till we stop Shadow!"

"Knuckles!" Valentina stands up, walking up to the screen. "Shadow is a trusted friend of Sophia. This must be an misunderstanding. For once, do what Amy says and find them!"

"What do you mean, for once?!" Amy shrieks in defense.

* * *

Another door is busted open as Shadow steps into a hallway that has two doors. He looks at a tracker and activates it.

"Accessing ship's internal sensors. Two heat signals detected. Standby for visual." The scanner shows him two heat signatures of Tails and Cosmo trying to do something at a control panel.

"What are you doing, Tails?" Cosmo asks curiously behind him.

"If Shadow has access to our computer, he could use the internal sensors to track us. I have to block him from accessing the data," He explains to her, pressing the final button. "That should do it."

Shadow's wrist computer suddenly turns black, rendering him unable to see Tails and Cosmo.

"I think it worked," Tails glances upwards.

"Bypass code 6 Delta 3," The wrist computer says, the cameras moving to the duo.

"No way, he got through!" Tails says in shock.

Shadow speeds down the hall, holding the device. He can see Tails and Cosmo running. The doors close behind them.

"Hurry Cosmo!" Tails glances at the plant girl, who squeezes his hand. She pants a bit, scared of what was going to happen. Were they going to be running around like this forever? Shadow seems very intent on stopping them.

The device beeps and Shadow comes to a stop as he can no longer see them on his screen. He checks all the cameras, but they're gone. Something shakes and he looks up. Something bursts through the wall and the culprit of the damage is Knuckles.

"Shadow! Pick on somebody your own size!" Knuckles challenges him. The hedgehog just smirks. If he wanted a challenge, then he was going to give it to him...

* * *

Tails and Cosmo are crawling in the vents. "Why is Shadow against me?" She whispers quietly. As far as Cosmo knew, she hadn't done anything to warrant this attack...

"Maybe Eggman sent him to get you," Tails frowns in worry. "It's even possible that Shadow's working for the Metarex."

"Ah!" Cosmo gasps in shock. "The Metarex?! But Sophia told me that he fought against them when they met Molly! That can't be right."

"I don't want to believe that possibility either," Tails sighs at the thought. "Anyway, it doesn't matter who gave him the orders." Cosmo looks at him in confusion. "Either way, Shadow isn't gonna give up till he finishes what he started...but I don't want you to worry, Cosmo. I promise everything will be okay...because if Shadow tries to hurt you," He turns around to face her. "He'll have to get past me first!"

She blushes at his declaration. "...Thank you." She leans in and kisses his cheek. His cheeks get red and he turns around, rubbing his neck.

* * *

Shadow leaps into the air, firing his Chaos Spears. Knuckles runs past them and swings his fist, but the hedgehog teleports, appearing behind him. He fires another Chaos Spear, but this time, it hits a pipe, causing smoke to appear. Knuckles looks past the smoke to see Shadow running down the hall.

"Get back here!"

Someone appears behind him and he glances at the intruder. "Are all redheads as temperamental as you?"

* * *

In the hangar, Tails and Cosmo arrive, running up to the X Tornado. He climbs up the ladder and holds out his hand.

"You'll be safe once we get away on the X Tornado." He pulls her up, activating the plane. "Prepare for takeoff! Hold on, Cosmo!"

The landing gear appears and he turns around. "Everything will be okay."

She smiles at his reassurance and suddenly there's an explosion in front of the plane. In the smoke is the kneeling Shadow, who gets onto his feet.

"Hand that girl over now. I don't wanna fight you, Tails, but I will if I have to," He narrows his eyes.

"Cosmo never did anything to harm _you_!" Tails retorts back, "Why are you after her, anyway?!"

"I'm not going to tell you. Now move aside or you'll be sorry," He replies thinly. The only people he trusted with that information were Sophia and Molly...who are undoubtably still upset with him.

"Forget it, Shadow!" Tails glares at him, "I won't let you hurt Cosmo!"

"...I'm warning you," Shadow keeps his stoic look. Cosmo gasps in fear, hiding behind Tails' seat. Tails stands his ground. "This is your last chance, Tails! Give up now or face the consequences!"

* * *

Rouge is standing in front of Knuckles in the smoke. He stares at her, waiting for an answer. "Well? What are you here for?"

"Strain your brain and guess," She replies smoothly.

"Are you working with Shadow to help him attack Cosmo?!" He demands and she turns away with a smirk.

"Bingo. You're not as dim-witted as you look."

"Why are you doing this?!" He spits at her. "And with Sophia being your so-called friend?! Don't you care about her feelings in this?"

"I'm surprised you and your spaced-out crewmates haven't figured that out for yourself," She suddenly frowns, "And yeah, of course I thought about how my little jewel supplier felt. But that girl Cosmo is a real plant, in more ways than one."

"I'm not kidding around, Rouge!" He clenches a fist as he's getting nothing useful out of her. "You and Shadow can communicate, can't you?!"

"Hmm," She nods a bit, "Does that make you feel jealous?"

"Call him NOW!" He shouts into her face, "Or I'll knock that smirk off your face!"

She gives an irritated look. Bats and loud noises don't match at all. "No need to be pushy." She pulls out her communicator so that he doesn't blow a gasket. "Shadow, come in. It's Rouge. Shadow, do you read me? Come in, Shadow? Is something wrong?"

He's slowly approaching the X Tornado. "Shadow, why aren't you answering?! Shadow! Shadow!"

She glances at Knuckles, knowing that he won't answer at this point. "It's no use. He's not responding."

He looks up towards the ceiling. "I hope Tails and Cosmo are alright..."

* * *

"Back off, Shadow," Tails warns him as the hedgehog gets closer, "Or I'll have to stop you myself."

"Don't be a fool. I'm too powerful!" He raises a hand.

"Yeah? Well I've got the X Tornado!" The fox shouts, pulling a lever. The X Tornado transforms, getting close to the hedgehog. He fires his Chaos Spears, damaging the plane. Tails opens the glass and grabs Cosmo, jumping out of the way. The plane crashes into Shadow, causing an explosion. Rouge, Knuckles, and Sophia hear it, coming to a stop. Sophia is in a different hallway, looking up in concern.

"Something just blew up in the hangar!" Rouge looks at her device, as she can track Shadow with it.

"I've gotta reach Tails before it's too late," Knuckles frowns a bit.

The sprinklers turn on as Shadow walks out of the smoke. There's no one else there besides him. Suddenly someone lands behind him and he turns around to see a soaking Sophia. She's gripping her sword.

"Don't make me do this, Shadow," She shakes her head slowly. "You have one last chance to show me that it's really you."

"Sophia, I'm not gonna fight you," He denies as he stares at her. She looks so conflicted and upset towards him.

"How can you scare them like that?!" She shouts as the water felt like a storm. "Why are you doing this to an innocent person?!"

"She's not innocent," Shadow narrows his eyes slightly at her. "And as soon as I take her, you won't have to worry about Cosmo."

"I'm not going to forget about her just because you think she did something wrong. And I'm done talking." She runs up towards him without a second thought, but he jumps out of the way. Sophia swings her sword rapidly, but he jumps left and right.

"Stop dodging and fight, Shadow! I know you can!" She screams as he lands in front of the door.

"I said I won't!" He bursts through the door and leaves the room. Sophia grunts at this.

Tails is flying in the air in the next room, holding onto Cosmo. Shadow slowly steps inside as he sees, jumping, but he triggers the alarm.

"Intruder. Small stun lasers, lock on target."

Shadow jumps past the lasers, running up the wall. A red laser zips past him and he looks behind him to see Sophia flying after him, glaring at the hedgehog. She fires another laser from her eyes and he jumps to the right.

Tails hugs Cosmo tight and she glances behind them. "Here he comes!"

"It's okay. Just trust me," He tells her and Cosmo looks up at him, staying silent. Shadow destroys one of the robots with his Chaos Spears, doing the same with three more. Tails continues flying as Shadow continues destroying the robots. Sophia flings her arm.

"Chaos Spear!"

Her three projectiles fly towards Shadow, but he turns around and fires three of his own. When the two attacks touch, they explode between Sophia and Shadow. Tails looks at the smoke.

"Almost there." He reaches the top and rolls, pressing the emergency button. Shadow and Sophia fly out of the smoke, only for the ceiling to close them in. The hedgehog hits the ceiling and lands on a pole. Sophia turns around to him, flapping her wings as she stares at him silently.

He narrows his eyes at the tactic. "You can stop trying, because I will never fight you!"

"Oh, I'll stop...when you stop going after my friends!" She grits her teeth. Sophia wouldn't usually fight this aggressively, but when her friends are in trouble, especially by someone she trusted, her feelings are too strong to ignore.

"Come on, Cosmo!" Tails grabs her hand, running off with her. Something suddenly breaks through and they gasp in shok to see Shadow spindashing towards them. Then they see Sophia jump in. Tails hugs Cosmo close and Knuckles steps in front of them, blocking Shadow.

"It's Knuckles!" Cosmo says in surprise.

Knuckles glances at them, sweating. "Get out of here, quick!" He slides a bit as Shadow is pushing against him. "I've had enough of you, Shadow!" He kicks Shadow into the ceiling. "Go, now!"

"We'll handle him," Sophia comes to a stop in front of them.

"Be careful, guys," Tails tells them and Cosmo gives a worried look.

"Sophia, you're not really going to fight your friend, are you?"

"The friend I know wouldn't do this," Sophia looks up at the ceiling, slowly pulling out her sword. "There's a difference between what I know and I see. Go."

Shadow emerges from the blast. "Trying to challenge me is a big mistake," He stares at Knuckles. "And you're going to regret it."

"I've always wanted the Shadow box!" Knuckles declares, fists ready.

"As you wish," Shadow spins into the air and the two watch as he starts hitting the walls, going over to the duo. Knuckles closes his eyes and when Shadow is about to touch them, Sophia kicks him back. However, the force of his power causes her to knock into Knuckles and the three are sent flying in opposite directions. The hedgehog sits up and stares at them. "When are you gonna stop fighting me and listen?"

"Listen to what? To your lies?" Sophia sits up, her sword stabbed into the floor. She doesn't look up at him as she shakes a bit. "There's nothing you could say that would make me stop fighting you, Shadow the Hedgehog. I don't care if you fight back or not...but I won't let you hurt them!"

He stares at her sadly as there's so much anger in her words...towards him. He'd never seen her like that...

* * *

A door opens, Cosmo and Tails running inside. They come to a stop at a wall. "It's a dead end! We have to find another way out."

The door is suddenly broken open and Tails glances up. "Come on!" He runs to the right side, where there's a few devices.

"Please hurry! Shadow will catch up with us soon!"

"Sooner than you think!"

They turn around to see the hedgehog himself approaching, his shadow getting closer. Tails grits his teeth in annoyance. "I guess this is it," Cosmo says, Tails standing in front of her protectively. "Wait a second, Shadow...if you insist on getting rid of me, you should at least tell me the reason why."

"I _do_ have a reason," He appears in their sights, turning around to face them. "But I won't tell you what it is." He gets closer and closer, Tails gripping the lever behind his back. "There's no point in putting up a fight because you can't beat me."

"You don't have to do this!" She begs him.

"You won't talk me out of getting rid of you, so don't try!"

He's suddenly kicked away, which was not caused by Tails or Cosmo. Sophia appears in front of them, having used her invisibility.

"Stay back! I won't let you near her!" He pulls the lever, causing the door to slowly descend. Shadow sits up and smirks.

"Do you seriously believe a door can stop me?!"

"Maybe you're not as strong as you think," Tails smirks and he points to the door. "Sophia, your ice breath."

Sophia takes a deep breath and blows, ice coming from her mouth. The door in front of Shadow freezes shut.

"This will be too easy," He flings his arm to use Chaos Spear...but it doesn't work. Instead, it goes back to the hedgehog. Sophia uses her x-ray vision to see him lifted up into the air. He comes to a stop in the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon and the power goes to the Chaos Emerald. Shadow spindashes, but the cannon lifts out into the open.

"Shadow fell right into my trap! Activate Sonic/Royal Power Cannon now!" Tails pulls down the lever and the cannon comes to a stop. Shadow is still spinning, but the weapon powers up and he's sent flying out the ship. Sophia uses her x-ray vision again to see him leave, trying not to shed a tear. Even after she had used all of her powers...he still wouldn't stop.

"We lucked out, Cosmo," Tails stops panting. "Shadow started spinning at just the right time...you should be safe now."

Cosmo smiles a bit, nodding at him. He holds out his hand. "Let's go."

She takes it and they smile at each other.

* * *

"It's okay, Tails said Shadow went to space," Cream reports to Knuckles.

"Way to go, buddy."

"Where's Shadow?" Rouge looks around in confusion.

"He's gone now. Tails was able to use the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon to send Shadow on a long trip...and you're next. Unless you tell me what's going on!" He sits up to look at her.

"Your foxy friend just made a huge mistake," Rouge holds up the memory chip. "Cosmo is the real enemy, not Shadow."

He stares at the device in confusion.

* * *

Tails and Cosmo run into the main room, looking out to the stars. "I'm sorry I'm causing you so much trouble..."

"You don't have to apologize, Cosmo," Tails glances at her with a soft smile. "You mean a lot to me and the only thing I care about is making sure that you're safe."

She smiles again and they walk back to the captain's chair. Suddenly, a yellow glow appears in front of them and it's revealed to be Shadow, who's holding a white Chaos Emerald. However, it soon turns into dust.

"This emerald is a fake," He stares at his hand in confusion.

"Let's settle this now!" Tails runs up to the hedgehog, who punches him in the back, sending him onto the ground.

"He's hurt!" Cosmo looks at him in concern. Shadow slowly approaches her, but Tails jumps onto him. He struggles to tackle Shadow, but he pushes Tails off him and punches the fox again.

"What have I done?" She murmurs before gasping. Shadow slowly turns around to her and she shakes in fear. The hedgehog walks up to her.

"Let's get this over with."

She braces herself for it and he makes his hand into a fist. Something touches his leg and he looks down to see the injured Tails holding onto him.

"Leave her alone...if you don't, you'll be sorry!"

Shadow just smirks at the threat. He raises his fist again, but the ceiling suddenly breaks. Something comes in and smashes a station, with objects starting to get sucked into space. Cosmo grips the railing, but the wind is too strong and she's sent flying. Tails grabs her hand and she opens her eyes to see him holding onto the railing. She can see the dedication to help her in his eyes...

Three orbs hit the hole and they explode into a sticky substance. Tails and Cosmo hit the ground.

A larger ship comes into view and Shadow stares at it silently. Sophia comes in the room, prepared to face Shadow again, but she comes to a stop as she sees the ship. The two could only stare at the large grey ship...with Dark Oak and Valtor inside.

"Well done, Cosmo, or should we say White Seed?" Dark Oak starts off.

She gasps at being addressed. "You have now completed your mission. Excellent," Valtor grins widely.

Cosmo doesn't understand any of it. _White Seed? Mission...what mission? What are they talking about?_

 _Scarship came into Cosmo's view when her ship was attacked. She ran down the hall until an explosion occurred in front of her._

 _It's too late...the Metarex are coming!_

 _A Metarex robot's eyes stared at her. "If you want to survive, then listen to me. Pay close attention."_

 _Don't...don't...listen..._

 _She just stood there in fear. "From now on, you will report everything to me. Your eyes will be my eyes. Your ears will be my ears. You will be the ultimate spy. Your codename will be White Seed."_

 _Her gem on her clothes turned red._

Cosmo lets out a scream and there's a white flash. It engulfs both ships until they completely disappear...


	74. Eye Spy

**Angel: I have three more episodes to write, and then I'm officially done with this story. I know this is earlier than when I usually update this (heck, I'm usually asleep during this time if I don't have classes), but my mom woke me up early since my parents are going to Florida for a little bit and she wanted me to say bye to them.**

XD-SpIkeJet11: Hey, what if the turtles and Amy encounter Wolverine?

 **Angel: I'm not really a Marvel expert, so I wouldn't even know where to begin with Wolverine...I haven't seen him in much movies lately.**

Scrappy Doo Fan: Wow, are things getting hectic...not to mention it's my 18th birthday! Talk about your unexpected gifts! Still...to think Cosmo is actually a sleeper agent for the Metarex! Who'd have guessed?

 **Angel: Happy belated birthday and...it's always the quiet ones... 7u7**

Bajy: As always, well done on this chapter, I wonder if Cosmo will get to explain her side of the story of what she finally remembered in the next chapter to get everyone understand that she had no idea what was going on, that the Metarex had been using her without her knowing it. I do hope that things will be amended between Shadow, Sophia, and Molly in the next chapter. Looking forward to reading more soon.

 **Angel: Thank you and...yeah, that was a shocker when I first watched that episode all those years ago. And I can't obviously address the issues between the three without spoiling...yeah, this show did air over 15 years ago, but still XD**

Crazycartoons5488: Cosmo scare crush on a another planet Cosmo home.

 **Angel: I have no idea what that was supposed to mean.**

Johanvanguard: Things started well with the heroes relaxing for a bit. Too bad things got worse when Shadow showed up and accused Cosmo of being a traitor. With Shadow attacking Cosmo, Molly was really shocked and Cosmo was really angry of Shadow's attack without a believable explanation. Sophia did show kindness to Shadow at first, but then was angry at him and determined to stop him. The Metarex showing up and Cosmo "White Seed" did confirm her as a spy for them. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia and Molly will react to the truth of Cosmo being a spy for the Metarex.

 **Angel: It's probably one of my favorite episodes out of this season. And did you mean Cosmo or Sophia who was really angry? I think Cosmo was more scared of Shadow than anything.**

Panda39: After this story is finished, can you make some sonic cutscenes movie series from the games that take place during or after the anime series with Sophia? You know like cutscenes from Sonic the Hedgehog 2006), Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Lost World? (Oh and add Chris in one of these parts?)

 **Angel: I'm really not planning on doing anything Sonic-related when I'm done with this story, so my answer would be ultimately no. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't do any cutscenes with Sonic 06 since...you know, it's basically a disaster.**

Chris wakes up in the infirmary, looking around in confusion. Everyone else is outside, staring. Chris joins them, gasping when he sees that they're on an entirely different planet. All they could see was grass and mountains.

"Where are we...?"

"Come on!" Rouge slams at her ship. "Start! Ugh, I guess we're stuck here." She looks up to see Shadow standing on a tree branch, arms crossed. The Blue Typhoon is in his sights. "Haven't you given up yet?"

"I don't give up that easily," He looks out to the sun. "She hasn't seen the last of me!"

"Hmm," Rouge frowns a little. Sophia would definitely be upset if she saw either of them again on the ship, looking for Cosmo... "What is this place, anyway?" She gets out of her ship, looking around. It felt like a desert around there.

Cosmo is scanned and Chris peeks in through the glass, turning around. "Hey, Tails, you oughta get some sleep."

Tails turns to him in disbelief. "I don't have time to sleep, not until I find out the truth about Cosmo..."

* * *

Outside the Blue Typhoon, Sonic walks out onto the road to see Sophia hanging around, looking up towards the sky. He walks up to her slowly, noticing her unmoving position. Although he couldn't see her face, he could tell that she was still sad about what she had to do...

"Hi."

She turns around to see Sonic approaching. "Oh...hi Sonic." She looks back out towards the blue sky. Sonic stops right next to her and they stand there for a few seconds.

"...Wasn't easy fighting him, was it?"

"...No," Sophia closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. "It's like he's a total stranger to me now...even though I've known him since childhood...well, the real one I had, anyway."

"Well, something had to made him decide that," Sonic looks up at her.

"It could've been on that memory chip he was holding," She mutters under her breath. "I don't know where he could've got it from, though..."

"I'm really sorry that you had to fight him," Sonic frowns at the thought of two close friends like them...fighting each other. They were basically childhood friends and suddenly...that friendship was strained within an instant.

"Sonic?" She speaks up slowly.

"Yeah?"

"...We've known each other for years now, and...I just wanted to say...thanks. Thanks for being my friend...no, more like a little brother to me. It means a lot that I can trust you," She whispers softly. He places a comforting hand on her back.

"Well, sure. It's nice having a princess that's like a sister. We gotta stick together, don't we?" He smiles a bit before it turns into a small frown. "But...you and Shadow have a lot to talk about. I don't think he meant to hurt you, Sophia...he wouldn't be Shadow if he had."

She stays silent, pondering over his words. It was true; Shadow never once laid a hand on her the whole time he was here. But if that were the case...

Where did he get that memory chip from...?

Amy arrives, seeing Sonic's hand on Sophia's back. She growls angrily at them. "What do you two think you're doing, Sonic?! You're cheating on me?!" Her hammer appears out of nowhere. Sophia doesn't turn around as Sonic looks at her.

"Don't worry, Amy. I'm just helping her feel better about what happened with Shadow!"

"...Oh..." She puts away her hammer in embarrassment. She might've jumped the gun a little...but the next time she catches them like that and it's not about Shadow, they would both regret it. Valentina and Elliot appear behind the pink hedgehog.

"Sophia, come in. I've made your favorite, strawberry cheesecake," She smiles a bit, but Sophia does not respond. Valentina gives a sad look, Elliot placing a hand on her shoulder.

"She needs time..."

Sophia then takes off into a run, Sonic trailing after her. They jump in the air.

"Hey!" Amy calls out. "I've got to follow 'em! Just to make sure that Sonic's not cheating!" She turns around and runs towards her ship.

"Amy, Sophia would never do that to you," Valentina tells her, but Amy slides to a stop, but someone seems to be inside. Rouge sits up in her chair.

"Hiya!"

"Oh," Amy gasps in surprise. "Not you!"

Rouge smirks at her, giggling a little.

* * *

Tails stares as there's nothing to suggest that Cosmo has any spy equipment whatsoever. "There's no communication device anywhere," He looks to Chris. "I told you so."

"Hang on a minute..." Chris looks closer at her face before something is bursting from her forehead. Tails and Chris look in horror.

Knuckles stands up, turning to them. "You got something?"

"There's some kind of invisible signal emanating from Cosmo's brain," Chris explains to him, "It's so microscopic, normal radar wouldn't pick up on it."

"So Cosmo really has been beaming information to the Metarex," Knuckles says in shock. "Can we stop it?"

Chris looks towards the ground. "I'm not so sure...if we do, she'll never be the same. Whatever it is, it's attached to the part of Cosmo's brain that controls her sight and hearing." While he's talking, Tails' eyes are shaking sadly. "If we remove it, she may never see or hear again."

Tails squeezes his eyes shut. He never knew...and yet Cosmo was so innocent...

Knuckles growls, punching the wall. "That's a chance we'll have to take."

Tails stands up, growling right back. "How can you say something like that?! I'm not letting anyone hurt Cosmo!"

"No one wants to hurt her!" Knuckles argues to him. "We just want to set her free! And if she has to lose her eyes and ears, then so be it!"

"THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!" Tails screams at his friend.

"We're on the same team, you guys!" Chris tries to break up the fight.

"I'm not the bad guy here," Knuckles speaks up; he didn't even want to do this to Cosmo in the first place, but she still had that implant in her. They could be in further danger than when they met the Metarex because of this. "I just want what's best for all of us."

"Okay, we've just gotta think this through calmly," Chris says gently. "I know this isn't easy for you, Tails, and I wish we had another choice, but we don't." They don't notice that Cosmo is listening in, her back to them.

"Either we do this, or we sacrifice ourselves to the will of Dark Oak and Sophia's own uncle!"

Cosmo squeezes her eyes shut, shedding a tear. "I think it's pretty clear what we have to do..." Chris says gravely. Neither choice had a happy outcome for any of them. If they kept it, she'd still be in danger from Shadow and the Metarex could get crucial information...more than they already have. And if they remove it...they'd be technically crippling a good friend of theirs. It wasn't in any way her fault, she didn't ask to be like this...

* * *

Amy flies her ship to go search for Sonic. "I'll have you know the only reason I haven't tossed you out of this plane is because I was hoping you could give me some information," She glances behind her.

"About what?" Rouge asks incredibly. What could she possibly give Amy?

"I want you to tell me everything you know about Cosmo."

"What makes you think I know anything?" Rouge crosses her arms. "Hey, Pinkie, slow this thing down, will ya?"

"No. Not until you tell me what you're up to. And if you think that I don't deserve to know, at least give Sophia a reason not to hate you. Why were you and Shadow after Cosmo?!"

Rouge stays silent for a few seconds. At first glance, people would never think that a jewel thief and a princess could be friends, but...she and Sophia had been through a lot together. And the last time Rouge had swayed Sophia's opinion of her, she had still stuck by her...whether or not that remained to be seen given the recent events was still in the air. But Rouge still cared for her, and not just because Sophia's her BFJ—Bringer of Free Jewels.

"The Metarex were using your friend as a spy," Rouge looks outside. "I should think you guys would be thanking us."

"Given Sophia's reaction, I don't think you have a right to be saying that," Amy says sharply, glancing at her again. "What do you and Shadow have to do with it?"

"Shouldn't you be keeping your eyes on the skies?" Rouge replies thinly.

"Hey, don't change the subject!" Amy turns her head fully.

"WATCH OUT!"

Amy looks back and narrowly passes a branch that was in their direction. She sighs in relief, wiping off her forehead. Rouge looks back to her and they dodge another branch.

"Oh, Knuckie~" Rouge says into her communicator.

"Yeah, what?" He asks in annoyance.

"Goodness, what a charming hello that was."

"Well, well, if it isn't Rouge the Rat," He retorts to her. "You've done a lot of nerve. You think I'm gonna make nice?"

"He's going off," Rouge frowns a little at Amy. "Here, talk to him."

Amy takes the communicator from her. "Knuckles, it's me. Rouge and I figured out where we are."

"Oh, yeah?" He asks, a little peeved that Rouge is getting involved. The two are staring up in shock.

"You won't believe this...it's their home planet! Cosmo's and the Metarex!" Amy says as they're staring at the Metarex base...suddenly, a 4'6 alien appears as a hologram. She has long powder blue hair, pale peach skin, and blue eyes. She has a long-sleeved white and light green dress with yellow cuffs and a jewel piece, white tights, and powder blue shoes. An open flower is on top of her hair.

"You are looking upon Planet Greengate," She informs the two. "We lived here along ago, before a terrible darkness fell on us. Everything has been destroyed. All that is left is long since dead. I have come to tell you our story, and that of the evil Metarex..."

* * *

Sonic and Sophia are jumping around when they see Shadow standing on a broken tree. "Well, you know, you really outdid yourself this time. Trying to hurt a harmless little kid like Cosmo," Sonic scolds him. Shadow and Sophia see each other, freezing up. "We just can't seem to figure you out, Shadow. You really are a mystery."

Shadow just huffs and jumps off the tree. "You just better watch your back, Shadow!"

He comes to a stop, closing his eyes. "Well, what's stopping the both of you, Sonic? Here's your big chance."

"Nah, we're not in the mood to fight...but when we are, you'll be the first to know, pal."

He opens his eyes, turning around to stare right into Sophia's eyes. There's no kindness in them like he usually sees. Instead, all there was is hate...

Sophia narrows her eyes and jumps onto another branch, to get away from him. He takes off into a run, following after her. Sonic just watches them. He'd warn the girl, but she had to talk to him sooner or later...

* * *

"We were once a thriving civilization, but then came the time of the grave calamity," Earthia continues, "It was long ago. A war began that soon threatened to spread to the far reaches of the galaxy."

 _Greengate got hit with missiles, causing everyone to run. One of the rockets knocked down a civilian. "I have to act quickly!" One of them looked down at Daisy. "Perhaps the transformation will last this time!"_

" _Landar!" She cried out and his teeth turned sharper. His body changed and he grew into a large plant-like dinosaur. He hit one of the planes, but two fire missiles at him. They had no effect on him and he snatched a plane in his jaws, crushing it. Stepping forward, some drool dripped out of his mouth. Daisy was shaking a bit at the power she had just seen. Landar's eyes turned back to normal, and he fell down, his power having exhausted him. Daisy cried as she hugged him._

" _The citizens of our planet are in grave danger! While the enemy is getting stronger, we are losing more soldiers by the minute!"_

" _The evolutionary process is unnaturally fast, it has yet to be perfected," The alien who was formerly Yellow Zelkova spoke up._

" _Something must be done! We must find a way to make the transformation last!" Starla insisted, "We cannot continue to let our men destroy themselves!"_

" _My own husband perished only yesterday," Daisy had her eyes closed. "And unless something is done, I'm afraid thousands more will meet the same fate!"_

 _Earthia got onto her feet. "It is time for us to leave here. Perhaps we will return to our home one day, but now it is too dangerous." She placed her gem on the table._

" _What is that?"_

" _It is a blessed amulet. It will protect us on our journey," She explained._

" _Journey? How dare you?" An alien with light grey skin, purple hair, and two brown non-flowering buds slammed his hands on the desk. He was wearing black clothing with one dark red button on the center. "You want us to simply give in to the enemy? Never!"_

" _Lucas," She said in shock._

" _I won't do it! I have never been a coward and I won't become one for you!"_

" _You will do as I say," She closed her eyes._

" _I have gone along with you this far, Earthia, but I refuse to let those that have fallen before me perish in vain!" Lucas growled, slamming down his fist._

" _If you won't respect my decision, you can stay behind and fight the enemy yourself!" She yelled at him._

" _Very well!"_

 _The remaining aliens were gathered around a ship. "Earthia?" Starla asked in concern, "Do you think we will ever return here once the war is over?"_

" _...No one knows what the future will hold for our planets, Starla," She replied after a few seconds. "We will have to wait and see." They watched for a few seconds before Daisy ran up to them._

" _Earthia! Come quickly! Something is happening to the trees outside!"_

 _Her eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean?"_

 _The trees started to die. "Lucas!"_

 _He turned around to see his wife. "Yes, Earthia?" He smugly asked while she was panting._

" _You must help, there is something happening! It's awful. Everything outside is suddenly dying." She gasped in shock to see a large machine. "What is that...?"_

" _It is the planet egg. The entire energy supply of our planet in crystalized form. In its powers, I have discovered a way for the transformation to last, a way for us to fight our enemy forever..."_

" _Have you gone mad?!" She questioned in disbelief. This was not her husband anymore._

" _Just the opposite. With such a thing as this, we will be more than mere beasts," He walked up to a pod where a person is inside. "We will rise up and we will claim our victory! Finally, Earthia, this is what we've been waiting for!"_

 _She blinked back tears. She had wanted to settle this peacefully...not turn into people that others would fear. "But Lucas...our people have always honored the natural world." The tears fell from her eyes. "How could you do it?" She cried into her hands and he noticed her state._

" _Earthia?" He had expected her to be happy about this...not crying. He tried to touch her, but she pushed him away._

" _You...you have betrayed your own people! You have destroyed everything that was ours faster than any enemy!"_

" _You were the one who wanted to leave here," He stated at her horror-stricken face. "I haven't betrayed anyone!" He shook her slightly. "You have!"_

" _You're wrong!" She squeezed her eyes shut._

" _We will crystallize the power of every planet in the known galaxy. We will have the strength of a thousand armies!" He insisted to her._

" _You are mad!" She struggled out of his grip. "Let go!" She trembled as she looked up at him._

" _We will lay waste to the enemy, and with our newfound power, we will create a new order!" He declared to her._

" _No..." She murmured softly, "Please...stop..."_

 _He gritted his teeth._

 _Soon, the males of the colony had transformed into their forms, attacking everything in sight while planes were flying. Smoke came from the destroyed buildings._

" _Earthia, I'm afraid hundreds of beasts are still resisting!" Starla called out to her. All of the females were inside the ship._

" _We have no choice but to destroy them."_

 _Her people turned around to her in surprise. Galaxina slowly got onto her feet. "They will bring darkness upon the galaxy if we do not stop them..." She took the gem off of her chest. "May we be granted divine protection as we travel to a more peaceful world."_

" _But...Father is out there..." Galaxina murmured to her and Earthia closed her eyes. She didn't want to involve her daughters at any point in time. Cosmo and Galaxina were just as important to her as her planet, but...how could she tell her of how Lucas was acting? What could she say?_

" _...We leave."_

 _The ship left the planet as several explosions happened. Lucas was laying in a hole. "We are not yet finished...our transformation is not complete! The final stages are upon us!" Rocks landed on him. "Soon we shall rule through space and time!"_

 _Something glowed and his body changed..._

 _Into Dark Oak._

" _You try to destroy us, Earthia, but we are indestructible! We will live on and all our enemies shall bow before us. We will have our revenge!" Four other citizens were transformed into Red Pine, Yellow Zelkova, Black Narcissus, and Pale Bayleaf._

 _A black and red large ship appeared in the sky, causing them to look up. The ship descended down and they stared as the door slowly opened. Valtor stepped out, looking up at them with a wicked grin._

" _I had heard of Planet Greengate being attacked..." He stepped forward, looking at all of the damage. "But I had never imagined anything this...thrilling." The man looked at the five and they stood there, noting how observant he was. There was something about him..._

 _He came to a stop. His sister had been here before, he could tell. He remembered the Seedrians being so weak and pathetic...but now these men had potential. Potential he could use for his own gain._

" _You may not know me, but you knew my sister," Valtor gestured to himself, speaking up to the five. "I am Prince Valtor of Planet Xenia, brother to Princess Valentina. She has just been named as the Crown Princess of our world...that title should be mine! And I think you...Metarex can help me exact revenge."_

" _We have heard of your great power," Dark Oak and the others bow. "We will stand by your side, your highness."_

" _Excellent."_

"Only four of those who remained here survived. In time, Lucas became the Metarex commander known as Dark Oak. He, his fellow revolutionaries, and their appointed leader, Prince Valtor of Xenia, continued to cause chaos throughout the galaxy."

Amy and Rouge have their mouths open in shock over the whole story. "Please...do everything you can. They must be stopped."

"That explains a lot."

They turn around in surprise to see Sonic. "Sonic!" Amy cries out in relief.

"We gotta stop these guys," He frowns at them.

* * *

"Cosmo, you must be awfully hungry by now," Cream is staring at her friend, who had not responded ever since she overheard the boys. "I can make you something to eat, okay? My mother taught me how to make the most delicious sugar cookies!"

"And I'll make you some lemonade," Molly smiles gently.

"Leave me alone..." Cosmo squeezes her eyes shut, trying not to cry.

"Cosmo..." Cream murmurs sadly.

"Please, you three," A tear is in her eye. "Just go...don't you know it's dangerous to be around me?"

"You're wrong!" Cream exclaims immediately. "You're our friend, Cosmo. What they say...it's just not true."

"IT IS!" Cosmo shouts, turning around towards them.

"But how?" The rabbit asks curiously, Molly placing a gentle hand on Cream's shoulder in sympathy.

"I can't be anybody's friend! Not when I'm secretly working for the enemy! Just stay away! I'm no good anyway. Shadow should have finished me off by now and Sophia should stop protecting me!"

"No..." Cream tries to hold her tears. "Please don't say that, Cosmo...we all love you...even if you are a spy like they say."

"Cream is right," Molly whispers softly as Cosmo gasps at them.

"I'm sorry..."

"Get out...just leave me alone," She shakes as she hangs her head.

"Please don't cry," Cream begs her, frowning.

"We can fix this," Molly steps a bit closer. "And you can be with your friends again."

"I said go!" She shouts, hiding herself into her blanket and sobbing. Molly glances to Cream, placing a gentle hand on her back. She ushers Cream and Cheese out of there. Cosmo hears a hum, her eyes widening.

 _I can hear them...I can hear them inside my head..._

* * *

Sophia comes to a stop in front of the Blue Typhoon, taking a deep breath. She had just finished a run, alone, because she needed time to think about the past events...Shadow was her dearest friend, and now she doesn't know what her opinion was of him now...she certainly didn't see him as an enemy, but not a friend either. She did know that if she saw him again, she'd be ready to make sure Cosmo is safe.

"Sophia."

She stands there as the wind blew some hair away. Shadow was standing right behind her. One of her fists clenches as she remembers what Sonic said. They were going to have to talk about this sometime, but did it have to be right now?

"Please listen to me. Cosmo is a s-"

"I know."

He looks up at her as she didn't turn around, looking out towards the spaceship. "Tails called while I was out...told me everything. First it's you and Rouge who wanted to hurt Cosmo, and now one of my crewmates wants to possibly cripple her, without consulting anyone else. Who's the next person I can't trust? Cream?"

"...You can trust people. That's who you are," He steps closer, stopping right next to her side. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I thought-"

"You thought I wouldn't have to worry," She interrupts again, crossing her arms with a small sigh. "That's Rouge, not you. I would've expected this from her, not a friend who I spent my real childhood with."

"The Metarex had been getting information through Cosmo the whole time!" He suddenly exclaims, but she's unfazed by the raised voice. "Not to mention your uncle is their leader! If anything had happened to you..."

He pauses and she glances down at him, noticing his hesitation. "...Never mind."

"...Can you do something for me?"

He nods curtly. "The next time you decide to do something like that...I'd prefer it if you talk to me first."

"I will," He nods again. She starts walking towards the ship, turning around to face him.

"I forgive you and Rouge...but next time, let's trust each other."

She walks through the door and he stares after her. Sophia could've ended ties with him, attacked him right then and there...but she didn't. He couldn't believe that she still thought of him as a good person after all of that...

* * *

Sonic and Sophia walk into the main room. "Hey there, Chris. You still up here working?" The hedgehog greets as they come to a stop in front of the boy.

"Finally making some headway," He wipes the sweat off his forehead. "This stuff is pretty complex."

"Well, if anyone can figure it out, it's you, buddy. Hmm," He suddenly frowns.

"Man, there sure is a lot of data inside of this thing," Chris holds up the memory chip.

"Anything interesting?" Sonic stares at it as Sophia tilts her head in confusion.

"Plenty. In fact, I'm still downloading it all. There's a lot I haven't figured out, but what I have is pretty amazing. Like this stuff here. Remember the data Tails, Sophia, and Cosmo collected from that underground Metarex factory? Well, I was able to cross-reference it and here's what I found. It's some kind of plan to wipe out flesh-and-blood creatures of all kinds until the whole galaxy is populated only by trees and plant life. Plant life! There it is! There's the whole Cosmo connection! Why didn't we see it back then, guys? How else could she have figured out that Metarex language? Maybe we could've done something. Maybe it would've been different-"

"No. It wouldn't have," Sophia murmurs quietly. Tails is in his room, looking at the photo of when Cosmo threw a surprise party for their friends.

"Dwelling on the past isn't gonna make it any easier, pal," Sonic adds in.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I just don't wanna see anybody get hurt, that's all."

Cosmo throws water into her face, looking up at the mirror. The water streams down her face like tears. "Tails was so upset before. Poor guy's heart is breaking...not to mention Cosmo. Can't be easy for her."

"We'll get through it, pal," Sonic smiles a little, causing Chris to look up in confusion. "We've been through worse before. And we made it through okay, right?"

Chris nods in agreement as he can't help but smile too. They look out to the sky. "It's gonna be okay...one day, all of this will be over, I promise."

* * *

Cosmo runs towards the X Tornado, gripping the railing of the staircase. By doing this, she was protecting all of her friends.

"Where are you going?"

She gasps, turning to see Tails hiding behind one of the planes. He steps out of the shadows. "Please, Tails...I'm leaving, you can't stop me."

"I don't understand where you'll go," He stares at the plant girl, not really wanting her to leave.

"To fight Dark Oak! Though I'm not sure what good it'll do..." Even if she had a minimal chance...this was her fight, not theirs. They didn't need to risk their lives anymore now that they knew the truth about her.

"You can't go alone, Cosmo."

"Yes I can!" She insists to the two-tailed fox. "You'll be much safer when I'm not around. I can't stay here! Don't you understand?! They're using my eyes to spy on you!" Tears appear on her eyes. "They're listening through my ears! They're using me to betray you..."

"It's not your fault, Cosmo," Tails walks up to her, smiling a little.

"I feel so lost...I just don't know what to do."

"It's okay," He continues walking.

"I feel like I don't even know who I am anymore..." She's not even listening as she's looking towards the ground.

"You're my friend, that's who—er, my...special friend."

"I've done nothing but bring you trouble..." She looks up at him sadly. "So how can you still call me your special friend, Tails?"

"Cause those Metarex can use your eyes and ears all they want," He smiles at her, "But they can never have your heart." He takes a hold of her hands and the lights suddenly turn on.

"You're not leaving without us, are you?" Amy was the one who turned them on, smirking at the two. They turn around to see all their friends standing there.

"If you're gonna fight Dark Oak, we're gonna fight with you!" Cream exclaims happily. Cheese and Rose agree.

"Me too. Those meta dopes might need a knuckle sandwich," Knuckles smirks a little.

"Knuckle sandwich. Gee, that was real clever," Rouge deadpans at him.

"Who asked you?!" Knuckles exclaims into her face.

"Knock it off," Sophia pushes them away slightly, smiling up at the two. "We're with you all the way."

"Yes," Molly grins at them. "You did save my life and took me in as one of you. I think it's only fair that I help too."

"And us," Elliot smiles, placing an arm around Valentina, who nods curtly.

"Really...?" Cosmo murmurs in surprise. She couldn't believe what she was wearing.

"We all talked it over together, and...we wanna help our friend," Sonic gives her a thumbs up.

"See, it's just like I said, Cosmo," Tails smiles gratefully at them. "It doesn't matter what the Metarex do. We all know that you're really our friend. That's what matters."

She slowly turns to him, touched by their dedication. "Thank you, Tails...thank you all..." She sniffles happily and Sophia turns around. Just down the hall is Shadow himself. They stare at each other before he walks off. She looks away, still a little hurt by what Shadow had tried to do...

* * *

"They're all fools!" He walks out into the open.

"You may be right," Turning around, he sees Chris sitting above the entry. "If being a fool means helping a friend when they're in trouble instead of turning your back on them, then that's what we are." Shadow starts to leave. "You don't have to go, Shadow. Why don't you stick around and help us defeat them? They may be using Cosmo, but it's not her fault, and who knows? Maybe we can use their own weapon against them. Come on, what do you say? Will you stay? And help out your friends, Sophia and Molly?"

"...No matter what you say, your friend Cosmo is a Metarex spy, and that's all there is to it!"

"It's not that simple!" Chris calls out when suddenly, there's an explosion nearby. Bokkun sits up to see the hedgehog.

"Shadow! Emergency!"

"Hey, what's he doing here?!" Chris points to him.

"Please help, Shadow..." Bokkun looks like he's about to break down crying. "I'm begging you! The Metarex have taken Eggman prisoner!"

Both Chris and Shadow give a look of shock.

* * *

Decoe grips the bars of their cell. "How dare you treat us like common criminals?!"

"There is nothing common about us!" Bocoe yells at Pale Bayleaf.

"I've placed you under arrest for stealing top-secret information. That is what I saw you doing in front of me, yes?" Valtor places his hands behind his back. Eggman says nothing to help them here.

"We have been watching you for a very long time..." Pale Bayleaf says eerily.

"How dare you have us under surveillance?!" Bocoe demands angrily.

"Yeah! We should arrest you for spying and for stealing the doctor's brilliant technological innovations!"

Valtor just chuckles darkly, looking towards the ground. These idiots, threatening to arrest him. "Do you not know who I am?! I am a prince, a legend! You cannot order me under arrest!" He looks up at them with a crazed power-hungry look. "You have no authority to order anything from me, you lowlifes."

"I'm afraid that will not be possible, my chambered friends. You would be best to just sit tight and enjoy your stay."

He walks away and the robots protest, but the commander doesn't listen and the door closes. "Enjoy your punishment while you can..." Valtor speaks up. "Because it will only get worse for you if you do not cooperate like the prisoners you are."

The robots gasp at the insult, narrowing their eyes. "You're just mad because your sister got to be the ruler of your planet and not you!" Bocoe shouts at him. "How does it feel to be an exiled coward who has nothing to show for it?!"

"Yeah! How many more men have to be terminated before you realize that you'll never win?!"

Valtor's eyes turn white as he grabs Bocoe and Decoe by the neck, lifting him up, to their shock. "I DESERVED that throne! But instead my idiot parents looked over me and decided to give it to someone that doesn't know what she's doing! She is incompetent! All of them!" He drops the robot duo, gritting his teeth. "Don't speak of things you don't know about, you imbecile!"

They look on in fear as he walks away, the evil doctor having stayed silent the entire time.

Black Narcissus and Dark Oak walk up to Valtor. "Master, all preparations have been completed. We are ready to move forward."

Valtor just chuckles. "Master?" Dark Oak asks in confusion, and the leader just keeps on laughing.

"Well, Dark Oak...it seems that your and Earthia's offspring has decided to continue in her mother's footsteps...well, I'm afraid she is just as misguided as you both," He turns around to them and the walls lift up, showing seven Chaos Emeralds. "All of the lights have been gathered. The time has come: the forestation project is about to begin, and this galaxy will be ruled by the one who should have been King of Xenia!"


	75. Agent of Mischief

XD-SpIkeJet11: Seriously Amy? You and Sonic aren't even together.

 **Amy: *growls, fire surrounding her***

 **Angel: RUN!**

Johanvanguard: It's terrible that Cosmo is unintentionally a spy for the Metarex and the heroes stopping that can be harmful for her. Things between the heroes with Rouge and Shadow was really rough. The past of Cosmo's species, Planet Greengate, and the Metarex was interesting. Good to see everything with the heroes with Shadow and Rouge was settled, and the heroes convinced Cosmo to stay with them. I guess Eggman's reason for stealing the top-secret info was to stop the final plan of Valtor and the Metarex. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia and Molly will react to the forestation project.

 **Angel: Yeah...she never asked for this...I feel so bad for her D: And that her species is basically now the Metarex...**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia's uncle is crazy.

 **Sophia: That seems to be the right word for it...**

XenoSlayer983: There's actually four episodes left, but still, I'm excited for the big finale!

 **Angel: Um, no, I said I had three more episodes to** _ **write.**_ **This one was already finished last week, but now I have two episodes left to write, because the next one is also finished as of yesterday. Well, I've only done five minutes of A Fearless Friend, but it still counts. Which means this story will most likely be done by next week!**

Bajy: Excellent job on this chapter, I am looking forward to reading more soon! Sorry this message is short I'm in a hurry today.

 **Angel: Ha! I had four exams this week, and I did 'em all within three days!**

Challishanlon99: Please be careful everyone and I will miss all of you guys when story is over I'm going to miss talking to all of you

 **Everyone: We will! Count on it!**

Kd: I like the part when Sonic was cheering Sophia up. Even if they are different to each other, it does feel like they're siblings and I love it! Plus, I wonder in next on if Valtor and Metarex kidnap Sophia during battle and Shadow and Sonic try to save her, but it was too late?

 **Angel: I don't think so...she's technically already been kidnapped by Shadow once when they first 'met' back in episode 34, I think? Besides, Sophia's too smart to let herself get kidnapped by her own uncle.**

XD-SpIkeJet11: Hey Sophia, Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles, what is your favorite Big Cat?

 **Sophia: Well...clouded leopards are pretty...yeah, I'll go with those.**

 **Sonic: Cheetahs. They're fast, but not as fast as Sophia and I are.**

 **Amy: I pick jaguars. Those are pretty cool.**

 **Tails: Maybe a lion. They remind me of Simba from the Lion King.**

 **Knuckles: Tigers. They're the largest.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, our heroes made a crash landing on a peculiar planet, where they learned a shocking secret: not only was it Cosmo's homeworld, it was the birthplace of the Metarex! Devastated by this discovery, Cosmo was about to flee when Bokkun suddenly broke in with an emergency message from Dr. Eggman. It appeared the Metarex were meaning to carry out their final mission: which would end in a cosmic catastrophe! Now with time running out, Sonic, Sophia, and friends must rush to rescue the galaxy._

 _Will they finally finish off the Metarex, or are they destined to go down in defeat? Will Sophia finally fulfill her planet's prophecy? Find out next on Sophia X!_

Dr. Eggman is grinning from a TV as Bokkun is showing them a message. "I've secretly been working to infiltrate the Metarex and find out what they're up to. But it looks like they finally figured out I've been deceiving them."

"Dr. Eggman!" Bocoe runs up to him. "A huge Metarex battleship is closing in fast!"

"Its laser cannons are pointed right at us!" Decoe exclaims in a panic.

"Your panicking is pointless," Eggman scolds them, "Defeat is inevitable, so let's face it with dignity. The Metarex are on the move, heading towards galactic coordinates zero zero zero. One of their legends talks about a time when the thousand-year wait ends and night and day become one. I'm not sure what it means, but my guess is that something extraordinary happens in that region of space once every thousand years. And it's about to happen again."

Decoe and Bocoe are running around in a frenzy, but Dr. Eggman seems to ignore them. "The Metarex are sending every ship in their fleet to rendezvous there. You'd have to be out of your minds to try and intercept them, so I assume that's what you're going to do." He ends his speech with a laugh and the video stops there.

Bokkun looks up at them in worry. "I got away just as they began attacking," He explains, the gang staring at him skeptically.

"He's one of Eggman's allies, isn't he?" Molly whispers to Sophia, who nods at her.

"Yes. Bokkun's been known to trick us as those TVs are usually explosives, but if he's lying again, I don't see what he has to gain from this...he's already helped his Metarex buddies ambush us," She crosses her arms, trying to think of a plausible reason for this message. What could Eggman possibly plan by lying about this? The Metarex weren't exactly trustworthy towards anyone, and that was saying a lot given how her uncle is the leader and they don't even care that two of their commanders are gone...not that she did.

"I hope you don't mind my asking, but why are those numbers on your TV counting down?" Cosmo points to the timer that has ten seconds left.

"I forgot these messages self-destruct at the end..." He sweats sheepishly, causing them to recoil back. "Cover your ears, it's gonna be a big bang!"

The TV explodes, emitting smoke from the top of the space ship. He laughs nervously. "Bet you didn't know watching TV could be so exciting..."

"That was _not_ fun!" Cream exclaims at him.

"I'll never tune into _that_ channel again..." Amy murmurs as Molly lets out a small cough.

"Does this happen often?"

"Yes!" Everyone else shouts in annoyance towards Bokkun.

"Sorry..." He sweatdrops at their looks.

* * *

The Metarex fleet are preparing their plans. "The end is at hand," Valtor announces from his throne, grinning evilly. The room shakes and the walls crumble away, revealing a giant tree behind him. "The forestation of the galaxy is about to begin! Soon, the Metarex will be all powerful. I will be all powerful!" He laughs at his incoming title that was meant for him.

* * *

The gang are standing in an empty room that Tails led them to. "You can't operate the ship from _here_ ," Knuckles tells the two-tailed fox. "There's no controls."

Tails turns to him with a smile. "There are controls here. They're just hidden away." He presses a button and the floor opens up to reveal a captain's chair. More seats and controls appear, shocking everyone. Screens appear from the ceiling.

"I built this secret bridge whenever the original one got wrecked," He explains to them.

"But can this beaten up barge fly?" Rouge glances around the room. Chris sits in a chair.

"The ship's engines were damaged pretty bad, but we still have enough power." He pushes a red button and everything powers up.

"Hit it into launch mode, Chris!" Tails declares and the ship lifts from the ground. Sophia stares outside. Shadow had left, and she was concerned about him...but she knew that he'll come to his senses and come back to help her...because he'd never leave a friend in need no matter what.

The Blue Typhoon takes off into the sky, with the aforementioned hedgehog staring after them. He thought about what Chris said, and Sophia's words when they spoke earlier.

 _I forgive you and Rouge...but next time, let's trust each other._

"Hmm." Even after he attacked her 'friend,' she still didn't show any hatred towards him...he turns around and starts to leave.

"Hold it, hedgehog!"

He turns around at the voice.

* * *

The Blue Typhoon is now in space, where flickering specks are in front of them. "There's a big fleet of Metarex ships ahead! Their coordinates are zero, zero, zero," Cream reports and Sonic smirks knowingly.

"That's just where Eggman said they'd be."

"So he really did help us again..." Sophia murmurs quietly. If even Eggman could help them out...maybe Shadow could too, and forget about eliminating Cosmo. They continue on, meeting with the fleet.

"Increase engine speed to full power! Set the course for Valtor's command ship!" Tails exclaims to Chris.

"Roger!"

Sophia keeps a determined look towards outside. Valentina puts a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ready to fulfill the prophecy?"

She takes a deep breath. This was it; the final battle between them and the Metarex...including her family. But that man was no family of hers. No family member would ever kill off their planet and side with the enemy.

"As long as my friends are," She comes around and faces everyone, looking at all of them in the eye. "Are you guys ready?"

"We're ready!" They all exclaim in unison, narrowing their eyes.

"Begin the attack!" Valtor orders Black Narcissus.

"We will wipe them out!" He agrees and Pale Bayleaf appears.

"No survivors."

Then the screen changes to Dark Oak. "I will make sure the girl is kept alive, as per your orders."

Valtor nods at them in approval. The fleet is sent out, along with the Metarex commanders. "Two Metarex are heading right at us!" Chris exclaims and Sophia clenches a fist.

"Black Narcissus, Pale Bayleaf, and Dark Oak himself...how unpleasant it is for them to grace us with their presence."

"We have to stop 'em before they attack," Sonic tells everyone.

"Get to your ships and launch a counter-strike!" Tails orders the crew.

"Roger!"

The X Tornado has Chris and Sonic, Amy and Cream fly separately and Molly has Sophia on her plane's wing. The X Tornado flies out first, followed by Cream, Amy, and Molly. Sonic gives a thumbs up, ready for anything.

"It's time to go lick those Metarex!"

The three commanders see the ships, Sonic and Sophia jumping into the air. "Guys, catch!" Chris launches two rings and the duo catch them in their hands.

"Thanks, Chris!"

"Let's do this, Sonic!"

They spin into a ball, heading towards the commanders. Pale Bayleaf throws two swords, but Sonic deflects one while Sophia gets out of her spin dash, throwing three Chaos Spears, destroying the other. She goes back into her spin dash, but when they reach Pale Bayleaf, he knocks them away like it was nothing. He makes another sword appear.

"Their attack didn't work!" Bokkun exclaims from the X Tornado. He was surprised; usually their spin dashes would destroy Eggman's robots in no time at all.

"Fire lasers!" Tails prepares the weapons and two yellow lasers fire at the commanders. Black Narcissus deflects them with his axe, destroying the weapons without any trouble at all! Elliot, Valentina, Cosmo, Rouge, and Knuckles gasp in shock. "Rouge, Knuckles, get to the flight deck to stop that Metarex!"

The echidna and bat take off. Black Narcissus lands on the flight deck. "My looks are even more striking than my attacks!" He looks at himself through his weapon.

"Let's charge 'em together," Knuckles declares to Rouge.

"Ready when you are," She agrees, flying down the hall.

"Aren't you even gonna put up a fight?!"

He moves the hammer to see them standing there. "If you insist. But you weaklings can't possibly harm me."

"You won't think of yourself so high after I knock you down!" Rouge grits her teeth in irritation at his arrogance. She jumps into the air and does her screw kick. When she finishes spinning, she breaks the mirror from his weapon.

"You broke my mirror!"

Rouge turns to him with a smirk. "Be grateful you don't have to look at yourself anymore."

"This is no joke! Soon you'll be howling," He knocks her into the sky. "In pain!"

"Now you're making me angry!" Knuckles shouts at him, pulling out his shovel claws. "Shovel Claw!" He charges straight at the commander, who dodges every attack with his weapon.

Sonic and Sophia spin around, attacking the two commanders with all their might. Dark Oak and Pale Bayleaf hit them, and they go flying.

"Sonic! Sophia!" Molly and Chris call out. They spin out of control until Sophia stops them, holding her head as she's getting dizzy. Chris and Molly fly by, and they land on the ships.

"This is for hurting Sonic and my friend!" Amy exclaims, firing a few torpedoes. She hits both of the commanders, but the weapons have no effect on either of them. Valtor just watches from his ship in interest.

Cosmo has a hand clenched at her heart. "I wish I knew what Valtor's next move was...even Sophia can't tell and she's related to him..."

"Her uncle is pretty unpredictable," Tails murmurs in agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile, Vector's ship flies through a vortex. "We're coming out of warp space now!"

However, they come upon the whole fight between their friends and the Metarex. Vector glances behind him. "If you need a ride back, we got a round trip special today!"

Charmy flies above him eagerly. "It's a 45 percent discount off our standard fare."

"Hmm," Shadow smirks in interest, but nevertheless, stays silent.

"He's a tough sell," Charmy glances at him.

"Luckily for you, there's no charge for first-time customers," Vector leans in towards Espio. "That's the last time I ever give a lift to a hitch-hiking hedgehog."

"I'm sick of taking jobs where we _lose_ money," Espio grumbles to him, "But he is a friend to Princess Sophia, and we do owe her our lives."

"Our business is going bust!" Charmy exclaims dramatically, Shadow turning to Espio.

"I ain't interested in your opinion since I'm the boss around here!" Vector retorts to him.

"You know Princess Sophia?" Shadow finally speaks up, to their surprise. They didn't think that he'd be associating with him, but it seems like just mentioning the alie—well, human's name changed that.

"Well sure we do. We're very loyal to her people," Espio glances at him. "She's mentioned you."

"Isn't he the same Shadow that she said grew up with her?" Vector whispers to his team member, who nods slowly. "So, where do you want to get dropped off, buddy?"

Shadow grabs the driving stick, to his protest. "Hey!"

"You better buckle up, we could be in for a rough landing," He sneaks the ship inside Valtor's mothership.

They stare at the damages, which thankfully aren't too severe. "At least we made it in one piece, but now we gotta build ourselves a new detective office..."

Shadow doesn't seem to care as he walks off. "Yo, pal. Wait! A thank you wouldn't cost you nothing!" Vector calls out to him.

"You should at least tell us why you crash landed us on this ship," Espio offers and the hedgehog turns around.

"I have to find Sophia's uncle and have a showdown." He wouldn't admit this, but he wanted to do this for Sophia, so she wouldn't have to go through the pain of eliminating him herself. Even if she was ready, something inside him got the sense that she was actually scared to face him...he deserved to pay for what he did to her and her planet. If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't even have attempted to harm Cosmo, which in turn caused Sophia to turn against him briefly. He couldn't have her be upset towards him for doing the wrong thing.

He takes off, making a hole in a wall. "...Well...as long as we're here, we might as well battle the Metarex too!" Vector walks off to take another path.

"Alright, this will be fun!" Charmy flies after him.

"That depends on how you define fun," Espio replies as he walks after the duo.

Shadow walks past fire, the three prisoners feeling the shaking.

"I wish there was some way to abandon ship," Decoe comments forlornly.

"Yeah..."

"You know, that isn't such a bad idea," Eggman presses one of the yellow accessories on his suit, causing Bokkun's eyes to turn into a homing signal.

"Wait...Dr. Eggman is sending out a rescue signal!"

"Sonic, Sophia, Molly and I are gonna fly into the command ship and set Dr. Eggman free," Chris tells the duo.

"Okay!" Sonic says in agreement, Sophia saluting to him.

"Be careful you guys." She would've said not to go, but even she could admit that she's seen and experienced enough people losing their lives...though Dr. Eggman is annoying at times, she can't see herself letting him perish on that ship. This fight was between them and the Metarex, not Eggman.

"Amy, continue the attack with Sophia and Sonic!" The two jump off the X Tornado, landing on Amy's ship.

"Roger! Sonic and I will conquer those Metarex using the invincible power of our love!"

Sonic sweats in embarrassment as Sophia stifles a laugh. The X Tornado flies over to the mothership just as Shadow is attacked by Metarex.

"Chaos Spear!" He defeats them easily and grits his teeth. "Where is Valtor?!"

Espio looks around the room, with more robots surrounding him. Espio turns invisible and the two groups knock into each other, causing them to destroy themselves.

"Now that was a smash," He smiles lightly at his joke. There's another explosion, Chris and Molly turning around to the imprisoned trio.

"It's all clear."

"Great," Eggman grips the bars. "With those Metarex gone, we can break free!"

"You better stand back," Chris gives an amused smile and he turns to the robots.

"We can blow up these bars. Decoe, Bocoe."

"Yes doctor!" Decoe stretches his body while Bocoe stretches his arms. "Finally we get to show our explosive side." He attaches his shoulders to Bocoe's arms.

"Begin merge!" They declare in unison.

"Assume headshot position!"

"Decoe Bocoe brain bazooka, fire!" The top of Decoe's head fires and Chris recoils back from smoke. He looks up in shock to see that the bars have completely disappeared. "That was awesome, but I do have a bit of a headache now."

"We look cute on the outside, but inside, we are mean machines!" Bocoe says proudly.

"It was very brave of you to come here," Eggman stares down at Chris, looking up at Molly.

"Thanks, Doctor," He blinks in surprise at the compliment.

"Yes, thank you," Molly replies slowly. Sometimes she was still a little wary of him since she knew the truth about him. "Can you handle them, Chris? I have a feeling the others need my help."

"Sure I can," He nods at her and he watches her leave.

"You've got a lot of guts for a little kid." Bocoe and Decoe just stare at him in confusion. "Now, let's hack into their system."

"Destruct call verified. Detonating corridor D."

The door suddenly bursts open, with Metarex flying everywhere thanks to Eggman's hacking. The four run down the hallway, Chris looking up at Eggman quizzically.

"I altered the ship's energy output. The ship's main power circuits are overloading now," He explains to the trio.

"Brilliant idea, doctor!" The robots chime in unison. The halls start to be filled with smoke as multiple explosions occur. Bayleaf, Narcissus, and Oak look towards the mothership as Cream flies in.

"Surprise!" She fires her torpedoes.

"Miss us?" Molly teases from her ship, firing torpedoes of her own, the three gasping at her in shock.

"The girl lives?!" They exclaim before getting hit.

"A bullseye!" Cream smiles as Molly gives her a thumbs up.

"Good job, Cream."

"Thanks! You too, Molly!"

"How dare you try to damage my perfect face?!" Black Narcissus demands them, dirt on him from the attack. He flies towards the two ships.

"Quick, give me your hand," Knuckles holds out his hand to Rouge.

"Hmm? What an odd time to suddenly be romantic," She replies and he grabs her hand.

"Hold tight!" He spins around while holding onto Rouge. "Spin throw!" He throws her into the air and she spins around, kicking all three commanders away from Molly and Cream.

"Thank you, Rouge," Molly waves to her.

"All in a day's work, Molly," Rouge smirks a little as she returns the wave.

* * *

Shadow looks at one of the defeated Metarex robots in the eye. "Tell me where Valtor is. Huh?" He gets no answer as an army of Metarex are standing across from him. "Nevermind." He throws away the robot behind him and it explodes.

"Shadow is heading for the bridge!" Two robots report to Valtor.

"Hmm...as in Sophia's friend Shadow? Or should I say enemy now? Well, no matter. Dismantle the gull and outer structure of the ship. This should be interesting..." He had hacked into databases to find out more about Shadow, and one day, he had stumbled upon information about Project Shadow. He could only revel in Sophia showing anger for once outside of their battle...oh, he wished he could've been there to see her at her lowest point.

The ship starts breaking apart from the outside as pieces fall off. "The ship is falling apart!" Bocoe exclaims as they're floating around due to the shaking.

"He's wrecking his own ship? Just to get rid of us?" Eggman asks in surprise, though he should've known. He saw Valtor grab his minions; nothing to him is a joke. They fall through the floor, with Chris landing on Espio.

"You okay?" Eggman then lands on him.

Shadow uses his Chaos Spears against the army, defeating all of them with ease, but the panel he's standing on takes up in the air.

The X Tornado flies around the debris as Chris glances back at the pieces of the ship. He can see a giant tree that Valtor is standing on...the commanders join him, Sonic and Sophia seeing them in the distance.

"You guys went to all this trouble just to build a tree house?" Sonic asks in disbelief.

"And to think you guys have been after us since day one," Sophia places her hands on her hips. Valtor simply holds out his arms as there's a strange glow. The duo glance at each other, a little confused and worried.

"Something's distorting the gravity in this part of space," Tails says and Cosmo gasps. "It's expanding rapidly! What's going on?!"

"A thousand year wait ends! Night and day become one!" Valtor declares as something appears on his left. "And two worlds come together!" The same vortex appears on his right and a light comes from it. Sophia and Sonic gasp as they could only stare. Something comes out from behind a planet and Cosmo recognizes it immediately.

"That's a planet egg..." It's egg-shaped and yellow. "The thousand year wait ends, night and day become one...and two worlds come together..." The planet starts to shine.

"Of course!" Dr. Eggman suddenly exclaims from inside Vector's ship. "Once every thousand years, a spacetime rupture must occur in this part of the galaxy. That light is breaking through from an entirely different universe! We're all doomed!"

"There's a huge amount of energy that's coming from that thing!" Tails reports to Chris. "Our sensors overloaded when I tried to get a reading!"

"This must be what the Metarex and Valtor were waiting for!" He looks outside. "Sonic! Sophia!"

"We better end this before your uncle ruins the galaxy forever," Sonic tells the princess and they spin dash towards Valtor. Shadow watches them not too far away.

"I gotta stop them before forestation starts!" He jumps into the air, falling towards Valtor's direction.

"You fools! We are on the verge of a galactic transformation!" Valtor laughs at them in a crazy way. "No one can stop us!" He holds out his hands, gesturing to the top of the tree. Sitting on branches are the seven Chaos Emeralds. They shine brightly, causing Sophia and Sonic to come to a stop. The light knocks back the princess and the two hedghehogs. Sonic lands on Chris' ship and Shadow grabs Sophia, landing on Amy's ship.

"Planet egg is water," Bayleaf starts off.

"Chaos Emerald is light," Narcissus continues.

"They both give us power," Dark Oak says next.

"This water and light that make all plants grow will now give birth to forestation!" Valtor's voice booms as the planet starts to get taken over by the tree's roots. The planet is covered in plants and Valtor smiles evilly. "I have long awaited this moment. We will now bring perfect order and peace to this galaxy, and to the entire universe. Forestation has finally begun! Long rule VALTOR!"

The planet looks barren and lifeless as the light starts to touch the three commanders and Valtor. Sophia and Sonic could only stare in shock as their armor breaks apart, revealing them as plant beasts, all four of them merged together. Roots grow as Valtor grows large in size, becoming a green dragon. They stare as they take out their own ships, the Crimson Egg flying away. The hedgehog has to cover himself from the bright lights coming from the planet. Several lights glow on various other planets, going towards the sky as the four stand there. The seven lights of the Chaos Emeralds glow on Valtor's forehead.

Shadow looks up as Cosmo is gasping in fear. "What are they?!"

"They are in the last of the Metarex forestation," Eggman appears on his screen. "The galaxy will be taken over by plants and all animal lifeforms will be wiped out."

"Including all of us..." Valentina whispers in horror at what her brother's turned into...she never thought she'd see him so full of hate and power...

"We have to attack!" Cosmo declares, clenching her fists.

"All ships launch missiles now!" Tails orders, all four ships firing their weapons, but it does nothing to stop them. Vector's ship flies around, both hedgehogs and the princess jumping towards the group. Vines shoot up from the planet, Amy, Chris, and Molly flying out of the way. Sonic spin dashes, Shadow throws his Chaos Spears, and Sophia uses her laser eyes. More projectiles are fired from the Blue Typhoon, but the four beasts persist, Sonic landing on Dark Oak. He's eventually pushed towards the space ship.

"Let go, Sonic!" Amy cries out, but he crashes into the ship anyway. Dark Oak opens his mouth, firing a laser blast at him. Valentina and Elliot push Cosmo and Tails onto the ground, protecting them as they could feel the blasts. Doors close to block in Dark Oak, who fires again.

Knuckles and Rouge are ducking for cover outside. "They're after the Master Emerald!" He realizes, Rouge gasping. Dark Oak fires at the engine, setting it on fire. Luckily, a door closes in front of the Master Emerald.

"We won't let you take it!" Sonic jumps onto Dark Oak and there's another explosion. Chris flies by and gasps in worry for his friend. Fire and light are everywhere around the back of the ship, the others with their mouths wide open.

"Tails, Cosmo!" Chris calls out and Sophia's eyes widen.

"Mom, Dad!" She flies back towards the ship, but an explosion happens right in front of her and Amy, disorienting her ship.

"Hang on, Amy!" Sonic spin dashes towards her as her ship explodes. Sonic catches her and lands on a branch, both of them panting.

"It looks like we're losing..." She murmurs with no hope in her voice. Sonic is still panting, holding onto her. Sophia is falling as she looks up at the Blue Typhoon, her tears falling from her eyes.

"Mom...Dad..." She hopes with all of her might that they're okay. Suddenly someone grabs her and jumps, landing on another part of the branch. She's panting as her hands touch the hard surface, her head down.

"Sophia, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Shadow...but my parents..." She looks back up.

"They'll be okay," He places a hand on her back.

"You pitiful animals! Now you see at first hand who is the ruler of the galaxy!" Valtor's voice booms, "But you still have one last chance to save yourselves from certain destruction! Come to your senses, Sonic and my blood! Join us and we will bring order and havoc to the galaxy!"

"Sonic!" Amy looks up at him, baffled that he would even ask such a thing.

"I'll never join with you!" Sonic yells at him.

"I would rather DIE than to be allies with you!" Sophia screams as she stands up, clenching her sword at her back. "You destroyed my planet, my allies, and my mother's dignity! And you wouldn't hesitate to destroy me when you have the chance!"

Valtor growls and Amy hugs the hedgehog. "Don't fight them, Sonic! They're so powerful now, you'll be destroyed for us!"

"Amy is right," Shadow stands in front of Sophia. "I lost you once at Space Colony Ark. I can't let that happen!"

"Sorry, I can't let them take over the galaxy without a fight," Sonic stands up.

"I'm sorry, Shadow," Sophia gently pushes him aside. "But this is the destiny that I have to fulfill for Xenia. I won't sit by and let them terrorize other planets anymore."

"If you wanna rule, you'll have to get rid of us first!" She and Sonic declare in unison.

"So be it, Sonic and Princess Sophia. If you wish to be eliminated, we will be happy to help you. Farewell, hedgehog and royal pain in my side!" Water shoots up from the branch, the two glancing around in shock. He was planning to have Sophia by his side as his protégé, but since she refuses, he'll have plenty of fun getting rid of her instead. Just another part of revenge towards his sister.

"Just don't hurt Amy or Shadow!" Sonic yells, both he and Sophia pushing the two out of the way, getting caught in the water.

"Sophia, no!" Shadow holds out a hand.

"It's okay, Shadow," Sophia whispers, closing her eyes. "You sacrificed yourself to save me and the world...and now I have to repay that. Goodbye..."

They get swallowed up into Valtor. "SONIC!"

"SOPHIA!"

The others look in horror as the two slide down his throat. "Sonic, Sophia, no!"

They fall through the water. "You have lost, Sonic and Princess Sophia. Water is his weakness and our strength. We will now spread across the galaxy and there will be no one to stop me!"


	76. The Light in the Darkness

**Angel: As of now, I am writing the final episode! So, I thought it would be good to post this episode early! I'll probably be done by...Thursday? I just got a new job, so I don't know what my free time is going to be like from now on.**

XD-SpIkeJet11: RIGHT BEHIND YA ANGEL! *runs with you*

 **Sophia: Amy is slowly starting to calm down...hopefully she won't hit anyone ^^'**

Crazycartoons5488: I hope Sophia's parents are ok.

 **Angel: They'll be fine. This is nothing to them.**

Bajy: Excellent job on this chapter, very intense, I am looking forward to reading the next chapter! I really really hope that Cosmo does not get killed this time around. I hope that Cosmo can live so that she can live a more peaceful life, and that her kind can be born once again and be with Tails.

 **Angel: Even though I already wrote what happens, I still can't tell you XD**

Bajy: I hope Shadow does not die either.

 **Angel: Wasn't he shown to be alive in the Japanese version of the last episode?**

Panda39: Man, Valtor and the Metarex are heartless monsters.

 **Angel: They have no soul T^T**

Kd: Sophia, when you were little, have Sonic and his friends ever made you laugh by making silly faces, tickling you and all that whenever they see you feeling sad or left out?

 **Sophia: Well, Sonic helped me feel better when we first met...but at the time, I was advanced in years of age, I must've been at least...maybe 1,000 years old at the time? I don't remember. But either way, I was already mature enough to keep my emotions in check as a child.**

Johanvanguard: Things are getting intense with Valtor and the Metarex putting the final phase of the forestation project into action. I'm glad the heroes, Shadow, Eggman, the Chaotix, and the others joined together to stop the enemy. Too bad Valtor and the Metarex have achieved their powerful forms and seemed to have defeated Sonic and Sophia. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will help stop Valtor and the Metarex.

 **Angel: Yeah...that final battle was crazy! I'm not surprised Eggman teamed up with them, since he thinks that the Metarex are heartless as well...and please! The day that Sonic or Sophia get defeated by them is the day that they kill off Eggman (it's just an exaggeration, though).**

 _Last time on Sophia X, Eggman contacted Sonic, Sophia, and the gang with the news of the Metarex and Valtor were on the move toward galactic coordinates 000 where something majorly mysterious was about to happen. The team launched a counterattack but the mighty Metarex prove themselves indestructible! In the meantime, Shadow and the Chaotix crew crashed the Metarex mothership in the hopes of destroying Valtor and his creepy cohorts. While Chris went on a mission to free Eggman. But little did our friends know of the extraordinary occurrence that was about to take place: a catastrophic collision of space and time not seen for a thousand years!_

 _It was time for the final transformation: a strange and momentous event that would alter the galaxy forever! Will Sonic and Sophia save the day, or get lost in a watery wasteland never to return? Stay tuned!_

Rouge catches Amy and Shadow, but the pink hedgehog is struggling. "No! I have to go after him!"

"No way," Rouge denies, seeing Amy's frown.

"But he and Sophia could be hurt!" She protests while Shadow stays silent, staring at where Sophia disappeared.

"Acting crazy isn't gonna help any. Try to stay calm, Amy," Rouge lands on Cream's ship, placing the pink hedgehog down gently.

"But you don't understand! Sonic needs me!" Amy pleads with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Amy," Cream looks at her, about to cry too. "What if Sonic and Sophia really are hurt this time? We have to get them out of there somehow."

"Oh, Sonic...Sophia..." Amy stares to where they were eaten.

"Shadow?" Rouge turns to the black hedgehog, who's shaking.

Molly comes up on her ship and Shadow jumps on. "Are you okay, Shadow?" She notices that he's more silent than usual.

"Why did she have to be so idiotic?" Shadow's voice wavers, meaning he didn't mean the insult. "Why did she have to do that? Why did she..."

Molly's eyes turn soft as she tries to hold in her tears. "Sophia wants what any princess wants...to protect her people. I guess...she saw that in you..."

That didn't make it okay for him, though...nothing would.

Tails and Cosmo listen to the two adults crying silently, as they had seen everything. Chris and Knuckles arrive, stepping into the room. The two-tailed fox glances at the two before turning his attention to the others.

"This doesn't look good, guys..."

"Yeah..." Chris murmurs quietly, "I just don't know what to do, Tails."

"Don't worry, they're going to be okay," Cosmo speaks up, everyone turning to her in confusion. "This amulet is a very special one," She gestures to the red gem over her chest. "It belonged to my mother long ago...sometimes it shows me things others cannot see. They'll be alright."

The five smile at her, feeling reassured already. "Really?" Tails asks her.

"Well, sure. Those guys can survive anything!" Knuckles adds in.

"And if Sonic and Sophia survived, then we can too, isn't that right, Cosmo?"

She says nothing and the ship suddenly shakes. "Eggman here. Do you read me? You won't believe what's just happened!" Apparently, his ship hit the Blue Typhoon, which is what caused the tremor. "It appears my Egg Cruiser has rather confided with your Blue Typhoon!"

A green light is shining from the planet, the four beasts attacking the spaceship. It moves out of the way as the girls wobble around.

"That was close," Rouge looks outside.

"You kids okay?"

They turn around to see the Chaotix walk up to them. "Looks like Eggman's up to something," Espio tells them.

"A cowardly trick. Old Egghead landed his ship on yours so we wouldn't have to fight alone!" Vector explains to him.

"We don't want that Egghead on our ship!" Amy shouts at them.

"What else would you suggest?" They look up at Eggman's voice over the speaker. "That crazy colossus is grading up the whole galaxy! I should think you'd be happy to team up against those botanical beasties!"

Shadow is standing on top of the Blue Typhoon, glaring at the four. "If this forestation farce continues, my genius will no longer flourish!"

"What a terrible loss for evil science," Decoe looks outside in dismay.

"How can they be so selfish?" Bocoe asks in disdain.

"Come on, everybody, let's grab some really big weapons and show 'em whose boss!"

Eggman fires his missiles from his ship, but it does nothing, to everyone's shock.

 _Cosmo...do not fear. I am always with you. Through this amulet, I am watching and guiding you to your destiny. Our planet may have been destroyed long ago, but through you, my daughter, the spirit of our people will live on. Look for the light at the end of the darkness. It is there, in your heart..._

Her gem glows for a few seconds. "What are we all standing around for? Shouldn't we be out there fighting?!" Knuckles asks once everyone is in the room.

"That thing's a hundred feet tall. What do you suggest, champ?" Rouge asks him sarcastically.

"Well, we have to do something!" Amy chimes in.

"There's gotta be some way we can break them, something we can't thought of..." Chris murmurs, though he had no idea what that would be.

"You got your secret weapon right here!" Charmy calls out. "Sure I may be small, but I'm a-"

Espio covers his mouth. "Put a cork in it, Charmy."

"Finding a weak spot in that gargantuan green meanie out there isn't going to be easy," Eggman explains to the group. "With the combined power of the Chaos Emeralds, not to mention the Planet Egg, that four-headed dino boy's a mighty powerful monster."

Knuckles sweats a little. "What about the Master Emerald?"

"Hey, why didn't we think of that before?" Amy smiles a bit, everyone else seeming to agree.

"If we charge up the Master Emerald enough, we might be able to cause some kind of chaos reaction!"

"Well, it's worth a try," Chris agrees with Knuckles.

"This just might be the idea we're looking for!" Tails grabs Knuckles' hands. "I gotta hand it to you, Knuckles. Let's get to work on this right away!"

"Thank you, Knuckles," Cream smiles gratefully at him and he smiles at the praise.

"Aww, it was no big deal."

"Not so fast, my little space-keeters!" Eggman suddenly interrupts. "What if Knuckles' brilliant idea lays an egg? Pardon the pun."

"That's more or less your plans than his," Molly frowns towards the screen.

"I take offense to that! My plans don't always fail!" Eggman exclaims in defense and they all stare at him with a 'really' look. "...Okay, that's fair."

"What do you mean?" Knuckles frowns towards the doctor.

"We are going up against a whole lot of concentrated energy," Chris reminds him.

"Scientifically speaking, even if we charge the Master Emerald to its maximum capacity, it still might not work," Tails explains, holding up a finger.

"So what then?!" Knuckles asks, as he wasn't even aware of that.

"Guess you'll find out soon enough, tiger," Rouge claps his back.

"I say Knuckles' idea has to work, cuz he's our only hope for getting Sonic and Sophia back," Cream speaks up.

"And don't forget, you got the team at Chaotix Detective Agency on your side!" Vector gestures to himself.

"Yeah, in case the whole thing goes bust!" Charmy calls out encouragingly.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Knuckles is frowning nervously. "What if it does go bust? What if the Master Emerald needs more energy than we've got?!"

"I have an idea. You can use the Egg Crimson as backup just in case you need a little more, shall we say, juice," Eggman surprisingly offers.

"Eh heh heh heh...good idea, Eggy..." Knuckles gives a strained smile. Now that he's heard of the risk, he had no clue how this was gonna go...

"You know, this is almost heartwarming," Espio couldn't help but comment. "Everybody working together like this..."

"Don't get carried away," Knuckles snaps at him.

"We are still missing a few members, after all," Molly looks outside the window, worried for Shadow, Sophia, and Sonic.

Cosmo laughs a little.

"Your time is up, my friends!" They hear, turning around to see the four heads approaching their ship with no hesitation. Shadow spin dashes, landing on Valtor's head, but he pushes the hedgehog away. Molly gasps in shock at this. Shadow holds onto Valtor's head on top of the Crimson Egg, causing it to shake.

"What do we do?!" Chris exclaims in a slight panic. Shadow starts to slide back when weapons are fired from the Crimson Egg.

"Missile those monsters!" Bocoe declares angrily, mostly because the Metarex imprisoned them.

"I'll hit them with a laser attack!" Decoe presses a button, yellow lasers firing from the ship. The group start to feel the effects.

"Take that, you four-headed freak!" Bokkun shouts as they shout in pain. Another wave of missiles is fired and suddenly there's nothing. Chris glances to everyone, all of them unsure if that worked. The Chaotix, Molly, Amy, Rouge, and Cream all nod in unison and they take their ships outside to check it out. White lasers are fired from the beast towards them.

"Give it your best shot, fang face!" Amy yells at him. The Chaotix see Bayleaf's neck passing by and they jump on, hanging onto the neck.

"Hang on tight, Espio, he's a slippery one!" Vector warns as they grip onto the fur.

"Yeah, and cranky too," Charmy replies as Valtor moves towards Shadow. He fires a Chaos Spear, but misses and Valtor knocks him backwards. He stops himself and spin dashes again, pushing Valtor back a little. The Crimson Egg fires another wave of attacks, Shadow moving away so that they could hit the evil quartet.

"Thousands of years ago when Planet Greengate first came to be," Cosmo starts off, "They believed in peace and harmony..." Tails looks up to see her teary eyes. "Why did it all have to come to this, Tails? Why...?"

Tails takes a hold of her hand and she places her other one on top of his.

"...Your father wanted to stay and fight, but he ultimately sacrificed your home to do it," Valentina places a hand on her shoulder. "If only we could have done more..."

"It's not your fault, Valentina. My father was too far in to save..." Cosmo murmurs quietly.

* * *

Chris is in the Crimson Egg's control room, connecting its energy with the Blue Typhoon's. He looks up at the four once he's done. "Okay, you guys, the Power Cannon is all set up and ready to go. We've hooked it up to the Egg Crimson for backup."

"Glad we could be of assistance, kid," Eggman tells him, "But, uh, there may be one slight problem." Chris opens his mouth in confusion. What problem could there possibly be? "How is it that you found yourself in this dimension, Chris?"

"Well, I...I...used the Master Emerald's energy as a connector, to synchronize my world with this one, and then I teleported," Chris replies slowly.

"Sure you did..." Eggman looks at him skeptically. Something just didn't add up with that story... "You used the Master Emerald as a connector, alright, but when you teleported, you lost six years because of the interdimensional warp string. Hench that inconvenience not to mention embarrassing shift from strapping young man back to annoying squirt. Those lost years restored as particle data inside the Master Emerald's energy centers for safe keeping."

"Isn't it just astonishing how the doctor knows absolutely everything?" Decoe smiles proudly.

"He is a genius with a capital g!" Bocoe praises.

"So you're really 18, huh? Too bad you're a total shrimpy wimp," Bokkun comments, Chris gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"Who are you calling shrimp?!"

"I'm not done!" Eggman shouts at them. "The bad news is that if we use up a large portion of the Master Emerald's energy, you just might be stuck here, junior!"

Chris stares at him in shock. "Your particle data may dissipate within moments of charging. In turn, I'm afraid it could take years to renew its current structure. Which means you may never be able to return to your world, and even if you do, your molecular structure could possibly be permanently damaged!"

"Oh no..." He didn't think that this would ever happen...he didn't even know that the Master Emerald had his data when he teleported...all he thought about at the time was how excited he was to see his friends again...his parents...Ella...Mr. Tanaka...Grandpa...Uncle Sam...Danny...Frances...and Helen...he'd never see them again...but the Metarex also had to be stopped. "Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, backup to Egg Crimson and connect. If it means saving my friends from danger...I'm willing to take the chance!"

Bocoe and Decoe stare up at Eggman. "You're really going through with this, aren't you?"

"I just have to believe I'll see my folks again one day, and when I do, I want them to be proud of me!" Chris smiles up at Eggman, who stays silent.

"I have to admit, you are not so bad after all, kid," Decoe comments as the three robots surround him. Chris laughs at them.

"Yeah, here I thought you were just a snidely little brat, but you are not snidely at all!" Bocoe smiles at him.

"Sure he ain't!" Bokkun beams up at him. "You know, deep down, I always knew you were an okay kid, but these two bozos wouldn't believe me!"

"Who are you calling bozo?!" Decoe demands to him while Chris is just laughing, tears in his eyes.

"Thanks a lot, you guys, I don't know what to say..."

They just stare at him before he opens his eyes. "I'm not gonna let Sophia's uncle and the Metarex win this!"

"You're pretty tough, kid..." Eggman murmurs to him.

* * *

"Alright, Tails," Cosmo turns around to him, "It looks like the back-up with Egg Crimson has been completed."

"I've reprogrammed the power cannon so it will receive a sustained charge from all sources," He explains, looking up in determination. "We're ready!"

She gives the same look, hoping that all of this wouldn't be in vain...

Elliot looks outside in worry, biting his fingers. Valentina holds his hand, causing him to stare at her. "I can feel it, Elliot...she's still alive. Now we just have to wait and you'll see that she can get through anything..."

He smiles weakly for the reassurance, kissing her temple.

Knuckles powers up the Master Emerald. "The seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers! Chaos is the power enriched by the heart! Chaos is the power enriched by the heart!"

Black Narcissus' head tries to attack Cream's ship, but she flies out of the way.

"Terrific," Rouge founds at her shut down ship, lifting up the panel. "Thanks for the hunk-a-junk," She kicks it towards one of the heads, destroying the plane. Espio runs up Pale Bayleaf's head, throwing his ninja stares at it. They explode, but ultimately, there is no effect on him. Espio disappears before he could get swallowed, Charmy holding onto to Espio. Vector breathes fire at him, Espio reappearing with his team.

"It's time!" Tails declares, causing them to look up.

"The controller serves to unify the Chaos! Come on, Master Emerald, come through! You're our last chance! If this doesn't work, the Metarex will win and I will NOT let that happen!" Knuckles shouts, the emerald glowing brighter. "Come on, Master Emerald, you can do this, I know you can! You're strong enough! Don't let us down! Master Emerald, give us all your power!"

"It's almost at full power," Chris looks at the power levels. "We'll wait a couple more seconds and then we'll reroute the energy."

Valtor emits his tongue in a snake-like way, trapping Shadow in it. The black hedgehog lands on the Crimson Egg, the villain trying to pull Shadow in. He grits his teeth as he pulls as hard as he can, while also feeling disgusted...

"Direct the master emerald's energy to the main cannon! Hurry!" Tails orders, Valentina placing her hands on Cosmo's shoulders, gripping them a little in hope. "Okay Chris, deactivating trigger safety. Set target for twelve o'clock!"

Shadow continues pulling, Valtor pulling back. He glares up at the beast, who snarls at him.

"Start tilt function!" Eggman orders, the Crimson Egg tilting backwards. Both ships start going upwards, some debris falling off. Shadow tries with all his might as both parties struggle. He sweats a little as Pale Bayleaf and Black Narcissus charge towards them.

"Get ready, Master Emerald! FULL POWER!" Knuckles shouts at the top of his lungs, the emerald starting to crack.

"Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, full force!" The king, queen, Tails, Cosmo, Chris, and Knuckles all shout in unison. The cannon charges at an immense power, firing a powerful blast at the two commanders, killing the two while also hitting Dark Oak and Valtor. Shadow watches as the two scream and then a blue light appears, growing large. Everyone stares in shock, the light engulfing them all.

* * *

Sonic is floating above trees, the sky blue. He looks around for his friend, seeing her laying on top of a tree, a puff of air escaping her lips.

"Princess!" He rushes towards her, but falls slowly towards the tree.

"You fly inside the galaxy that will be. All I still had in silent, breath in glorious!" Sonic lands on the tree and runs up it, soaring into the air and landing underneath Sophia. He grabs her bridal style and jumps again, landing on another tree, staring at this new location...

He looks up and jumps again, leaping on top of trees.

"You think you are free, but you will never be free! There will always be violence, there will always be graced, there will always be destruction!"

"Destruction?" Sonic retorts back, holding Sophia tight, "You would know about that, would you?" Vines appear out nowhere and he leaps over them as best as he can. One of them heads towards his friend and he punches them in half.

"And you, hedgehog, you are the same as all these humans. One can coexist with nature, so you all must be destroyed!"

"Think so?" Sonic brags as he punches and kicks more vines.

"You are in vain, hedgehog. There is no hope left for you. Why don't you give up and hand me my niece?"

"Sorry to disappoint ya. See, I got friends waiting for me. And I've known Sophia for years. She's someone everyone looks up to. They all see her as a strong and kind person, and she never gives up! So I won't either!"

He then increases his speed.

"Friends, hedgehog? They have forgotten the both of you. But that is the way of such fickle creatures!"

Sonic goes even faster. "Go ahead, keep running, Sonic the Hedgehog! Soon your freedom to run wild and free will be gone! Soon, you will be still running, forever!"

"Do your best, buddy!" Sonic gives a thumbs up, Valtor roaring as something inside him shakes. The light disappears, concerning everyone. Shadow grits his teeth as the two are still standing, but something appears to be wrong with Valtor. He lets out a roar...and then stops.

"Hey, look!" Chris looks outside.

"I have to hand it to you, kids, it looks like your Master Emerald master plan worked like a charm!" Eggman praises from his seat.

"Oh wow!" Tails starts typing while Cosmo, the king, and queen are staring outside.

Knuckles looks at the Master Emerald...which has now been shattered into pieces. He picks up a small piece and closes his eyes. Never did he think he'd ever see the Master Emerald that he was assigned to protect...be broken. But he didn't regret any of it.

Amy and Molly fly closer to the ship to see the two speedsters inside, floating in water. "Sonic! Sophia!"

He opens her eyes at her voice. "SONIC!"

Before she can get to them, the vines trap her ship. "Amy!"

"Mm?" Sophia's eyes slowly open to see her in trouble. Amy opens the door and jumps out before her ship explodes. She falls into the water, floating towards the two. Sophia gestures for Sonic to go and he swims up to the pink hedgehog, catching her in his arms. He stares at her in shock that she was willing to die to save him...

 _Sonic...it's you..._

She places a hand on his arm. _You saved me! I knew you would._

Sophia smiles at the moment and suddenly, the three start glowing, with two bubbles appearing around them. It lifts them up towards the surface.

"Amazing..." Sonic murmurs, the two hedgehogs staring at each other. They smile towards outside.

"Something out there is protecting us, Sonic!"

Then they emerge from the planet, the bubbles popping.

"Hey guys!" Their friends greet. Elliot and Valentina cheer from inside the Blue Typhoon, clapping happily.

Sophia opens her wings, flying past the two hedgehogs and stopping near Shadow. He looks up at her, surprised that she's alive...

She winks and fires laser eyes, freeing the hedgehog. She lands in front of him and he steps forward. They say nothing and he wraps his arms around her in a hug.

"I...thought that you were gone again..." He murmurs loud enough for her to hear and she hugs him back.

"I wouldn't go anywhere...without my childhood friend," She smiles softly at him and he returns a little grin of his own.

Amy smiles up at Cream, Molly, and Rouge, placing her head into Sonic's shoulders. Everyone is smiling, glad to see that they're all well. Chris flies past Shadow and Sophia to reach his friends, flying around so that they land on the wing. Knuckles appears in the secret bridge, seeing the sight.

"Hey everybody, check it out!" Tails says from Chris' commlink. "Something really weird is happening now! Look!"

They turn towards the planet, which is glowing blue. "You try to destroy us, but I, Valtor, am more powerful than you will ever know! The chaos in me will be eternal sea! I shall become as one with chaos, forever more!"

"You mean us," Dark Oak speaks up.

"I do not share this power!" Valtor roars and actually bites at Dark Oak's neck! Everyone gasps in shock and Dark Oak screams in pain as he starts to glow, and then he disappears into nothing. Valtor lets out a maniacal laugh as the planet starts to engulf him. They just look on as he disappears.

"He's gone...and he took out Dark Oak in less than five seconds..." Chris murmurs slowly.

"That's just the backstabber he is...he'll turn on anyone," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"And now, the birth of a new galaxy, a galaxy of destruction, of emptiness! I call you!" They hear Valtor shout.

"He's merged with the energy of the Master Emerald!" Tails recoils back in shock. "Somehow, he's more powerful than ever now!"

Cosmo slowly steps forward, the gem on her chest glowing. "I'm here..."

Valentina and Elliot glance at each other, wondering what she meant. The planet starts beating as if it's a heart. Then it shrivels up, turning brown and barren. It's dead silence as they look at it, confused on what's going on. Sonic and Sophia frown, as they can tell that this is far from over...


	77. A Fearless Friend

**Angel: I'm almost done with the last episode, so I figured why not update again? And I'll be uploading the last episode tomorrow too, but probably after I get back from my new workplace! :D I'll only be giving them paperwork, so it won't take long. See you tomorrow!**

Johanvanguard: Even with Sophia and Sonic gone for a bit, the heroes and allies did well to come up with a plan to free their trapped allies. I'm glad Chris went through the plan to use the Master Emerald, even if it meant him possibly not returning home right away. Thank goodness the plan worked, which destroyed Pale Bayleaf and Black Narcissus, and saved Sophia and Sonic. Too bad the villains absorbed the Master Emerald's energy, and transformed into a giant seed. It was shocking that Valtor killed Dark Oak just to have the power for himself. For the next chapter, I wonder how Sophia will react to what has to be done to defeat Valtor.

 **Angel: I'm surprised that it destroyed them at all. And...yeah, it was shocking, even for me xD**

Crazycartoons5488: Sophia's uncle is mad and crazy. He doublecross Dark Oak. Cosmo's father is killed Sophia's uncle is a jerk.

 **Angel: Duh! He's a villain!**

XenoSlayer: Alright, we're in the endgame now. Valtor has just backstabbed Dark Oak and increased his power. The heroes better do something quick and end this war once and for all.

 **Angel: I was always planning to have him backstab Dark Oak like he did with the others, so I figured why not do it before the final battle?**

Bajy: Excellent job as always, and Yay! Shadow and Sophia hugged and both she and Sonic are alright, I did not expect Valtor to kill Dark Oak like that (but then again I really shouldn't be surprised as again he is a backstabber). I am looking forward to reading the next chapter, and I know that this is not over yet.

 **Angel: Thanks! And yeah, that shouldn't be surprising. Look at what he did to his own allies, and Eggman plus his robots!**

 _Last time on Sophia X, in a last-ditch effort to save the galaxy, Sonic, Sophia, and company decided to use the mighty Master Emerald to attack the Metarex. The giant gem was shattered, but the two friends sped through space and the blast created an opening for our heroes. Just as Sophia and Sonic rushed to confront Valtor and Dark Oak, they found themselves in a sticky situation. Amy quickly flew in to free them, but was also trapped. And it ended with Sophia's uncle defeating Dark Oak! Now as Valtor begins his final transformation, Sonic and Sophia must find a way to win against the odds!_

 _Can they and their friends rally to stop the Metarex in their maniacal mission? Find out next on Sophia X!_

 _Galaxina held her new baby sister Cosmo in her arms. "So this is the only baby that could grow from the seeds, Galaxina?" Starla asked curiously._

" _Yes," She closed her eyes, remembering the sight. "None of the other seeds had any signs of life..."_

" _If this keeps up, our clan won't last for long," Daisy frowned in worry. "What should we do?"_

" _Earthia has been able to hang on so far due to the fake planet egg," Chrysanthemum spoke up behind them, "But as time goes on, I see she's definitely getting weaker. That's her last child."_

 _Cosmo started wailing, Galaxina keeping on a smile. They shouldn't be taking about this in front of her... "Don't cry, dear." She calmed down and her sister beamed. "I almost forgot we haven't given her a name yet!"_

" _Cosmo."_

 _The four gasped, turning around towards the giant tree. "Cosmo. She's the last of my offspring...and the last hope for the galaxy. Guard and protect her. Our future depends on it."_

" _Did you hear Mother?" Cosmo was smiling. "You're a very special baby."_

Cosmo bites her lip, staring outside as Valtor was inside a brown cocoon. Amy, Sophia, Chris, and Sonic stare at it from the X Tornado.

"It looks so strange...what is that thing?" Amy murmurs in confusion.

"There's only one way to describe it: bad," Sophia answers for her as she narrows her eyes. The Chaotix, Cream, Rouge, Eggman and his minions, and Shadow are all looking as well, equally as confused. Cosmo presses her hand to her gem.

"Mother..." She whispers quietly.

"This doesn't look good," Tails sweats a little. "Its energy is increasing so rapidly...our scanners can't measure it!"

Elliot and Valentina gasp at each other in shock. For over a thousand years, they had never heard of that kind of power on one single person...

"Blast! The forestation process is getting too powerful for us to stop!" Eggman exclaims in disbelief. The cocoon beats again and Sophia gags a bit.

"Disgusting, it's like a shriveled heart," She looks away, covering her mouth.

"With the way your uncle defeated Dark Oak, it fits," Amy narrows her eyes at the thing.

Shadow leaps forward towards the planet, shocking all of them. "Shadow!" Chris calls out.

"Let's help him," Sonic suggests, Chris and Sophia both nodding. He pulls the lever forward, flying towards the planet.

"You better hurry!" Amy shouts at him.

"Ring tunnel!" Chris fires the yellow rings in front of the plane. "Go, guys!"

The two jump at the same time, spin dashing through the tunnel to hit the planet. Shadow watches as this dark ominous purple smoke appears, knocking the two back. Shadow fires Chaos Spears to stop it, looking behind him. He gets hit with the same smoke, the X Tornado crashing onto the Blue Typhoon. Amy goes flying near the branches.

"Amy!" Sonic catches her and they land safely.

"Thanks Sonic," She says gratefully and he winks with a smile. Sophia barely lands safely in front of the X Tornado and she looks up at the plane.

"Chris!" She runs up to him, looking inside. "Are you okay?"

He's holding his stomach as he gives her a thumbs up. Shadow slides to a stop near them. The five stare up at the cocoon. It's definitely strong enough to repel back both the hedgehogs and the princess...and since they can't use the Master Emerald anymore...what would they do now?

* * *

The Chaotix, Cream, and Rouge appear in the secret room. "We got all the emeralds," The three are frowning, however, as all 7 seven emeralds look dead.

"But look, they're useless now," Knuckles gives a deep frown at them.

"Those poor Chaos Emeralds...all their power is gone..." Cream murmurs hopelessly.

"That's just great!" Knuckles exclaims in anger, "We don't have a single working emerald! How can we fight back without extra power?!"

Something flickers and Tails looks up at the screen. "Eggman!"

Everyone else turns their attention to the doctor. "Listen. According to my calculations, there's a chance we can restore the power of the Chaos Emeralds! However, it will take the energy of both our ships." As he's speaking, a glow appears from behind the three robots.

"Doctor, something's happening!" Bokkun exclaims and he gasps. Right outside, the cocoon is glowing white. There's a flash and then a purple radar emits from it, hitting all of them and the planets around them. They start to grow planets, turning either green or blue. When it passes by Amy, she bends down slightly, holding her stomach.

"You okay?"

Twigs grow around the two and he sweats a bit. Shadow grits his teeth as Chris and Molly feel the same effects as Amy.

"I'm starting to feel weak..."

"Me too..."

Sophia collapses behind Shadow, starting to get the same feeling. It's faint, but it's there. "What's happening, Tails?" Cosmo asks, everyone inside feeling it too.

"Valtor is taking the life energy out of our bodies, just like the Metarex did to all the planets they attacked!" He explains, Valentina bending down slightly in exhaustion.

"Valentina," Elliot hugs her as best as he can.

"It's drawing in all energy it can find to spread plant life across the galaxy. It's the last stage of the forestation process," Eggman says, his voice strained. The cocoon continues to spread and Tails looks up to see Cosmo holding the Chaos Emeralds.

"Cosmo?"

"Valtor cannot take my life energy away from me...because he took all of Dark Oak's power when he bit him, who came from the same species of plant. I'll take care of this," She walks off, confusing all of them as she goes through the doors. Tails gasps at her in worry.

She reaches outside, staring at the Crimson Egg's logo. "I'll take these Chaos Emeralds to Dr. Eggman so he can restore their power." She starts climbing up a vine, holding the bag with the emeralds inside. "Valtor wants to wipe out all animal life in the galaxy...but I still believe it's possible for plant and animal species to coexist in peace. Just like I made friends with Tails and the others. Valtor, there's still time for me to stop your plan!"

The aura gets stronger, Valtor having heard her declaration. "You cannot win, little girl. It's useless. What can one girl do to stop the Metarex?"

She gasps at his words, continuing to climb. "Nothing you can say will make me give up! I have hope. Hope for a better future. A future of true peace, like a princess would do for her planet! You are nothing like Sophia because you don't know the true meaning of what being a royal is!"

Sonic grits his teeth, getting onto his feet. "That's the kind of future my friends and I are fighting for!"

Sophia clenches her fists as she opens her eyes, slowly getting up to fight this draining of energy. A red aura then spreads instead of a purple one, affecting the vines near Cosmo. She gasps as the vine comes alive, grabbing her and knocking her into a wall.

Everyone inside gasps. "COSMO!" Tails shouts at the top of his lungs. Her hand slips from the bag as she struggles to move, but the Chaos Emeralds fall. She gasps in horror, holding out her hand, but they're too far gone.

"I lost the Chaos Emeralds!" She cries out.

Chris opens an eye, seeing them disappear. Sonic is about to move when Amy grips his arm, giving him a pleading look.

Shadow stops moving when a glow comes from the cocoon, a crack appearing from it. This stops the energy drain from everyone.

"What's happening?" Knuckles looks at himself.

"We've stopped losing energy..." Tails murmurs at his screen. Eggman looks outside and deduces what's happened.

"It's because of the planet egg! It appears the life force the Metarex stole from the planets is responding to the Chaos Emeralds!"

Cosmo smiles happily, getting herself free and letting herself fall safely onto the ship. She has tears of joy from her eyes. _Thank you..._

The Chaos Emeralds fall, Chris blinking in shock as he holds his stomach. "The pain's gone away."

"Amazing..." Molly murmurs towards outside.

"Look, Sonic," Amy says, the Chaos Emeralds falling in proximity of Shadow, Sonic, and Sophia.

 _Shadow!_

He gasps at the voice, remembering Maria...and his time with her and Sophia at Space Colony Ark...He looks towards outside. With every fiber of his being, he swears to himself that he will stop Valtor...for Maria, Sophia, and Molly.

"You ready, Shadow?" Sonic smirks at him. "Sophia?"

"All set."

"Ready as I'll ever be," Sophia narrows her eyes.

"Let's finish this!" They all declare at the same time, closing their eyes in unison. The Chaos Emeralds spin around and the two hedgehogs glow gold. The Chaos Emeralds then emit a single line towards Sophia, who bends down and hugs her knees as she lets the power absorb her. Her garments appear one by one, her hair glowing gold and changing styles. She flies above her friends in her Super form, all of them with determined faces.

Molly gasps in awe at them. "...Wow..." She's never seen them like this before. Together, the three float in front of the cocoon, Cosmo smiling happily.

"What's going on?" Cosmo suddenly appears behind her.

"Shadow, Sonic, and the princess are teaming up to stop Valtor!"

Shadow flies towards the cocoon, Sonic and Sophia surrounding him on both sides. They enter the crack and a light shines once they do.

"They'll be okay...I hope...wait, where are Valentina and Elliot?!"

Everyone looks around and sees that the two are no longer in the room. The king and queen join Cream and Cosmo, causing them to look up in shock.

"Your highnesses?" Cream murmurs slowly.

"...We have to help," Elliot opens his eyes. "They will need it."

"This was all my doing," Valentina gestures to herself in guilt. "I should have helped my brother more when he needed it...but now I must help my daughter stop him."

The two hold each other's hands, a white light emitting from each of them. Together, they transform into a two-headed white dragon with purple scales. Everyone could only stare in awe. They had no idea that they could even transform into their alien forms, much less into a dragon like Valtor...

"When could they do that?" Knuckles asks in shock.

"Well...it seems that everyone in Xenia has an animal life form," Tails murmurs as the two fly towards the cocoon. "But only animals that can cause harm...which is why Sophia swore never to show hers, because she was a venomous spider in her form. It looks like all royals...have dragon forms."

"But why wouldn't Sophia transform into a dragon?" Molly asks curiously.

"Because she's not technically in the royal family," Amy whispers in realization.

The Super formed trio fly around the cocoon, the white dragon breathing a powerful fire blast at it. Sophia turns around in shock, realizing who it was.

"Mom...Dad..." She smiles softly and they continue attacking, everyone watching as the cocoon splits apart and explodes. Everyone sees the golden light in relief, smiling or cheering for their win. Even Eggman is smiling...but it drops as he sees the smoke up ahead.

"Something is wrong."

The robots' eyes widen as they see it. "The energy levels are starting to reverse. Hmm, it seems like it's imploding now!"

Tails and Chris gasp in shock as the main planet is still standing. "Foolish people! With the help of the planet egg, you have indeed prevented me from transforming the galaxy into my image!" The four float in front of the planet. "But you can never win this battle! If I cannot rule the galaxy, then I will destroy it, just like I did with my own planet!" He laughs evilly, Super Sophia recoiling back in horror.

"The pressure inside that thing is growing fast!" Tails reports, Knuckles and Rouge opening their mouths in shock.

"What's Sophia's uncle trying to do?" Vector asks as they just stare. Chris steps up slowly.

"I know...he's producing a huge gravitational force. Because he's trying to crush the planet egg!"

"But why is he doing that?" Knuckles turns to him in confusion.

"Imagine it's like a big balloon, and you keep on squeezing it tighter and tighter. You know what happens sooner or later, don't you?"

"It goes bang!" Charmy exclaims with a smile, not seeming to get the angle here.

"Hold on," Espio holds out a hand. "Are you telling us that thing's going to explode?"

"I'm afraid so..." Chris reveals solemnly, to the sadness of the others.

"That sounds bad," Rouge says with a frown. The planet's levels get larger and larger, Cosmo giving a look of worry.

"Valtor really is trying to destroy the galaxy..." She murmurs in horror. The super trio all grit their teeth, all of them spinning at the same time. But when they reach the planet, they're stopped in their tracks by the gravitational force. Valentina and Elliot fly towards it, but are stuck as well. The three push against it as hard as they can, but it does nothing.

Bokkun turns around to Eggman. "Isn't there anything we can do to help break through that gravity field?"

"Well...I've got one plan that involves you robots..." Eggman murmurs slowly, "But you won't like it." They give him a look of confusion. "When you were built, I put special self-destruct circuits inside your bodies in case of an emergency such as this. I could set you off to break through the gravity field."

The three are all sweating at this last-ditch effort. "But Dr. Eggman, that would destroy us too!" Decoe protests to him, not really wanting to do that.

"And besides, that gravity field is really powerful, so it would take a huge amount of energy to break through!" Bocoe adds in.

The others in the Blue Typhoon are watching this conversation. "Good point!" Decoe agrees with him.

"Eggman..." Chris holds up a hand, "Please don't carry out that plan."

"Don't worry," Eggman glances at him over his shoulder. "I won't. The explosion wouldn't be strong enough to penetrate the field!"

"Don't you have another plan up your sleeve?!" Knuckles shouts at him, "We're running out of time here!"

"You claim to be a scientific genius," Rouge frowns at him a little. "This would be the perfect opportunity to prove it to all of us."

The three supers are struggling to break against the field, but even with all of their powers combined, they can't break through it. Super Shadow reaches towards his ring, about to take it off.

"Don't use that ring yet," Super Sonic warns, causing him to look up. "In a few seconds, we're gonna need all the power we can get."

"He's right," Super Sophia turns to him. "If you do it now, you'll only exhaust yourself. Our friends are gonna figure something out."

Her parents roar in agreement, Super Shadow nodding and stopping himself. Super Sonic looks up at the planet.

"Listen up, everybody! Our only hope of saving the galaxy is to throw all the energy we've got at this gravity field in one shot! Use the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon, and launch the two of us at it!"

Tails frowns in concern. "It's way too risky...we've never launched it from the power cannon before when you were Super Sonic or Super Sophia. We don't have any idea what'll happen to you both!"

"That gravity field is extremely powerful, you guys," Chris speaks up, "If any of you for that matter smash into it, the force could be too much for your bodies to take!"

Amy gasps at the possibility.

"You mean to tell us there's a good chance Sonic, Sophia, or Shadow won't even survive the attack?!" Knuckles exclaims in shock.

"He can't do it!" Amy shouts to Tails. "We have to come up with another plan!"

"We don't know if we can save the galaxy...but we have to try!" Super Sonic declares, causing her to stare in shock. "And there's no way anybody's gonna talk me out of it, so save your breath. Now, are you gonna help me or not?"

"Sophia...you're okay with this?" Amy asks slowly.

Super Sophia takes a deep breath. "My parents told me to fulfill the prophecy of our home world...our team would have to make a sacrifice. And if it has to be me...then I'm proud to do it..."

"Sophia..." Molly speaks up, clasping her hands. "Thank you for all that you have taught me...I was honored to be your pilot."

"Thank you, Molly," Super Sophia gives a soft smile. "And I'm glad that I managed to save you. Shadow, don't try and stop me. You sacrificed yourself to save Earth, and now it's my turn."

"...I understand," He replies in a broken voice, closing his eyes. Deep down, he really hoped that she would survive this...

"Let's do it..." Chris runs over to the control panel.

"Great!"

He starts to power up the cannon. "I'm routing all the energy in the network to the power cannon."

"We only have one chance to break through that field. We'll need all the energy we can get," Tails starts typing away.

"Prepare to transfer all power to the Blue Typhoon," Bocoe glances at Decoe.

"Cutting off the ship's energy supply now and setting it to the Sonic/Royal Power Cannon," Decoe presses a button and the Crimson Egg's power shuts off, going over to the Blue Typhoon. They're in darkness and sit silently as they wait.

"Be honest, doctor," Bokkun breaks the silence, "I wanna know what you think. Do Sonic or Sophia have a chance of saving the galaxy?"

Eggman says nothing, because he really doesn't know...if they lose their own lives in the process...he'll be losing his greatest enemies...but also greatest allies.

Cream looks like she's on the verge of crying as Cosmo is silent. "I'm so nervous, I can't even look!"

"...I feel helpless..." Cosmo murmurs, the gem on her chest glowing.

" _Cosmo..."_

She gasps at the familiar voice.

 _Her mother stood proudly in front of the tree, smiling happily. "This is the moment we've been waiting for...you can help save the galaxy and our clan if you only believe in yourself..."_

"This is why I was sent here..." Cosmo murmurs in realization, causing Cream to open her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Cosmo turns around to her, smiling. "I understand now. There can be peace in the galaxy...and I have the power to make it happen, Cream."

"What do you mean?" The rabbit's just confused, but Cosmo smiles, lifting herself up into the air. "Where are you going?"

She can only look up, unfortunately she can't fly using her ears out in space. Cosmo touches the gem and it cracks, letting out a bright white light. It breaks into pieces as Cosmo closes her eyes, sparkles flying in front of her. She feels sure in her decision as the buds above her head start to bloom...

Cream joins the others. "NO, come back!" She shouts, tears flowing down her face.

"What's wrong?" Tails asks, sensing that something bad is happening.

"Cosmo's out there, to help stop Valtor!"

The flowers on Cosmo's head fully bloom as her hair grows longer and straighter.

"Huh?!" Super Sonic and Super Sophia turn around to see her.

"Why are you here?" Super Sonic asks her in confusion. She simply flies over to them with a smile.

 _Mother...I feel really happy now because I finally know what my purpose is...!_

She somehow manages to get through the gravity field, shocking all of them. _My friends mean more to me than anything. That's why I give up everything to save them!_

The gravity field starts to glow as Cosmo gets closer. Super Sophia has her mouth open in shock, the others staring as a white light appears.

"What's she doing...?" Tails murmurs slowly. Flower petals fall.

" _Cosmo, you can transform and pass through the gravity field. In your new form you will be like me. Your destiny will be fulfilled. You have the power to stop Sophia's uncle, Valtor, and bring new life to our clan."_

A cherry blossom tree has grown on top of the planet, everyone gasping in shock, even Eggman and his crew. The petals spread, one of them falling near the super trio and Sophia's parents.

"It's alright," Cosmo, in this new form, holds out her hands as she's speaking to Tails. "I have Valtor immobilized. Now you'll be able to destroy the Metarex and save the galaxy. Don't worry about me. Just fire the power cannon now."

Cream is about to cry again as Chris is frowning. "What if we fire the cannon? What'll happen to you?"

Tails seems to know the answer as his eyes are wide in horror. "If she says not to worry, I have to trust her..." He slowly presses the button to activate the cannon, his eyes closed as the infrared scope appears in front of him. His hand wavers on the trigger. If he does this...he'll be technically killing the girl he...

"Tails, we must act immediately! Prepare to fire the cannon at my command!" Eggman tells him, Tails gasping sharply at the decision he has to make.

Super Sonic turns around and flies towards the Blue Typhoon. Super Sophia stares at the planet, closing her eyes. This...was the sacrifice the prophecy stated...did she believe it? Of course not, it's her friend out there...but it had to be done. She flies after the hedgehog with a regrettable look.

"Mark cannon into place and take aim."

The cannon slowly moves over in front of the planet. The two super friends fly inside, everyone else watching outside. Cream hugs Amy in fear as the cannon powers up. The duo stand inside, ready to finish him once and for all.

"Get ready, Sonic and Sophia," Eggman orders them, both of them shocked to see a gold light coming in. Super Shadow is floating in front of them.

"Shadow, I thought I told you-"

"No," He shakes his head rapidly. "If you go, I go. I'm not leaving you to do this alone."

They all smile at each other, Shadow and Sophia sharing a tight hug. The cannon gains its energy, the three spinning around at high speeds inside.

"Sonic, Shadow, and Sophia are attacking together!" Bocoe exclaims in shock.

"Which means this blast will be twice as powerful," Decoe says with his eyes wide. The cannon starts to glow.

"Here goes..." Chris murmurs, Knuckles closing his eyes. First he wanted to cripple Cosmo...and now she'll be destroyed.

"Sonic/Royal Power Cannon...fire!"

However, Tails does not push it right away. "Roger!" Tears are in his eyes as he looks up ahead, and Eggman can sense his hesitation.

"Tails, I know this is difficult, but the galaxy is in danger, and time is running out. You must fire now."

He squeezes his eyes shut, the tears now flowing. "But I can't...! What about Cosmo?" His voice is breaking.

"She knows what she's doing. Cosmo is carrying out her destiny. She was meant to save the galaxy, just like the prophecy was made to be fulfilled. We all knew a sacrifice had to be made. And we have to help her and Sophia."

Tails slowly looks up, staring at the tree. "...But you're my friend, Cosmo. I'm sorry, I just can't do it..."

"Trust me, Tails...you have to fire," She tells him with a gentle smile. "It's the only way to save all of us."

He gasps, still unsure. "I trust you...but you mean a lot to me...I don't wanna lose you, Cosmo..."

"You won't, Tails. You'll defeat the Metarex...and spread the seeds of my clan through the galaxy." Everyone else is silent.

"I believe in you Cosmo...your friendship has meant a lot to me. I wish we could spend more time together, but I understand this is your only hope to save the galaxy and bring your clan back...I'm sure your seeds will find a place to grow and build a new home...good luck, Cosmo, and goodbye," He finally presses the button, firing the powerful blast towards the planet...but this also destroys the cannon. The blast spreads into three, Sophia's parents flying out of the way and hitting the planet. It starts to glow before exploding.

Cosmo flies around happily into light. "Thank you, Tails! I'll never forget you!"

Tails squeezes his eyes shut again, bawling at what he's just done. "...I love you Cosmo...I love you..."

Everyone has their eyes closed, not wanting to believe that she was really gone...Cosmo was a good friend...and bravely defeated the evil former prince of Xenia...Valentina and Elliot, still merged together, roar together sadly for what happened today.

"...Wait a minute..." Something appears in Molly's vision and then she beams, pointing outside. "Look, everyone! Tails, look at this!"

The two-tailed fox stops crying...and looks to see Super Sophia holding onto Cosmo, alive, as she's waving with a smile. Tails opens his mouth in shock, laughing happily.

"They're alive!" Cream calls out, everyone else cheering. Super Shadow and Sonic look on with a smile.

"Cosmo...thank you for following through with the plan," Super Sophia grins, winking at the plant girl.

"And thank you for helping me, princess. We did it!"

And now...it was time...to finally stop Valtor...

 **Angel: ...The feels...I cried, man. I cried while writing this D: And even though I let Cosmo live...it's still sad considering the original episode...**


	78. So Long Sonic and Sophia

**Angel: Welp...this is finally it, guys. The final episode of Sophia X. I honestly don't know what to say here XD Um...thank you for the 73k views, 600 reviews, 77 favorites, and 64 follows. This was definitely a prominent year for you, and I hope that you guys enjoyed every bit of Sophia X: all the characters, story arcs, humor, the action, drama, adventure, all the changes I made to the original episodes. It was definitely a challenge getting all this done, but it shouldn't matter how long it took. What mattered was the paths that we all took, reading along and getting invested into the story. There were definitely some favorites, and some disliked episodes/arcs, but we're here...**

 **In the meantime, I will be working on my other stories, and also my Code Lyoko story *beams* It's one of my favorite 2000s shows ever! Anyway, I'll be uploading the first chapter to that soon, while working on other new stories and the Rise of TMNT show, which really needs to get an update on when we're seeing episodes again...**

 **Actually, let me post that first chapter of Code Lyoko right now! Keep an eye out for it if you're interested!**

Vortex Lord: The end has come. You did a great job on this.

 **Angel: Thanks!**

XenoSlayer903: This was the most emotional of all the other chapters in this amazing story. Speaking of emotions, which movie did you find the most emotional? How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The Lion King, Logan, Dark Phoenix (don't care what the critics say), Avengers: Infinity War, or Avengers: Endgame?

 **Angel: I haven't seen any of them, so I can't really say. The last movie I went to go see in theaters was Toy Story 4.**

Devin sands: Interesting I did not expect you to have Sophia save Cosmo I thought you would keep things like it was in the anime.

 **Angel: Nope! I couldn't give it away, that'd be a spoiler back then.**

SwanGirl24: Angel, I love you! You're awesome!

 **Angel: Aw, thank you! You're awesome too!**

KaijuBoy455: So Cosmo doesn't die? I guess she'll live on Mobius for the rest of her life.

 **Angel: Actually, it was never stated the name of their planet in the anime.**

Johanvanguard: It was intense that Valtor used his powers to absorb the life force of every living creature. I'm glad the life force helped to restore power to the Chaos Emeralds, which helped Sonic, Sophia, and Shadow to go into their super forms. Valentina and Elliot turning into a combined dragon to help out was surprising. Thank goodness Cosmo's assumed her powerful form, which helped the allies came up with a plan to defeat Valtor, but put her life on the line. I'm glad the allies defeated Valtor and saved Cosmo. For the next and final chapter, I wonder how Cosmo will adjust to life with Tails and the others.

 **Angel: *sings* It's the end of the world before we know it~** **Nah, just kidding. And you can find out right now how she's doing!**

Bajy: Amazing job on this chapter I absolutely love it! Brilliant! I am looking forward to reading the next chapter!

 **Angel: Thank you *beams* So much positivity in these reviews today.**

 _Last time on Sophia X, when plants began taking over planets, it seemed the Metarex and Valtor were on the verge of victory, but the table soon turned when the power of the planet egg came to the aid of Sonic, Sophia, and their friends. With his scheme for cosmic conquest at an end, Valtor made a last-ditch move to destroy the galaxies, squeezing the planet egg in a gravity field in order to cause an enormous explosion. Sonic, Shadow, Sophia, and surprisingly her parents launched an attack on the fearsome field, all powerless to punch through._

 _With time running out, Cosmo got a message from her mother saying she was the only hope to stop the Meterax. Shadow, Sophia, Sonic, and the king and queen watched in wonder as Cosmo passed through the gravity field to defy Valtor. But her plan had a price: to deliver the galaxy from destruction, Tails had to fire the power cannon at field, and at Cosmo! Tails refused, till Cosmo explained the blast would help the seeds of her clan spread across space. With one shot at saving the galaxy, did Tails hit his mark? And what became of Cosmo? Find out next on Sophia X!_

Before Super Sophia goes into the power cannon, she stops in front of the planet, going towards the tree. "Cosmo...you can't do this. I...I don't want to do this to you..."

"Your prophecy said a sacrifice had to be made in order to stop your uncle. He must not destroy the galaxy, princess. Please...do it."

Super Sophia glances back at the Blue Typhoon, narrowing her eyes. "Well...then I guess I'm breaking tradition. Cosmo, when I reach you, I'll pull you out. I know that you don't want to hurt Tails like this...and I don't want to, either. Please..."

"But what about-"

"I'm a princess," She smiles softly. "I can change what's been written. Do you trust me?"

"I trust you."

The blast of the power cannon hits the planet, spreading all of the petals as there's a bright white light. Cream and Amy are crying, none of them noticing Super Sophia pulling Cosmo out from the tree with all of her strength. She had no idea she could do that, but...the power of the Chaos Emeralds could do anything...

"Oh no, Cosmo!" Cream cries out, Molly hugging them from behind in sadness. Tails is especially upset as he looks outside.

"COSMO!"

Something starts to crack as someone opened his eyes. Lucas, or Dark Oak, is standing there in seemingly no specific part of space. "Earthia was right...my thirst for power destroyed my people, and brought nothing but pain and suffering to the galaxy.."

A light appears in front of him.

"Lucas."

He looks up to see his wife. "It is over now. The galaxy is saved."

"Earthia! I feared I'd never see you again..." He smiles happily.

"We have a second chance now, Lucas...the time has come for all creatures to live in peace, including you and me."

He touches hands with hers and together, their silhouettes disappear. The planet starts to glow yellow, mostly everyone tearing up.

Molly looks up and gasps "Everyone...look! Tails, come and see this!"

Everyone does as they were told...and see Super Sophia holding a waving Cosmo, who is alive. They fly in front of everyone's sight. "Thank you all for your friendship! Before I met you, I didn't believe in myself...my clan was wiped out by the Metarex. I felt like I was helpless, and couldn't do anything to stop them. But because of you, I learned that I didn't have to stand by and watch the Metarex take over...I could do my part to fight back, and help restore my clan." One of the petals fell off from her flower. "I want you to know that I'm happy now, because I fulfilled my destiny and we saved the galaxy! And now I can go home with you!"

Everyone cheers happily as Super Sophia smiles, glad that she did it. Now, her seeds have spread, and no one had to sacrifice themselves after all...

"Tails!" Cosmo cries out and he slowly steps up to the window, beaming happily. "I did it! We all did!" Super Sophia lands on top of the ship and Tails takes off into a run. He's panting in excitement and happiness as he gets closer and closer. When the two reach each other, they share a big hug. Sophia's parents land behind her, letting out a roar. They all smile as Cosmo and Tails share a kiss. The two-tailed fox smiles happily, everyone else returning the smiles as they look on.

Super Shadow and Super Sonic land near the royal family, grinning. They all turn around and looked at all of the petals spreading.

"Would you look at that?" He smiles a little. Super Shadow looks towards Cosmo...and gives a little smile of his own. Now that he knew the truth...he was no longer going to go after her.

"We've got work to do, boys," Super Sophia smiles at them.

"Right!" They both nod and fly back towards the light.

"CHAOS!"

"CONTROL!"

They all fly towards the light to finish off Valtor completely.

"The seeds of my clan must spread through the galaxy and find places to grow," Cosmo smiles towards the petals falling off her hair. "The world can now be at peace."

"No! No!" Eggman suddenly shouts, "The planet is about to release its power! We have to get out of here! Activate emergency egg drive!"

"It is impossible for us to go into warp space," Decoe deadpans at him.

"Nothing on this ship is working, including the engines," Bocoe reveals, and this is because they had to divert all power to the cannon.

"We don't have power, remember?" Bokkun looks up at the doctor, who rubs the top of his head.

"Oh yeah, I forgot...it slipped my mastermind." The four all laugh.

Super Sonic stares at the sight in front of him. "If the planet egg lets out all its energy, the others won't have enough time to get away! We have to move! Chaos-"

Before he can do anything, Super Shadow punches him in the gut. "Hold on, Shadow!"

"What are you doing?" Super Sophia screeches in shock, but he just releases the other golden hedgehog, sending him into the light.

"Sorry, friend, but I'm taking over," Super Shadow smirks at him. "After all, we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself now, would we?" He turns to his other friend and her parents. "Go, Sophia."

"But...I can't..." She looks towards the light, not wanting to leave him all alone.

"You don't have a choice, and I'm not giving you one..." He closes his eyes, diverting his hands over to the three. "Chaos Control!"

"Huh?!" Super Sophia looks around in shock as they suddenly disappear, as he had teleported them away.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Super Shadow shouts, the crack growing larger until there's an explosion, leaving all of them in darkness again.

"Hey...what just happened?" Vector asks as the Chaotix and Chris are staring in shock.

"Where's Shadow? And the royal family?" Charmy frowns towards outside.

 _He's gone..._

Super Sophia and her parents suddenly appear in the bridge, landing roughly on the ground. Valentina and Elliot turn back to normal, the princess looking outside and seeing nothing.

"No!" She cries out, pressing her hands to the window. "Shadow..." She whispers sadly.

"He..." Molly's voice breaks a little, not wanting to believe it.

Suddenly, what looks to be a star appears in their sights. "Whoa, is that a star?!" Bokkun shouts in shock.

"I do not think so...but what is it, Dr. Eggman?" Decoe asks curiously.

"I'm not sure...but it appears that Shadow has stopped time in that spot," He murmurs at the object.

"What do you think happened to Shadow?" Bocoe wonders quietly.

"Who knows...he just made a risky move...and unfortunately, it may have been his last..." He reveals gravely.

"He used Chaos Control," Rouge realizes what he did.

"It must have taken all the energy that he had left..." Knuckles keeps his arms crossed.

"Shadow..." Deep down, Rouge was saddened. She and Shadow had been through a lot...

Chris starts to cry, tears streaming down Sophia's face. This wasn't supposed to happen...she was supposed to change the prophecy! No one was supposed to die...why did he do that? Why did he stop her?!

Tails and Cosmo step out into the open, staring at the space where Shadow disappeared. "Shadow..."

"Poor Sophia..." She murmurs sadly and they hear two people step up.

"Sonic...Sophia..." He stares at them as they step forward. "I know you're mad at us, but...I..."

"We're not mad at either of you," Sonic speaks up as Sophia gets closer and closer to the edge. "But...sorry," He gestures towards Sophia's hand, her left one holding Shadow's ring. The right one is holding her princess crown. "I looked for Shadow, but that ring was all I found."

"His ring..."

Sophia squeezes her eyes shut, trying not to let herself show vulnerability to her friends. She had been strong for them...led them to victory...but at what cost?

" _Sonic!" Sophia floated towards the ground, holding up her open parasol. "I finally found you! I found evidence that-" She saw Shadow and gasped, dropping the tapes. Shadow gasped as well, everyone else silent as the two stared at each other. Shadow looked like he was about to cry, but Sophia just tilted her head at him._

" _You...you're that other hedgehog," She whispered in realization._

" _...Sophia...it's you..."_

 _Her eyes widened at her name from his mouth. "What?" She murmured in confusion._

" _So this is you at your lowest point..."_

" _Is that supposed to scare me?" She challenged back._

" _No. Like I said, I have no evil intentions with you."_

" _Perhaps you should look up the definitions of evil and friend," She spat back._

 _He disappeared and then came back with food. "You'll need your strength."_

" _Thank you, Shadow," She whispered once she was done eating._

" _For?"_

" _Caring. I have a feeling I will be here for a while..."_

 _The two smiled at each other before Shadow faced the Bio Lizard._

Sophia suddenly let out a yell, smashing the jewels from her crown as she starts to bawl. "Shadow...why did you have to do that? It's...not fair, you guys! Now I'll never see him again! He was...he was my childhood friend! I miss him! He can't be gone," She falls onto her knees, the tears falling onto the metal of the ship. The others close their eyes in sympathy for her. Suddenly, tiny little stars move past them in all directions.

"Look..." Cosmo points up to them, Sophia slowly looking up.

"It's amazing!" Bokkun exclaims in awe.

"Those are all planet eggs!" Decoe explains as they all take in the sight.

"There must be thousands, or millions of them!" Bocoe adds in.

"But...where are they going to?" Bokkun tries to figure out what's in their directions, but nothing comes to mind.

"They are all returning home, to the planets they came from," Eggman murmurs, causing the three robots to stare. "Quick, take a picture of me with them!"

"Impossible!" Decoe immediately shouts.

"The camera batteries are completely drained."

"You even used the batteries to help them?!" Bokkun yells up at the robot.

"We were told to send _all_ power to the Blue Typhoon," Bocoe reminds him.

"Yeah, we just followed orders."

"Pinheads!"

"How dare you!" The two shout at him.

"Quit bickering and get to work restoring power to the egg drive!"

"Right away, doctor!"

Sophia's eyes slowly widen at all the planet eggs...and realizes that Valtor has been defeated...the tears of sadness turn into relief as she bites back a bittersweet smile.

"Shadow...you did it for me...thank you..."

* * *

 _After we defeated the Metarex, we finally went back home, to Sonic and Sophia's planet, that is. It was good to rest up and relax after all the battles we fought. I guess you do deserve a little vacation after saving the galaxy! This was the first time we've really taken it easy since I had transported myself here. It seemed like a long time it passed since I left the lab, almost like it was a dream! We had a lot of fun during those days, but I couldn't stop thinking of my family and friends I'd left back in my own world, and none of us would ever forget the brave friend we lost during our final fight with Sophia's evil uncle Valtor._

The seeds that Cosmo planted are starting to grow, with a blue blur speeding past them. Sonic stops at a small cliff, staring at the mountains, a crater, and trees. He smiles at the sight. It was good to be back home after the tiring battle...

He sees something running past him and waves. "Hi Sophia!"

The pink blur comes to a stop and she returns the gesture. She's back in the princess dress that she wore when they went to Chris' world... "Hi Sonic."

"How's it feel being named Crown Princess?"

Sophia lightly touches the golden crown with three white diamonds. "Kind of weird...but I know that someday, I'll be ready on being queen."

 _Sonic and Sophia were together in the castle gardens, the little girl smiling at the sight. "Mother and Father said that we can run here all of the time, Sonic. Is it to your liking?"_

" _Are you kidding?" He grinned down at her. "Let's go right now!"_

" _Excellent!" She beamed up at him and they took off, speeding past one of the gardeners._

Sophia smiles fondly at the memory.

"Do you...still think about him?" Sonic asks gently and she looks away, sighing.

"To be honest...my uncle doesn't even cross my mind anymore. Is that bad? My own family and I don't even give him a second thought..."

"...He had only one thing in mind, Sophia. And that was power, no matter how he got it."

"Yeah..." Sophia bites her lip before she smiles weakly, waving at him and taking off.

The Master Emerald is still in pieces as Knuckles and Chris stare at it. "The Master Emerald should return to its normal state once its power is restored..."

* * *

"Well, you do your chants," Chris encourages him.

"Please hear me out, Master Emerald, and be restored now!" Knuckles shouts, though it kind of sounded ridiculous. "Like that?"

"Yeah, your chant is pretty funny," Chris chuckles and realizes what he said. "Uh, I didn't mean-"

"No offense taken," Knuckles closes his eyes, smiling lightly. "I think I'll let nature take its course. The Master Emerald helped saved the galaxy, so it needs time to heal..."

Sophia suddenly appears, skidding to a stop in front of the staircase. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Sophia," Chris waves to her, Knuckles bowing.

"Oi! Knuckles, just because I'm crown princess now doesn't mean you have to bow! We talked about that!"

"Force of habit," He shrugs at her.

 _Sophia was walking past the pedestal, watching Knuckles. He was sleeping on the stairs. The little princess giggled, holding something behind her back. Slowly stepping forward, she walked calmly towards him and came to a stop. She looked at his eyes that were still closed and grinned. Then she revealed what was behind her back: an air horn._

 _She took a small breath and pressed the button, the loud sound piercing Knuckles' ears. He yelped, jumping into the air and landing on his butt._

" _HEY! Who's the wise guy that-" He looked to see the giggling princess and grinned a little. He couldn't get mad at her even if he wanted to. "Hey, your highness."_

 _His eyes widened and then he bowed to her. "Your highness! I-It wasn't what it looked like, I-"_

" _Knuckles," She interrupted with a small smile. "It is alright. My parents will never know that you were sleeping on the job. I believe my little prank should suffice as being even."_

" _Deal."_

"In the meantime, I decided..." Knuckles places his hands behind his back. "To kick back and take it easy...we deserve a rest too, Chris."

He smiles and starts walking down the steps. "I guess so." He joins Knuckles, hugging his knees. "Since it looks like I'm gonna be staying here, I was wondering how I could go about building myself a house."

"Huh?!" Knuckles opens his eyes in shock. "What do you mean how, you just go ahead and build it!"

"Knuckles, it's a little bit more complicated than it sounds," Sophia deadpans at him.

"You make it sound so easy," Chris grins a little. "But she's right, it's not so simple. There's a lot to think about...like where would I build it?"

The echidna just laughs. "What do you mean, where? There's tons of land all around you! Just pick a spot."

"What if that spot belongs to someone else?" The two boys just smile at their little argument, the princess shaking her head in amusement.

"In our world, it's first come first served," He chuckles, stiffening a bit and looking down at Sophia. "Provided that we reserve it through the royal family, of course." Then he realizes that Chris or Sophia have stayed silent. "Hey...you're not planning on building one here!"

"Well, I figured around these old ruins was about as good a place as any," Chris looks towards the land hopefully. "It's kind of pretty, you know?"

"Sure, it's pretty, you go right ahead and build...it's just lucky your good friend Knuckles didn't have that spot picked up for his place."

Chris laughs sheepishly, knowing that Knuckles would be pretty steamed if he had. "Yeah, lucky..."

"That was a hint, kid," Knuckles opens an eye.

"Hey Knuckles...I'm really happy for all you guys. Being home and all, and I can't even imagine what being crown princess of all of this would be like," He looks towards Sophia.

"Honestly...it feels weird," She smiles sheepishly. "I'm overlooking all of this..." She looks towards all the greenery. "But it also feels...right."

"Yeah...it sure is nice..." Knuckles murmurs and Sophia waves to them.

"I'm off! Bye boys!"

"See you later," Chris waves back, Knuckles just grunting. She jumps off the staircase and speeds off in a pink blur.

* * *

Rouge is looking at the capsule that she found Shadow in...she couldn't believe what he did and that he was gone...

"I can't believe it!"

"Huh?" She turns to Eggman standing in the doorway.

"You're worried about Shadow, aren't you?"

"Of course not," She turns her head away. "I don't give a hoot what happened to that hedgehog!"

"Is that so?" He places down the box. "Well, I'm not at all concerned about Shadow. He was designed to be the ultimate creature by my grandfather Dr. Robotnik, who was almost as great a genius as me!" He boasts, Rouge walking up to him.

"So...where do you think he is?" She asks curiously...for Sophia's sake, not hers. He stares at her, knowing that she was definitely worried.

 _He knows something..._

"Well, Rouge, it's time for me to bust a move!" He presses a button, closing the door shut. "I'm going to scrap this ship soon. I suggest you find new living arrangements."

She simply walks off and when she gets outside, the bat notices a pink blur running around in the sand.

"Hey, Sophia!"

The girl comes to a stop, turning around to see her friend. "Hi Rouge," She smiles softly. Ever since the attempted assassination of Cosmo, her opinion of the bat had definitely changed...but now that her friend is still alive and well, she's forgotten all about the whole thing. Especially given Shadow's sacrifice...

 _Rouge flew to a stop in front of the castle, seeing no one around. Smirking, she flew up to the roof and placed a device on top. She stepped back and watched as the device cut open a circle in the roof and she took it back, landing in the princess' room. She could tell because of the canopy bed and princess dresses in the closet._

" _Now, where are you...?" She murmured, looking around and seeing a vanity. On top of the purple velvet was a silver tiara. "Ahh..."_

 _Before she could take it, the door burst open, and Sophia saw what she was about to do. "You there! Stop!"_

" _Gotta fly!" Rouge snatched the tiara, about to fly out the window, but they were unbreakable._

" _Nice attempt, but they have special glass that prevents them from breaking. And they are locked with keys only," Sophia spun the key ring around her finger. "Now...who are you, and why do you have my tiara?"_

" _Well..." Rouge glanced away. "Rouge the Bat, princess. And I just love jewels..."_

 _Sophia raised a brow. Normally, she'd have thieves jailed immediately, but...something inside her told her to have compassion for this bat. She didn't seem evil; she just loved jewelry._

" _Tell you what, Rouge? In exchange for letting you go...you can look over my jewels. As long as you don't steal them."_

" _Princess, I think we have a deal."_

* * *

Chris is walking down a dirt path, taking in all the trees. "Hey Chris, I got something for ya!" Bokkun flies in out of nowhere.

"If it's from Eggman, I don't want it!" Chris shouts at him, not wanting an explosion today.

"How'd you know?" Bokkun grins widely. "I think this is my most explosive delivery ever! You'll get a real bang out of it! Here," He holds up a letter with Eggman's symbol on it, and Chris immediately hides behind a tree for precaution. "Come on out here!"

"No way."

"But Chris, I promise, it's not a trick! Dr. Eggman's sending you a present!"

Chris looks at him in shock. "Really?"

* * *

Sonic is leaning against a tree, smiling in the shade.

"Sonic."

He opens an eye to see Cosmo standing there in front of him, smiling. Her flowers are still in full bloom, as all Seedrians keep them when they blossom.

"I've told all of my wonderful friends thank you for everything...and now I'm telling you. I've kept in contact with my mother. She's found a new home, filled with peace and tranquility. Harmony reigns there and she's one with nature. You're noble and good, and because of you, the darkness has been vanquished."

"Ah, it was nothing," Sonic returns the smile, standing up. "And hey, I'm not as mushy as you or anything...but I want you to know, Cosmo...it's great having you around!"

She smiles, watching as he leaves the tree. "I feel the same way..."

Sophia comes to a stop at her castle, smiling. It feels so good to be home again...and with everyone safe and sound, too. She walks up to her parents, Tails, Cosmo, Cream, Amy, and Molly all having tea and cake together.

"Sophia!" Cream waves at her and she waves back.

"Hi everyone."

"Do you wanna sit with us?" Molly smiles at her. She had adjusted well to their world...and while she did lose all of her friends...she's happy...

"No, I just came to see how you're all doing."

"Getting a head start on your duties," Elliot chuckles at her. "That's my girl."

She hugs her parents from behind.

" _Happy birthday, dear," Elliot held out a present for his daughter and she took it eagerly._

" _What is it, Father?"_

" _Open it and see," Valentina smiled happily, a hand on the girl's back. Sophia ripped the paper, letting it fly around without a care. She gasped at the elf doll sitting there in the box._

" _Do you like it? It's handwoven with the finest silk," Elliot explained as she took it into her hands._

" _I love it. Thank you," She hugged both of her parents and they smiled, engulfing her into a group hug._

"Being crown princess sounds fun," Cream smiles a little, eating a piece of cake.

"I couldn't imagine doing all of that," Amy looks up at her. "I wouldn't have time to chase after Sonic!"

Sophia lightly rolls her eyes in amusement.

" _Sophia!"_

 _The girl turned around from the castle garden's entrance to see Cream and Amy running up to her. "Yes?"_

" _You have to help us!" Amy shouted at her, holding something in her hands. Sophia peeked over their shoulders to see an injured duckling._

" _What happened?" She asked seriously._

" _Amy and I were at the pond having a picnic when we found this poor creature in some bushes. I think its wing is injured..." Cream looked like she was about to cry._

" _Do not cry, Cream," Sophia patted her shoulder, inspecting the duck. "It looks like a minor sprain. Nothing I cannot handle."_

 _She walked up to a nest from a tree and placed the duck inside, wrapping up its right wing. The duckling chirped happily, nuzzling Sophia's cheek._

" _Is it gonna be okay?" Amy frowned in concern._

" _Eventually," She smiled down at them. "You were right to come to me. I have had plenty of medical training."_

"How are you doing, Cosmo and Molly?" Sophia turns her attention to them. "How's settling in been going?"

"It's a very beautiful planet," Cosmo smiles up at her, kissing Tails on the cheek. "And Tails has been very kind to me."

The fox blushes in embarrassment.

"I love it here," Molly nods in agreement. "I have my own resistance team against Eggman, and we've been coming up with all sorts of ideas to stop his next plans."

"Well, I hope you'll continue to be very happy here," Sophia smiles at them.

"Thank you, princess!" The two say in unison gratefully.

"Tails, how is the next invention to stop Eggman going?" She asks curiously.

"It's going great, princess!" He grins a little, holding his tea cup. "But Cosmo wanted me to take a break, so here I am!"

 _Tails was working on the X Tornado when the little princess came in, peeking over his shoulder. He didn't seem to notice her until she spoke up._

" _Tails."_

 _He yelped, turning around to see the giggling girl. "Oh, your highness. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."_

" _Please," She waved it off, "Do not call me that. Sophia, remember?"_

" _Right, right...so, what can I do for you?"_

" _Oh...actually, I was curious to know...if you could build me a snow cone machine!"_

 _He stared at her, baffled as he blinked twice. She had asked for crazy things before, but that one took the cake. "A...snow cone machine?"_

" _Mother and Father had said that snow existed on their planet...and since it is not winter yet, perhaps you could build one for fond memories between them?" She clasped her hands together with a pleading look. "Please..."_

" _Ohh..." He said in understanding before smiling with a thumbs up. "Sure!"_

" _Excellent!"_

* * *

Chris walks up to the three robots and Eggman, a rocket nearby. The trio chuckle and he just stares in confusion.

"What's this all about, Eggman?" He holds up the letter.

"It's exactly what I wrote there. I assume that you read it, didn't you?" Eggman simply asks, his arms casually behind his back.

"Sure," He holds up the paper. "It says it's a one-way ticket home."

"Never underestimate the superiority of Dr. Eggman's intellect!" Decoe exclaims proudly.

"He gave his brain cells a real workout this time!" Bokkun smiles widely.

"Ah," Chris turns towards the rocket. "You mean _this_ ship?"

"Yes, it will instantly transport you back to your own world!" Bocoe explains to him.

"This will be its first and only voyage," Eggman starts off.

"So pack your stuff and let's blast off!" They all declare at the same time. Chris just stares at them in shock. Somehow...Eggman had figured out how to bring him home...without the use of the Master Emerald...

"There's only enough power in its engines for one trip. After that, the machine will be useless, but it should be adequate to return you to your world."

"I can't believe you went to all this trouble just for me, Doctor..." Chris murmurs in disbelief. He didn't think that Eggman even cared enough to go through all of that.

"Don't thank me yet, kid. Once you learn the fully story, you may not want to go."

"Huh?" He asks in confusion.

"I'm absolutely certain it will return you to your planet...but I have no idea how old your body will be when you get there."

He smiles at him. "I have confidence in you, doctor. I'll take that chance."

"But you only have a three minute window!"

"That isn't much time, doctor," Decoe speaks up in concern.

"Can you make it three days so we can throw him a goodbye party?" Bocoe asks as Chris steps into the rocket.

"Impossible...the quantum alignment that makes travel possible between our worlds will only last for three more minutes! This is the only time when travel can occur! After that, Chris would be stuck here!"

"Can I return?" Chris asks hopefully.

"It's difficult to say...I'm not sure when the alignment will reoccur," Eggman murmurs doubtfully. "It could be a week, or not for ten thousand years!"

"You mean the fact that I was able to travel here was just a fluke and I may not be able to come back?" Chris questions in dismay.

"It would appear so. The universe has its own set of cycles. No matter how advanced our technology is, we can't change that."

"I see," The boy gives a small sad smile. "So then I guess this is goodbye, doctor..."

"You've been a terrific ally, and a worthy enemy. Good luck," Eggman presses the button, the door about to close Chris in.

"You could stay here with us, you know!" Bokkun calls out sadly, "I'm sure Dr. Eggman would offer you a job if you asked him! We can always use good help around here!"

Chris' eyes start to tear up.

"Take care, Chris!"

He closes his eyes. "Say hello to your family for us!"

His only regret...was that he couldn't say goodbye to any of them. "Alright then!" Bokkun storms up to the rocket. "I'll tell Sonic, Sophia, and the rest of your pals YOU WERE SMILING WHEN YOU LEFT HERE!" He didn't actually mean it, though. "Are you sure you wanna go?! That's too bad...we just got to be friends..." He then starts crying. "GOODBYEEEE!"

They can only watch as the rocket goes up into the sky and starts to disappear. The rocket turns around so that it goes forward. Chris solemnly looks out the window.

 _I wish I didn't have to rush off like this...I hope the others don't get mad at me._

" _I sure am gonna miss that kid."_

" _Me too."_

" _He didn't even say goodbye..."_

" _Chao."_

" _I'm sure he wanted to, but maybe he didn't have enough time!"_

 _Goodbye everybody...goodbye..._

He looks towards the dirt path he walked on before...and is shocked to see Sophia and Sonic running down it. He smiles fondly and they return the smiles.

"I'll be seeing ya, Chris!"

"Thank you for showing me around your world, and for helping us with the Metarex!" Sophia waves up to him. "We'll never forget you!"

"Goodbye..." The tears steam down his face as he stares at his friends for the last time. "Sonic...Sophia..." The rocket then speeds up, dirt flying from their shoes.

 _Sophia...Sonic..._

Then the rocket disappears into a white light, transporting him home...the two are standing on a cliff, Eggman and the robots whining. Then Eggman starts laughing.

"Now that their team is down by one annoying little pipsqueak, we can finally get back to building the Eggman Empire!"

"Alright!" The three robots cheer.

Sophia's hair goes flying behind her as she and Sonic look up towards the sky.

"Eggman better not touch the Master Emerald!" Knuckles gives a wink and a thumbs up.

"I have to go warn Sonic..." A glint appears in Amy's mischievous eyes.

"Come on, Cheese. Our friends need our help," Cream lets go of Cheese, beaming.

"I guess I'll join in too," Rouge smirks a little. "This team could use a little glamour."

Tails smiles, holding onto Cosmo's hand. "Time to rev up the X Tornado, you guys!"

"We can do it," Cosmo smiles encouragingly.

"A new adventure!" Molly smiles at the thought of a new thrill.

"Eggman will always be a source of entertainment," Elliot shakes his head with a fond smile.

"Well, at least we can never get tired of it," Valentina waves it off, grinning a little.

"Life never stays slow around here for long," Sonic watches the X Tornado fly off. "Watch out, Eggman, we're coming at ya full speed!" He then speeds past Sophia, who stays there as she's smiling a little. She could feel him right behind her...

She turns around, looking at Shadow right in the eye. "I knew you were alive."

"Was there any doubt?" He smirks slightly at her, causing her to laugh.

"Well...are you in?" She holds out her hand towards him. "Eggman won't know what hit him."

He walks up to her slowly, taking her hand with a small smile.

"Let's go."

Together, the three take off into the sky as three lights of hope...


End file.
